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Lehman College (CUNY) · New York

Lehman College Merit Aid

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(NY-resident tuition ~$7,000/yr) where merit aid is modest and automatic: entering freshmen are evaluated for an unpublished-amount Academic Scholarship with no separate application, and the largest named award is the $5,000 Lehman Scholars Program honors scholarship.

Verified Jun 20264 days ago· CC
Merit tiers32 automatic on stats
Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst CC

Common merit-aid mistakes at Lehman College

  1. 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.'

  2. 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.

  3. 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).

  4. 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.

  5. 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).

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.

Source

$5,000 scholarship

Lehman Scholars Program (LSP) Honors Scholarship

ApplicationRenewable
View requirements
Eligibility

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.

Source

$800 per year ($400 per semester)

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.'

Source

Lesser-known scholarships at Lehman College

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.

Source

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.

Source

Lehman College merit aid FAQ

  • 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

  • 669 of 751 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.

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