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Lafayette scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$90,358per year · 2025-2026 · On-campus
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

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

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. Marquis FellowshipFull tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Marquis Fellowship

    Full tuition

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

    GPA
    3.00 minimum for renewal
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Marquis Fellowship

    Who qualifies

    All applicants automatically considered; selection based on the academic record prior to enrolling at Lafayette. Admissions interview encouraged. No additional application required.

    How to keep it

    Renewable annually for up to 8 semesters of full-time study with cumulative 3.00 GPA

    Worth knowing

    Lafayette's top-tier merit award. ED applicants are considered but the college flags that students for whom merit is critical should apply RD.

  2. Marquis ScholarshipHalf tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Marquis Scholarship

    Half tuition

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

    GPA
    3.00 minimum for renewal
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Marquis Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    All applicants automatically considered; selection based on academic record. No additional application required.

    How to keep it

    Renewable annually for up to 8 semesters of full-time study with cumulative 3.00 GPA

  3. Cur Non Scholarship$17,500 - $31,500 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Cur Non Scholarship

    $17,500 - $31,500 per year

    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 Cur Non Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    All applicants automatically considered; selection based on academic record, curriculum, grades, rank, and optional standardized test scores. Curious-engagement and community-impact signals are weighted alongside grades.

    How to keep it

    Renewable annually for up to 8 semesters of full-time study; specific GPA contract not published — confirm renewal terms in writing.

    Worth knowing

    The broad-band award — most non-Marquis merit recipients land somewhere on this ladder.

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  • “it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa

The fine print

Renewal ruleMarquis Fellowship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewable annually for up to 8 semesters of full-time study with cumulative 3.00 GPA A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Lafayette different

Eastern Pennsylvania LAC that combines a tight Marquis/Cur Non merit ladder (half- to full-tuition, plus a $17,500-$31,500 broad band) with a meet-full-need promise and one of the cleanest no-displacement outside-scholarship policies published anywhere.

Merit tiers3See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  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 Lafayette'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 Lafayette's aid office says

Per the Financial Aid Office, Lafayette College, August 2026. How we verify

Need-based aid application requirements

What do we need to submit to be considered for need-based financial aid?

Students seeking institutional need-based financial aid must submit a FAFSA and CSS Profile by the appropriate deadlines.

“Students who are seeking institutional need based financial aid from Lafayette are required to submit a FAFSA and CSS Profile by the appropriate deadlines.”
Meeting demonstrated need

Does Lafayette meet full demonstrated financial need?

Eligibility is based on demonstrated need, and Lafayette meets 100% of demonstrated need.

“Eligibility is determined based on demonstrated need, which Lafayette College meets 100% of.”
Need above merit scholarships

If a student's need is greater than their merit scholarship, will the college cover the difference?

If a student's demonstrated need exceeds any offered merit scholarships, the College will meet that additional need.

“If a student demonstrates need above any offered merit scholarships, that need will be met by the College.”
Stacking of awards

Can merit scholarships be combined/stacked with other institutional awards?

Lafayette does not stack awards.

“We do not stack awards at Lafayette.”
Merit scholarship application process

Does my son need to submit something separate for merit scholarship consideration, or is it part of the general application?

Merit scholarship consideration is part of the application process and no additional steps are needed.

“Merit is part of the application process. No additional steps are needed.”
Submitting new/official SAT scores

How can a new SAT score be sent to the school so it counts as official?

New SAT scores can be sent officially either electronically by the student's school or by email to that address, and it will then be considered official.

“The new SAT scores can be shared with us either by the student's school electronically or by email. They can send it to this email address. It would be considered official then.”
Self-reported SAT scores

What happens if the student sends the new SAT score himself instead of through the school?

If the student sends the new score himself, it will be considered self-reported.

“If the student sends the new scores it will be considered self reported.”

What families often miss

  1. Lafayette explicitly cautions: 'If your enrollment here is critically dependent on being awarded a merit-based scholarship, you should apply under the Regular Decision option.' ED is binding, so a student admitted ED without the Marquis or Cur Non award they need is stuck. Apply RD to preserve the option to walk away.

  2. Lafayette is one of the ~200 colleges that still require the CSS Profile alongside FAFSA for institutional need-based aid. Lafayette also uses the College Board's IDOC service for tax documents. FAFSA alone gets you federal aid but not the Lafayette institutional grant.

  3. Cur Non Scholarships range from $17,500 to $31,500 per year — a $14,000 spread between the floor and ceiling, or $56,000 over four years. Lafayette does not publish a stat-to-dollar table within the range. Plan the family budget around the Cur Non floor until the actual award arrives.

  4. Lafayette is one of the few LACs that publicly commits to not reducing institutional grant aid in response to outside scholarships. The only exception is when total aid would exceed federal maximum allowed financial aid. For families with significant outside scholarship potential (regional, employer, civic awards), this is meaningfully more valuable than at peer schools that follow a grant-first displacement policy.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Academically strong students who want a small Pennsylvania LAC with both real merit and meet-full-need aid; especially attractive to families under $200,000 income (class of 2028 onward) who qualify for Lafayette's loan-reduction initiative and want freedom to stack outside scholarships without losing institutional grant.

Cost of attendance$90,358 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
On-campus$90,358
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Loan fees

Federal COA, First-Year/Entering Students 2025-2026. Tuition & fees combines tuition ($66,496), activity fee ($360), matriculation fee ($750).

Lafayette cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Lafayette, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,716
$30,001–$48,000$7,445
$48,001–$75,000$10,881
$75,001–$110,000$12,581
$110,001+$52,608
All income levels (average)$34,433

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$65,398
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$34,433

That works out to roughly a 59% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $83,133 (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
88%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
90%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$16,000 (~$170/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$91,410
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
14%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
20%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Lafayette explicitly does not displace institutional grant aid in response to outside scholarships, except when total aid would exceed federal limits — one of the most stacker-friendly published policies among LACs of this tier.

Per Lafayette's published FAQ, the college encourages outside scholarships and does not reduce need-based grant funding in response, with the only exception being when total aid would push a student above federal maximum allowed financial aid. Outside scholarships should be reported via the Report Outside Scholarships form.

Source

Other Lafayette scholarships worth checking

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

AmountEliminates or lowers loan burden for students from families with incomes under $200,000EligibilityClass of 2028 and forward. Awarded as part of the need-based aid package; requires CSS Profile and FAFSA.

Source

Lafayette merit aid FAQ

  • How much merit aid does Lafayette give?

    Lafayette publishes three named merit awards: the Marquis Fellowship (full tuition), the Marquis Scholarship (half tuition), and the Cur Non Scholarship ($17,500-$31,500 per year). All applicants are automatically considered with no separate application required. All three are renewable for up to 8 semesters with a 3.00 cumulative GPA.

  • Does Lafayette meet full demonstrated need?

    Yes. Lafayette is one of approximately 100 U.S. colleges that guarantees to meet the full demonstrated financial need of admitted students who submit the CSS Profile, FAFSA, and IDOC tax documents by the appropriate deadlines. Need-based aid is reviewed and re-awarded each academic year.

  • Will outside scholarships reduce my Lafayette aid?

    Generally no. Lafayette's published policy is that the College does not reduce need-based grant funding in response to outside scholarships unless a student is already receiving the maximum amount of financial aid according to federal regulations. This is one of the most generous published outside-scholarship policies among LACs of this tier.

  • Is the Marquis Fellowship harder to get if I apply Early Decision?

    Lafayette says all ED I, ED II, and RD applicants are considered for merit, and merit awards are noted in the acceptance letter. But the College explicitly warns: if merit is critical to your enrollment, apply RD. ED is binding, so a student who needs a specific award level should not lock themselves in before that award is known.

  • Does Lafayette have a no-loan or low-loan policy?

    Yes, beginning with the class of 2028. Lafayette is among a small number of top colleges and universities eliminating or lowering the loan burden of students from families with incomes under $200,000. The mechanics are folded into the need-based aid package — apply with the CSS Profile and FAFSA by the deadlines.

See sources and other schools

How Lafayette compares

  • 14 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use no-displacement displacement.

    Lafayette is in the small minority (14 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.

    Lafayette 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 Lafayette’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Lafayette merit aid

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