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FIU scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$28,232per year · 2025-26 · ResidentNon-resident $41,870
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

FIU is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 2 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
4 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

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.

Where does your student land?

  1. FIU's Golden Promise100% of tuition and feesAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    FIU's Golden Promise

    100% of tuition and fees

    Published coverage or packageAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    2.0+ cumulative GPA each semester for renewal
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for FIU's Golden Promise

    Who qualifies

    Florida resident, U.S. citizen or permanent resident, FAFSA filed before enrollment, Student Aid Index (SAI) of 0 or less. First-time-in-college freshman (fall 2017+) or new transfer (fall 2023+). Minimum 12 credits per semester (15 recommended).

    How to keep it

    Covers up to 30 credits per year, 120 credits (4 years), provided the student completes 30 credit hours each year and maintains a 2.0+ cumulative GPA each semester.

    Worth knowing

    Funded through a combination of federal, state, and institutional grants — not a single line-item institutional scholarship. SAI ≤ 0 is the binding test, not high-school GPA or test scores.

  2. FIU Institutional Merit ScholarshipsAmount varies; named tiers and dollar values not published on the public scholarship pageAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    FIU Institutional Merit Scholarships

    Amount varies; named tiers and dollar values not published on the public scholarship page

    Variable or qualified amountAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for FIU Institutional Merit Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    Awarded by the FIU Office of Scholarships to incoming freshmen and transfers based on the admission application. Details and specific tier names live in the AcademicWorks scholarship search portal rather than on the public scholarship page.

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms vary by individual scholarship; verify in the offer letter.

Lights up against FIU's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.

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Checking merit aid at FIU

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Green Library at Florida International University

Green Library at Florida International University

What makes FIU different

Miami's large Hispanic-serving public where the headline aid story is FIU's Golden Promise — a 100% tuition-and-fees guarantee for Florida residents with SAI ≤ 0 — stacked with state Bright Futures rather than a stat-driven merit ladder.

Merit tiers22 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards33%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Published academic criteria

Start with the thresholds.

These awards are recorded as automatic on academic criteria. Match the published grades and scores, then check residency, entering year and every additional condition.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. Know what happens next year

    Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.

The fine print / Three questions to carry forward

Before you count on it.

Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.

Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.

Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.

Take FIU's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

Straight from the aid office

What FIU's aid office says

Per the OneStop Office, Florida International University, July 2026. How we verify

Reduction of aid due to outside scholarships

If a student wins an outside scholarship that pushes total aid over the budget, which awards get reduced first?

If an outside scholarship causes total financial aid to exceed the allowed budget for the term, FIU reduces other awards such as institutional grants, student loans, or Federal Work-Study to make room for the scholarship.

“If the private scholarship causes a student total financial aid to go over the allowed financial aid budget for the term, FIU will need to reduce certain types of awards to make room for the scholarship. This could include institutional grants, student loans, or Federal Work-Study funds.”
Protected awards not reduced

Are there any awards FIU will not reduce because of an outside scholarship?

FIU will not reduce a student's Federal Pell Grant, FIU merit scholarships, or Bright Futures Scholarship.

“However, FIU cannot reduce students Federal Pell Grant, FIU merit scholarships, or Bright Futures Scholarship.”

What families often miss

  1. Golden Promise is gated by Student Aid Index (SAI) of 0 or less, not by GPA or test scores. A high-stats student whose family doesn't qualify on SAI cannot tap Golden Promise — they have to make affordability work through Bright Futures + institutional aid + family contribution.

  2. FIU's Golden Promise explicitly requires the FAFSA to be filed BEFORE the student enrolls. Late FAFSAs disqualify the student from the program even if the family otherwise meets the SAI threshold.

  3. Golden Promise requires 30 credits per year for renewal. Students who take only 12 credits per semester (24/year) fall short of the renewal floor and lose the award. FIU recommends 15 credits per semester to stay safely above the requirement.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Florida residents whose family Student Aid Index (SAI) is at or near zero, plus Bright Futures-eligible families who can stack the state award with FIU institutional aid. Out-of-state students should weigh the $41K+ sticker without expecting a deep merit discount.

Cost of attendance$28,232–$41,870 for 2025-26Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$41,870
In-state, on-campus$28,232
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Loan fees

Public; both in-state and out-of-state on-campus published. Both scenarios sum exactly. Health insurance not itemized.

FIU cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at FIU, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at FIU, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$7,003
$30,001–$48,000$7,873
$48,001–$75,000$10,925
$75,001–$110,000$14,568
$110,001+$18,200
All income levels (average)$9,288

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$6,565
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$18,964
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$9,288

That works out to roughly a 57% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $21,462 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

FIU is a public school; Scorecard's net price figure covers 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
74%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
92%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$16,500 (~$175/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$60,249
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
47%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
10%
See other scholarships and cost examples

More school data

From the FIU Common Data Set 2024-2025:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From FIU’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
33%of admitsget merit
Average award$2,149Covers ~5% of $41,870 cost of attendance

At FIU, roughly 1 in 3 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $2,149 — about 5% of total cost.

As filed in FIU's CDS Section H2A: of 3,453 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 1,130 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $2,149. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,438 of 27,076, averaging $2,044. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

Receive institutional merit33%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Average merit award$2,149Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025

Source: Common Data Set 2024-2025 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other FIU scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountTiered state award covering a portion to all of FIU tuition and fees depending on tierEligibilityFlorida high school graduates meeting the state's GPA, test, and service-hour thresholds. State sets the award.

Stacks with FIU institutional aid and Golden Promise toward the 100% tuition-and-fees target for eligible Florida residents.

Source

FIU merit aid FAQ

  • Who qualifies for FIU's Golden Promise?

    Florida residents who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, file the FAFSA before enrolling at FIU, have a Student Aid Index (SAI) of 0 or less, and are either first-time-in-college freshmen (starting fall 2017+) or new transfers (starting fall 2023+).

  • What does FIU's Golden Promise cover?

    100% of tuition and fees through a stack of federal, state, and institutional grants. It covers up to 30 credits per year, 120 credits (4 years) total. Housing, food, books, and personal expenses are NOT covered.

  • Does FIU publish named merit scholarship tiers and dollar amounts?

    Not publicly. FIU references merit scholarships and an AcademicWorks scholarship search portal, but does not publish a stat-driven tier ladder with dollar amounts on its public scholarship page. Specific awards appear in the admission decision.

  • Can I stack Bright Futures with FIU institutional aid?

    Yes. Bright Futures is the Florida state-funded foundation; FIU institutional grants and Golden Promise stack on top up to the 100% tuition-and-fees target. The combined stack is the standard path to affordability for in-state students.

  • How much does FIU cost?

    Florida residents on-campus: $28,232 (2025-26). Non-residents on-campus: $41,870. At-home Florida residents: $20,218. The FIU board is considering an out-of-state fee increase for fall 2026.

See sources and other schools

How FIU compares

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    FIU is one of them. The cohort minority (84 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 FIU’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • UCF merit aid. Florida public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • UF Online merit aid. Florida public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • USF merit aid. Florida public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • UWF merit aid. Florida public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring FIU merit aid

The next chapter

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