See what Lehman College's published rules mean for your student's numbers. Takes 30 seconds.
The merit-aid verdict at Lehman College
Lehman is a low-cost CUNY senior college (NY-resident tuition ~$7,000/yr) where merit aid is modest and automatic: entering freshmen are evaluated for an unpublished-amount Academic Scholarship with no separate application, and the largest named award is the $5,000 Lehman Scholars Program honors scholarship.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Lehman College
Lehman states freshmen are 'automatically considered for a range of scholarships based on academic merit' with 'no separate application,' but it does NOT publish award amounts, GPA cutoffs, or test cutoffs on its public pages. The actual award and criteria come from the Office of Testing and Scholarships, and awardees are 'individually contacted.'
The official page states plainly: 'No scholarships are awarded to applicants seeking admission for the Spring semester.' Scholarship consideration is a Fall-entry, first-come/first-served process.
Submitting your CUNY application by Feb 1 ensures early scholarship consideration, but Lehman says to apply by Dec 1 for the best chance. CUNY Honors College (Macaulay) needs its own application by Nov 1 (early) or Dec 15 (regular).
LSP is an honors program you must be accepted into, requiring 4 honors seminars, two years of foreign language, and a capstone; the page does not say whether the $5,000 is annual or total, so confirm the structure before budgeting.
Lehman's own overview says: 'college education costs more than just tuition. You also need to pay for school fees, books, supplies, travel ... as well as your living expenses.' The full cost of attendance (housing, food, transit, fees) is materially higher than tuition — see the COA documents in Financial Aid Expenses.
Who this school is for
Cost-sensitive New York City and New York State students who want an affordable public-college path where TAP/Excelsior/Pell can cover most or all tuition; merit dollars here are a modest top-up, not the headline. Honors-track students should target the Lehman Scholars Program ($5,000) and the CUNY Honors College (Macaulay).
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Lehman College, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Lehman College, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$1,589
$30,001–$48,000
$2,374
$48,001–$75,000
$6,834
$75,001–$110,000
$9,696
$110,001+
$13,600
All income levels (average)
$3,148
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$14,121
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$7,410
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$15,360
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$3,148
That works out to an average 78% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.
Lehman College is a public school; Scorecard's net price and cost of attendance figures cover in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
51%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
73%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$10,950 (~$116/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$58,013
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
79%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
3%
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
Amount not published
Lehman College Academic Scholarship
AutomaticRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Entering students with outstanding records of scholastic accomplishment; freshmen need no separate application and are all evaluated prior to admission; transfer students must submit an application
Renewal terms
Renewal terms not stated on the page.
Notes
Awarded on academic merit. No dollar amount, GPA cutoff, or test cutoff is published on the official scholarship page — Lehman directs prospective students to the Office of Testing and Scholarships for specifics. Awards are first-come, first-served; no scholarships are given to Spring-semester applicants.
Acceptance into the LSP, described as 'an exclusive honors program for highly motivated Lehman College students'; specific GPA/test cutoffs not published; requires completing 4 honors seminars, two years of foreign language, and a capstone project
Renewal terms
Page does not state whether the $5,000 is a one-time or per-year award, nor a renewal GPA. Program spans the student's college career (4 honors seminars, 2 years of foreign language, a capstone).
Notes
Lehman's largest published named merit scholarship. It is an honors program with an attached award plus personalized advising/mentoring, not a stats-triggered automatic scholarship. Whether the $5,000 is annual or total is not stated on the page.
Peter F. Vallone Scholarship (formerly NYC Council Merit Scholarship)
AutomaticRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
New York City high school graduates who proved academic ability in high school; no separate application — students are automatically considered when they apply for admission to CUNY
Renewal terms
Awarded per academic year; the page notes 'Scholarship awards may vary for each academic year.' No renewal GPA is published.
Notes
A small, automatic merit award for NYC public/high-school graduates, administered system-wide by CUNY (formerly the NYC Council Merit Scholarship). Amount is modest ($800/yr) and explicitly 'may vary for each academic year.'
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.
AmountAmount not published on Lehman's scholarship pageEligibilityTop applicants admitted to the CUNY Honors College; separate Honors College application required.
Lehman directs Honors College applicants to submit a completed Honors College application by Nov 1 (early) or Dec 15 (regular). The Macaulay benefit package (which CUNY-wide includes a tuition scholarship and an opportunities/'cultural passport' fund) is NOT quantified on Lehman's own pages reviewed here — treat the dollar value as needs_confirmation against the central Macaulay site. Students not admitted to the Honors College are still considered for other Lehman scholarships.
AmountCovers remaining tuition after other grants/scholarships (tuition-free for eligible full-time students)EligibilityNY State residents meeting state income/eligibility criteria; a state-funded last-dollar tuition program, not institutional merit.
Included for context only — this is a NY State need/income-based last-dollar program, NOT a Lehman merit scholarship. It is why Lehman's institutional merit dollars are modest: state aid (Excelsior/TAP) already drives many residents' tuition toward $0.
Do I need a separate application for Lehman merit scholarships?
Not as a freshman. Lehman says applicants 'are automatically considered for a range of scholarships based on academic merit. No need for a separate application is necessary.' Transfer students, however, must submit a scholarship application for the Lehman College Academic Scholarship.
What is the scholarship deadline?
Submit your CUNY freshman or transfer application by February 1st for early scholarship consideration; Lehman recommends Dec 1st for the best chance. CUNY Honors College (Macaulay) at Lehman requires its own application by November 1st (early admission) or December 15th (regular admission).
How much is Lehman's biggest merit scholarship?
The largest published named merit award is the Lehman Scholars Program honors scholarship: '$5,000 scholarship' plus advising/mentoring for accepted students. The automatic Peter F. Vallone Scholarship for NYC high-school graduates is '$800 per year ($400 per semester).' Lehman does not publish a dollar amount for its general Academic Scholarship.
Does Lehman publish how outside scholarships affect my aid?
No outside-scholarship displacement/stacking policy was found on the official Lehman pages reviewed. As a CUNY school, federal/state need rules apply; ask the Financial Aid Office directly how an outside award affects your package.
How Lehman College compares across our verified dataset
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Lehman College is one of them. The cohort minority (82 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Lehman College’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
