Get merit aid25%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Last verifiedJul 2026Analyst COWORK
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The merit-aid verdict at Husson
DRAFT: Husson bills itself as New England's lowest-priced NECHE-accredited private university and awards Fall 2026 merit scholarships automatically at acceptance — but only the highest-level scholarship applies, the application deadline is January 1, 2026, and athletic money does not exist (D-III).
Rules that bite at Husson
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Husson's own published policy, not generic advice.
renewalHusson Merit-Based Scholarships (Fall 2026 entrants): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Recipients must be enrolled full-time day students and maintain continuous enrollment to keep the scholarship. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Husson
The page is explicit: 'Applicants receive highest-level scholarship only.' You get your single best award, not a pile.
'Admissions applications must be completed by January 1, 2026 in order to be considered' — late applicants are not reviewed for these merit awards.
'Husson University is NCAA Division III and athletic awards are not available.'
Despite the 3.0 GPA requirement, it also requires family AGI ≤ $80,000 AND Federal Pell Grant eligibility, and it only tops total aid up to tuition — it cannot exceed tuition or cover room/board.
Merit recipients 'must be enrolled full-time day students and maintain continuous enrollment to keep the scholarship'; Cyr additionally requires 12+ credits/semester.
Catalog: 'All applicants must file by April 15 in order to be considered for all available financial aid.'
The grant pays only 'while in the Extended Reality Program' or 'while in the School of Technology and Innovation' — switching programs ends it.
Who this school is for
DRAFT: Cost-conscious students — especially Penobscot County, Maine locals, who can tap the Cyr/Greenfield Opportunity Scholarships that top aid up to full tuition with a 3.0 GPA, Pell eligibility, and family AGI under $80,000.
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Husson, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Husson, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$16,606
$30,001–$48,000
$16,898
$48,001–$75,000
$17,496
$75,001–$110,000
$21,273
$110,001+
$25,262
All income levels (average)
$21,005
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$35,852
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$23,304
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$21,005
That works out to an average 41% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
59%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
75%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$27,000 (~$286/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$45,025
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
41%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
81%
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.
Admissions application completed by January 1, 2026; no additional scholarship forms; recipients determined at time of acceptance; full-time day enrollment; applicants receive highest-level scholarship only
Renewal terms
Recipients must be enrolled full-time day students and maintain continuous enrollment to keep the scholarship.
Notes
The scholarships page lists merit-based, need-based, and transfer scholarship details inside interactive accordion panels whose dollar amounts did not render in the page text I could retrieve — individual freshman merit tier names/amounts could NOT be captured and are NOT invented here. See Section C. Husson is NCAA Division III: 'athletic awards are not available.'
Amount not published…Amount not published (varies; tops aid up to full program tuition)
Cyr Opportunity Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
GPA
Cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher by end of junior year
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
First-year, first-time, full-time students who are Penobscot County, ME residents or attend a Penobscot County high school; family AGI of $80,000 or less per FAFSA; must be Federal Pell Grant eligible; automatic review with FAFSA + admission application
Renewal terms
Up to 4 years; requires annual FAFSA, Satisfactory Academic Progress, good standing, and at least 12 credits/semester (24/year).
Notes
Tuition-capped gap award: 'the scholarship with a combination of all other forms of financial aid will be equal to the cost of tuition for the students selected academic program.' Need gates apply despite the merit GPA floor.
Outside scholarships reduce loans and/or work-study first; institutional grants are only reduced if required to prevent an over-award.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): How do outside scholarships and tuition assistance affect my Husson University financial aid? Outside scholarships or tuition benefits will reduce the self-help component (loans and work component) of your financial aid package, but will not reduce the family contribution. If all the self-help support in your award is canceled, in some cases, the Husson grant aid may need to be reduced or canceled as well. *New: Beginning July 1, 2026, scholarship funds that exceed the financial aid cost of attendance may lead to a loss or reduction of the Federal Pell Grant. Loans and workstudy funds will be reduced first. Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: Husson's one explicit cross-award rule is 'Applicants receive highest-level scholarship only' — merit awards do not stack with each other. (per https://www.husson.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/)
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Husson’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
25%of admitsget merit
Average award$8,869
At Husson, roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $8,869.
As filed in Husson's CDS Section H2A: of 416 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 105 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $8,869. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 447 of 1,898, averaging $8,771. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.
AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityCompanion Penobscot County opportunity scholarship (own page in the scholarships navigation); page not opened in this session — criteria unverified.
Verify against https://www.husson.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/greenfield-opportunity-scholarship.html
AmountVaries by sponsorEligibilityOutside awards listed by Husson's aid office, e.g., Competitive Skills Scholarship Program (CSSP), Gilman International Scholarship, Maine Teacher Scholarship, Worthington Foundation Scholarship.
For merit scholarships for students entering Fall 2026, the admissions application must be completed by January 1, 2026. The FAFSA must be filed by April 15 to be considered for all available aid (catalog).
Do I need a separate scholarship application?
No — 'For Husson Scholarships, there are no additional steps. You are automatically reviewed for eligibility when you apply,' and recipients are determined at acceptance.
How much are the freshman merit scholarships?
Specific freshman merit amounts are presented in expandable panels on Husson's scholarships page and could not be captured in this extraction — contact finaid@husson.edu (207.941.7156) for the current Fall 2026 amounts. Published flat figures include the Transfer Academic Scholarship ($4,000-$12,000 total), Alfond Technology Grant ($4,000-$8,000 total), and International Residency Grant ($5,600 total).
What do I do with an outside scholarship?
Email the aid office a copy of the scholarship confirmation or upload it to the student portal; it is added to your account and offer letter. Funds appear on your bill only after the sponsor pays.
How Husson compares across our verified dataset
147 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
Husson is in a recognizable cluster (147 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Husson 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 Husson’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
