California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt · California

Cal Poly Humboldt scholarships and merit aid

Cal Poly Humboldt awards merit aid to students pursuing specialized studies in environmental science, natural resources, and marine biology.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is Cal Poly Humboldt worth a closer look?

Cal Poly Humboldt may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Merit tiers5See who qualifies

Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

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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.

Amount not published

Manuel C. Kaster Scholarship

Apply separately

GPA: 2.5

Source

Up to $750

Csu Coast Awards

Apply separately

GPA: 2

Source

Up to $1,000

Green Diamond Resource Company Natural Resources Scholarship

Apply separately

Source

Amount not published

Northern California Botanists Barbara Castro Student Botany Research Scholarship Program

Apply separately

Source

$1,500

Western Chapter Of The International Society Of Arboriculture Scholarship

Apply separately

Source

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

This aid is designed for students focused on hands-on work in environmental and natural science fields, particularly those interested in research or teaching careers.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $29,894 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Cal Poly Humboldt, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income	Average net price paid
$0–$30,000	$8,483
$30,001–$48,000	$8,812
$48,001–$75,000	$11,088
$75,001–$110,000	$15,593
$110,001+	$22,228
All income levels (average)	$13,171

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23: $8,250
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23: $20,850
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22: $13,171

That works out to roughly a 48% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $25,170 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Cal Poly Humboldt 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: 49%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort: 76%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers: $18,000 (~$191/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21): $47,626
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22: 37%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22: 34%

How to read these numbers

Net price reflects only first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV financial aid — not Cal Poly Humboldt's full student body.
Published tuition is the catalog sticker price for all students, not a Title IV-only figure.
Graduation rate reflects the entire first-time, full-time, degree-seeking cohort — not only students who received Title IV aid.
Retention rate reflects all first-time, full-time, bachelor's-seeking students — not only Title IV aid recipients.
Median debt reflects only completers who took out federal student loans — not Cal Poly Humboldt's full graduating class, and not limited to first-time, full-time students.
Median earnings reflect Title IV aid recipients who entered college and were working (not enrolled) roughly a decade later — not necessarily the graduating cohort, and not a recent graduate's paycheck.
Pell grant and federal loan participation covers first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students only.
Net price blends need-based aid and merit aid together — it is not a merit-specific estimate. It shows what similar-income families actually paid on average after every kind of aid, not what a strong-stats student could win in merit dollars alone. Treat it as cost context, not a merit forecast — a MeritPlaybook models merit aid specifically for your student’s own stats, which this net-price figure cannot do.

None of this is current-year data — the U.S. Department of Education reports it on a delay, and different figures below come from different reporting years. Net price is an academic year 2021-22 figure. Published tuition reflects the 2022-23 academic year. Graduation rate reflects the Fall 2016 entering, full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking cohort; completion measured within 150% of normal time (~6 years for a bachelor's degree). IPEDS Graduation Rates component (C150_4). Retention reflects the Fall 2021 full-time, first-time, bachelor's-seeking cohort retained into the following fall. IPEDS Fall Enrollment component (RET_FT4). Median debt reflects the NSLDS FY2020 and FY2021 pooled completer cohorts (GRAD_DEBT_MDN, GRAD_DEBT_MDN10YR_SUPP). Median earnings reflect the Treasury-matched cohort entering college in AY2009-10 or AY2010-11, earnings measured 10 years later in calendar years 2020 and 2021, inflation-adjusted to 2022 dollars (MD_EARN_WNE_P10).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

See other scholarships and cost examples

Other Cal Poly Humboldt scholarships worth checking

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

Rumble Award For Excellence In Botany

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityRumble Award for Excellence in Botany recognizes an outstanding graduate botany student, with selection based primarily on academic excellence.

Source

Fred And Margaret Telonicher Memorial Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityFred and Margaret Telonicher Memorial Scholarship is granted annually to a Cal Poly Humboldt undergraduate student in any concentration or major within the Department of Biological Sciences exclusively on the basis of academic excellence.

Source

Brusca Zoology Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityBrusca Zoology Scholarship is awarded annually to graduate students in their 1st or 2nd year at Humboldt with exceptional interest and promise in field and/or laboratory studies of Invertebrate Zoology.

Source

Sterling J. Sam Botany Diversity Award

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilitySterling J. Sam Botany Diversity Award is for qualifying Botany seniors and graduate students and is based primarily on academic experience, with field and/or research experience also considered.

Source

Stephen Hillenburg Marine Science Research Award

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityStephen Hillenburg Marine Science Research Award is awarded based on a research proposal and academic excellence to recognize students conducting creative marine science research.

Source

Siering Wilson Undergraduate Research Endowment

Amount$500–$1,500EligibilitySiering/Wilson Undergraduate Research Endowment funds undergraduate research activities in Microbial Ecology and Environmental Microbiology, with multiple grants of $500-$1500 anticipated.

Source

Malcolm Oliphant Scholarships In Marine Science

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityMalcolm Oliphant Scholarships in Marine Science are awarded on the basis of excellence, with academic promise demonstrated by scholastic achievement and faculty letters.

Source

Milton J. Boyd Teaching Associate Award

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityMilton J. Boyd Teaching Associate Award recognizes outstanding first-year graduate students in Biological Sciences who have served as Teaching Associates through exemplary performance.

Source

James F. Welsh Biology Scholarship

Amount$2,500–$3,000EligibilityJames F. Welsh Biology Scholarship provides multiple scholarships of $2,500 - $3,000 to eligible senior-standing biology, botany, or zoology majors with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher who intend to pursue graduate education in the biological sciences.

Source

See sources and other schools

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Cal Poly Humboldt’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Cost of attendanceCal Poly Humboldt cost-of-attendance worksheet
Merit tiersManuel C. Kaster Scholarship

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