Philadelphia co-op university with a publicly different merit ladder by admission round — ED/EA admits qualify for $20,000–$35,000/year, RD admits start at $10,000 — and an explicit grant-first rule where named scholarships replace or reduce the Drexel Grant rather than stacking on top.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago· CA-1
The short answer
Is Drexel worth a closer look?
Drexel is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 3 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.
Merit tiers32 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Free Merit Check
See what Drexel's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.
Published scholarships
These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.
$20,000–$35,000 per year for Early…$20,000–$35,000 per year for Early Decision and Early Action admits (Fall 2026)
A.J. Drexel Scholarship (ED/EA round)
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
See who qualifies+
Who qualifies
Automatic on admission application — no separate form. Criteria include high school transcript and standardized test scores. Apply ED or EA to access the higher floor ($20,000) rather than the RD floor ($10,000).
How to keep it
Renewable as long as the student is registered full-time and maintains a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Awards do NOT pay during co-op terms.
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Drexel's published information.
renewalA.J. Drexel Scholarship (ED/EA round): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable as long as the student is registered full-time and maintains a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Awards do NOT pay during co-op terms. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
capHard $86,353 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Drexel cannot push the package past $86,353. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Straight from the aid office
What Drexel's aid office told us in writing
Answers provided in writing by Undergraduate Admissions, Drexel University, August 10, 2026. Quotes are verbatim from the office's email reply.
Automatic consideration
Is merit considered automatically, or is there a separate application?
Automatic. Every first-year applicant is in the merit pool the moment the application is submitted — there is no separate scholarship application to find or miss.
“All first-year applicants are automatically considered for merit-based aid once they submit their application.”
Merit is not need-based
Does merit aid depend on financial need?
No. Merit at Drexel is awarded by the admissions team on the strength of the application, independent of what the family earns. Need-based aid is a separate track with its own filings.
“Merit-based aid is awarded by the admissions team and is not based on your financial need.”
Need-based filings
What has to be filed for need-based aid?
Both forms, not just the FAFSA. U.S. citizens and permanent residents file the FAFSA for federal aid and the CSS Profile for Drexel’s own need-based grants. A family that stops at the FAFSA leaves the institutional grant review incomplete.
“U.S. citizens and permanent residents should complete the FAFSA for need-based federal aid in addition to the CSS Profile through the College Board website to be considered for need-based grants from Drexel.”
Renewal and co-op terms
Does the scholarship carry through all years, including co-op?
It applies to every class term at full-time status — but not to co-op terms. At a school built around co-op, that is a real modeling detail: the scholarship pauses during the terms a student spends working, and applies when they are back in class.
“Drexel scholarships are applied to all class terms as long as the student maintains full-time status. Scholarships are not available during terms of co-op.”
GPA used
Weighted or unweighted GPA?
Both. Drexel reads the weighted and the unweighted number rather than committing to one, consistent with its holistic review.
“Drexel will look at weighted and unweighted grades.”
Superscoring
Does Drexel superscore the SAT/ACT?
Yes, directly confirmed.
“Yes, we superscore standardized tests.”
Test-optional with no downside
Can submitting test scores hurt?
No — Drexel calls its policy No Harm Test-Optional. Scores are not required; strong scores can help; and the office states in writing that scores will never count against a student. That asymmetry means there is little reason to withhold a decent score.
“Drexel practices No Harm Test-Optional admission, meaning applicants are not required to submit standardized test scores as part of their application. While strong test scores can strengthen a student’s application for admission, test scores will never negatively impact a student’s competitiveness.”
What families often miss
Drexel merit scholarships do not pay during co-op terms — 'are registered full-time for classes (not... quarters you are on co-op).' Five-year Drexel students with three co-op cycles spend roughly 12-15 months on paid co-op without merit aid hitting tuition. The four-year scholarship math is not straightforward.
The published 2026 merit floor is $20,000 for ED/EA admits vs $10,000 for RD admits. That's a $10,000 PER YEAR difference at the floor of the band — potentially $40,000-$50,000 across an undergraduate career — driven entirely by admission round choice.
Drexel publishes the rule directly: 'In most cases, the named scholarship will either reduce or replace your Drexel Grant.' Outside aid is treated similarly — it first fills unmet need, then displaces Drexel grant. The cash benefit to the family is often zero.
See award cutoffs and special programs+
Liberty Scholars Program — Drexel's full-tuition need+merit award
The Liberty Scholars Program is Drexel's top-tier scholarship for academically strong students with financial need. It covers 100% of tuition (not the standard A.J. Drexel cap of $35,000), renewable for four years contingent on academic progress and a community-service participation requirement. Liberty Scholars sits above the regular merit ladder for eligible students — but because Drexel's policy is grant-first, the value of an outside scholarship for a Liberty Scholar is typically displaced rather than stacked. The smart move for a Liberty candidate is to verify in writing with Drexel Central whether any specific outside award would supplement or simply reduce the Drexel grant.
Strong students looking for an urban Philadelphia co-op program (paid work terms alternating with academic terms) who want a published, automatic merit ladder. Drexel's structural quirk is that merit scholarships do not pay during co-op terms — so the four-year scholarship dollar total is not simply the annual amount times four — and applying ED versus RD raises the merit floor by $10,000.
Cost of attendance$86,353 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Drexel, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Drexel, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$28,055
$30,001–$48,000
$29,435
$48,001–$75,000
$34,970
$75,001–$110,000
$37,842
$110,001+
$48,089
All income levels (average)
$38,509
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$62,412
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$38,509
That works out to roughly a 50% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $76,835 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
78%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
90%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,325 (~$268/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$84,648
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
31%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
58%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Outside scholarships only trigger an aid adjustment if total aid would exceed the cost of attendance (or the student's aid eligibility cap); below that ceiling, awards are not displaced.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Your total financial aid package cannot exceed the university's cost of attendance. Awards that make-up a financial aid package include grants, scholarships, loans, work-study, and scholarships from private organizations.
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
AmountDetermined by PHEAA; amount varies year-to-yearEligibilityPennsylvania residents pursuing first bachelor's degree. Renewal requires at least 12 new credits per term (full-time) or 6 (half-time).
Specifically the PA state grant route — most prominent for in-state Drexel applicants.
AmountUp to $40,000 covering study abroad expensesEligibilityDrexel nominee only. Full-year study abroad at the University of Aberdeen required. Interview with St. Andrews Society members required.
One nominee per year — administered through Drexel Global rather than the central aid office.
Does my Drexel merit scholarship pay during co-op?
No. Drexel's terms state merit scholarships are renewable 'as long as you are registered full-time for classes (not... quarters you are on co-op).' Co-op terms are paid through your employer, but tuition is generally not charged for the co-op quarter — the scholarship simply does not apply that term.
Do I need a separate application for the A.J. Drexel Scholarship?
No. The A.J. Drexel Scholarship is awarded automatically based on the admission application — high school transcript and standardized test scores are the main criteria. The Liberty Scholars Program is a separate need+merit pathway with additional review.
Is the merit floor really $10,000 higher for ED/EA than RD?
Yes, for Fall 2026 admits. Drexel publishes the bands directly: 'Early Decision and Early Action: $20,000–$35,000' versus 'Regular Decision: $10,000–$35,000.' The ceiling is the same at the top of the band — the floor is $10,000 lower for RD.
Will an outside scholarship reduce my Drexel aid?
Often, yes. Drexel says about its own named-scholarship system: 'In most cases, the named scholarship will either reduce or replace your Drexel Grant. This will not result in additional financial assistance.' Outside scholarships are subject to similar treatment. Report all outside funding to Drexel Central.
How do I keep my merit scholarship for four years?
Maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA and full-time enrollment in non-co-op terms. Special scholarships have their own GPA and enrollment requirements communicated at the time of award. Renewal is checked annually; the dollar amount is set at admission and does not increase.
See sources and other schools+
How Drexel compares
241 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Drexel is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
667 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Drexel 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 Drexel’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
