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Olin College scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$97,088per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Olin College awards automatic merit on admission. Olin College does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
2 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. Olin Tuition Scholarship$10,000AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Olin Tuition Scholarship

    $10,000

    Published 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 Olin Tuition Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    All admitted students; recognizes pre-college achievement. No separate application.

    How to keep it

    Awarded for a maximum of eight semesters of required full-time study. Full-time Study Away (pre-approved) counts as one of the eight semesters; a partial semester (withdrawal/leave) also counts. Payment of full tuition is required for any semester(s) beyond eight. Forfeited if permanently disqualified for academic/disciplinary reasons.

    Worth knowing

    FIXED $10,000/year for ALL incoming students starting Fall 2026 — this replaces the historic 'half tuition to all admits.' Against 2026-27 tuition of $67,004, this covers roughly 15% of tuition.

  2. Phoenix Award$7,000-$17,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Phoenix Award

    $7,000-$17,000

    Published rangeNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Phoenix Award

    Who qualifies

    Recognizes leadership, service, community impact, and commitment to educating/edifying/healing. Preference to students from middle-income families. Chosen during the two-step holistic admission process.

    How to keep it

    A four-year grant; released at the time of admission.

    Worth knowing

    New starting Fall 2026. Designed to bridge the gap for middle-income families.

  3. Iris Shanyue Tang Scholarship FundUp to $10,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Iris Shanyue Tang Scholarship Fund

    Up to $10,000

    Variable or qualified amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Iris Shanyue Tang Scholarship Fund

    Who qualifies

    Students who have achieved academic excellence and have a demonstrated interest in the arts.

    How to keep it

    Up to $10,000 per year, for up to four years of study.

    Worth knowing

    Named in honor of Iris Shanyue Tang '29. Combines academic excellence with an arts interest.

  4. Olin National Merit Scholarship$1,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Olin National Merit Scholarship

    $1,000

    Published amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Olin National Merit Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    National Merit Finalists who designate Olin as first-choice but do not receive an NMSC/corporate scholarship may be designated Olin National Merit Scholars.

    How to keep it

    $1,000 for four years; student must submit renewal paperwork to National Merit each year.

    Worth knowing

    Funded by Olin College for finalists not sponsored elsewhere.

Lights up against Olin College'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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The fine print

Renewal ruleOlin Tuition Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Awarded for a maximum of eight semesters of required full-time study. Full-time Study Away (pre-approved) counts as one of the eight semesters; a partial semester (withdrawal/leave) also counts. Payment of full tuition is required for any semester(s) beyond eight. Forfeited if permanently disqualified for academic/disciplinary reasons. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Olin College different

Starting Fall 2026, Olin's universal merit award is a FIXED $10,000/year Olin Tuition Scholarship for every admit (no longer half tuition) — a modest offset against $67,004 tuition — supplemented by the new Phoenix Award and a commitment to meet full demonstrated need.

Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

More than one award path

Separate the two paths.

Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.

  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 Olin College's decision sheet

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

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. That is outdated. Starting Fall 2026, the Olin Tuition Scholarship is a FIXED $10,000/year for all incoming students — not a percentage of tuition.

  2. 2026-27 tuition is $67,004 and total cost of attendance is $97,088, so the $10,000 merit award offsets only about 15% of tuition. Most affordability comes from need-based aid, not the merit award.

  3. Merit awards are coordinated with need-based aid and counted as a resource to meet demonstrated need; they cannot be used to reduce the family's calculated contribution.

  4. The Olin Tuition Scholarship lasts a maximum of eight semesters; a pre-approved Study Away semester and even a partial (withdrawal/leave) semester each count as one of the eight, and any semester beyond eight requires full tuition payment.

  5. Full need-based aid is available only to U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens (FAFSA-determined). The $10,000 merit award and National Merit award are need-independent, but full demonstrated-need funding is citizenship-restricted.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Any admitted Olin engineering student receives the $10,000/year merit award; middle-income changemakers may add the Phoenix Award, and U.S. citizens/eligible non-citizens with need have their full demonstrated need met.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $97,088 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Olin College, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$30,001–$48,000$3,100
$48,001–$75,000$9,528
$75,001–$110,000$12,271
$110,001+$27,096
All income levels (average)$25,171

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$66,398
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$25,171

That works out to roughly a 71% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $86,474 (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
96%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
98%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,500 (~$207/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$129,455
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
14%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
29%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Merit awards are coordinated with need-based aid: the Olin Tuition Scholarship is counted as a resource used to meet demonstrated need and cannot reduce the family's calculated contribution. Outside scholarships restricted to tuition only reduce the Olin Tuition Scholarship if they exceed remaining tuition; otherwise outside awards reduce self-help (subsidized loans) first.

While the Olin Tuition Scholarship and National Merit award are independent of need, they are included in the aid that meets demonstrated need and cannot reduce the family contribution. For need-based students, outside scholarships first reduce self-help (subsidized loans); only if they exceed self-help is the Olin need-based grant reduced (because Olin meets full need at the federal maximum).

Source

Other Olin College scholarships worth checking

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

AmountEqual to room chargeEligibilityStudents selected to be an 'R2' (resident resource) by Student Affairs and Resources.

Counted as a resource in a need-based package; replaces student contribution or subsidized loan before reducing need-based grant.

Source

AmountNeed-based (varies)EligibilityAwarded annually based on financial need; no additional application (FAFSA-based).

Named/endowed funds; may be renewable.

Source

Olin College merit aid FAQ

  • Does every admitted student get a merit scholarship?

    Yes — the Olin Tuition Scholarship, a fixed $10,000/year (starting Fall 2026) for all incoming students, awarded for up to eight semesters of full-time study.

  • Is the Olin merit award still half tuition?

    No. As of Fall 2026 it is a fixed $10,000 per year, not half of tuition.

  • What is the Phoenix Award?

    A new four-year grant (Fall 2026) of $7,000-$17,000/year for students who embody Olin's ethos, with preference to middle-income families; recipients are selected at admission.

  • Does Olin meet financial need?

    Yes. Olin is committed to meeting full demonstrated financial need for up to eight semesters; full need-based aid is available to U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens (FAFSA-determined).

  • What does Olin cost for 2026-2027?

    Tuition is $67,004 and the total cost of attendance before aid is $97,088.

See sources and other schools

How Olin College compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Olin College is in a recognizable cluster (145 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

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

    Olin College 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.

  • 132 of 749 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.

    Olin College is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Olin College’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • BU merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Brandeis merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Clark merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Emerson merit aid. Massachusetts private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring Olin College merit aid

The next chapter

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