Skip to content

National Louis scholarships and merit aid

The short answer

National Louis is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 6 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
5 school sources to explore

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

Step 1 of comparing your list

Check the rules that could cut this.

Check National Louis free in 30 seconds. Then see how it ranks against the rest of your list.

Checking merit aid at National Louis

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

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. Bold Futures ScholarshipFull tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Bold Futures Scholarship

    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
    3.0 (high school transcript)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Bold Futures Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Illinois high school graduate, class of 2026; admission application by February 28, 2026; FAFSA or IL Alternative Application by March 31, 2026; approximately 2-minute video by April 17, 2026; all NLU bachelor's programs except Culinary Management

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA to remain eligible; covers 15 quarter hours per term until 180 quarter hours of combined transfer and institutional coursework; FAFSA or Alternative Application required each year; must adhere to SAP policy.

    Worth knowing

    Up to fifty awards. LAST-DOLLAR award: covers only the remaining tuition balance after all other gift aid (grants, scholarships) is posted; does not cover fees, housing, or U-Pass.

  2. D214 National Louis ScholarshipFull tuition (up to $12,000)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    D214 National Louis Scholarship

    Full tuition (up to $12,000)

    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 D214 National Louis Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Graduating senior from a Township High School District 214 high school (Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, John Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove, Vanguard); admitted to a daytime undergraduate program at the Wheeling campus; FAFSA or Alternative Application completion required; separate scholarship application; apply by April 13, 2026

    How to keep it

    Renewable for four years; maintain a 2.50 or higher cumulative GPA; enroll for at least 10 quarter hours per term; covers 15 quarter hours per term until 180 quarter hours; FAFSA or Alternative Application required each year by the posted deadline.

    Worth knowing

    At least 2 scholarships for the 2026-27 academic year. LAST-DOLLAR: grants or outside scholarships are applied first and D214 covers only unmet tuition charges.

  3. Undergraduate Honors Program (UHP) ScholarshipUp to $2,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Undergraduate Honors Program (UHP) Scholarship

    Up to $2,000

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

    GPA
    3.3 high school GPA for Honors Program admission (per NLU Counselor Kit)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Undergraduate Honors Program (UHP) Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Must be invited and accepted to the Undergraduate Honors Program; awarded after determining eligibility for Federal and State grants

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to five consecutive years as long as membership in UHP, full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic progress is maintained.

    Worth knowing

    The NLU Counselor Kit page lists this as 'Presidential Honors Scholarship: up to $2,000' and lists an April 1 Honors Program application date.

  4. Baker ScholarshipUp to $1,800 ($600 per term)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Baker Scholarship

    Up to $1,800 ($600 per term)

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

    GPA
    3.35 transfer GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Baker Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students: full admission to an undergraduate degree program; more than 30 quarter hours of accepted college transfer credits; enrollment in 14 or more quarter hours per academic term; U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status

    How to keep it

    The award is renewable as long as a 3.35+ GPA is maintained; can be awarded until the student has attempted 180 quarter hours of combined transfer and institutional coursework.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic merit award for eligible transfer students. Tuition-only and not refundable; cannot be combined with another NLU institutional scholarship (one institutional resource per academic year).

  5. Direct to Success Scholarship25% of total tuitionNot automatic
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Direct to Success Scholarship

    25% of total tuition

    Published coverage or packageNot 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.

    Open award details for Direct to Success Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students entering NLU through the Direct to Success program (for international students, transferring with a conferred associate degree within a year of attaining it)

    Worth knowing

    Awarded based on transfer pathway, not on a GPA/test grid. The tuition-and-fees page notes its posted transfer rates do not include students eligible for this scholarship.

  6. NLU International Fresh Start Scholarship44% tuition reduction ($430 to $239 per quarter credit hour)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    NLU International Fresh Start Scholarship

    44% tuition reduction ($430 to $239 per quarter credit hour)

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

    GPA
    2.0 minimum to maintain
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for NLU International Fresh Start Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    International students on an F1 visa; first-time freshman (less than 20 semester/30 quarter hours of prior coursework); on-campus in Chicago or Wheeling; Undergraduate College programs

    How to keep it

    Renewable each term of study; must maintain full-time status (14+ credits/term), continuous enrollment (Summer optional), a minimum GPA of 2.0, and F1 status.

    Worth knowing

    Automatically applied upon acceptance and registration (automatic on enrollment status, not on GPA/test stats). Brings annual tuition to $10,755 per the page.

Lights up against National Louis's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office.

This page covers one school.

Your playbook does this for every school on your list, sorted by what you’d pay.

Ready in under 10 minutes. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get my playbook$79
  • Secure payment through Stripe
  • “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 ruleUndergraduate Honors Program (UHP) Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewable for up to five consecutive years as long as membership in UHP, full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic progress is maintained. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

Outside awardsNo published displacement order

National Louis's policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.

What makes National Louis different

NLU is a low-sticker-price access university whose headline merit awards (Bold Futures, D214) are LAST-DOLLAR full-tuition scholarships that shrink as other gift aid is posted, and students may hold only one NLU institutional award per academic year.

Merit tiers61 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 National Louis'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. The scholarships page states plainly: 'Students are only eligible to receive one NLU resource per academic year.' If a student receives one institutional scholarship (e.g., Baker), they will not also be awarded another.

  2. It is a LAST-DOLLAR award: it 'will cover any remaining tuition balance (not including fees) after all other gift aid (grants, scholarships) have been posted,' and 'it does not cover fees, housing, or Upass.' Pell/MAP and other scholarships post first, so the NLU dollars shrink accordingly, and housing/fees remain out of pocket.

  3. The D214 page states: 'Any grants or outside scholarships received will be applied first and the D214 NLU scholarship will cover any unmet tuition charges' — outside money displaces the NLU scholarship dollar-for-dollar within tuition.

  4. Bold Futures and D214 both require the FAFSA or IL Alternative Application EVERY year (Bold Futures: by March 31, 2026 for the first year; D214: by April 13, 2026 and before the Illinois MAP deadline each year, which 'is decided at the last minute'). Missing it costs the scholarship.

  5. Renewal cutoffs differ by award: Bold Futures requires a 3.0+ cumulative GPA, Baker requires 3.35+, D214 requires 2.50+, and the international awards require 2.0+. Falling below the threshold ends the award.

  6. NLU scholarships are 'not refundable to the student, can only be used to cover tuition costs' — they never generate a refund check for housing, food, or books.

  7. The $0-tuition Forward Scholarship is limited to Illinois residents with family income of $75,000 or less enrolling as undergraduate freshmen, covers only the gap after MAP/Pell, excludes housing and U-Pass, and excludes Accelerate U, Culinary, Baking and Pastry, and Nursing programs.

  8. The scholarships page states: 'All National Louis Scholarships require U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status.' Undocumented students are pointed to the NLU Eagle Dream Scholarship; international students to the NLU Alumni Scholarship and PTK Scholarship (plus the dedicated international awards).

  9. NLU is test blind ('You will not need to submit your ACT or SAT for an admissions decision') and publishes no GPA/test merit grid; the headline merit awards run on GPA plus a video application.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Illinois high-school seniors with a 3.0+ GPA willing to submit a 2-minute video for a last-dollar full-tuition Bold Futures award, and transfer students with a 3.35+ GPA who get the automatic Baker Scholarship. Lower-income Illinois families may do better through the need-based NLU Forward $0-tuition pledge ($75,000 income cap). NLU is test blind, so there is no test-score merit grid.

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at National Louis, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,462
$30,001–$48,000$11,567
$48,001–$75,000$12,996
$75,001–$110,000$15,447
$110,001+$17,956
All income levels (average)$12,641

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$24,154
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$12,705
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$12,641

That works out to an average 48% 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
30%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
50%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,750 (~$209/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$45,799
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
72%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
10%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

NLU's D214 partnership scholarship is last-dollar (outside scholarships apply first and the award covers only remaining tuition), but the university does not publish a general outside-scholarship displacement policy; confirm treatment with the aid office.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Any grants or outside scholarships received will be applied first and the D214 NLU scholarship will cover any unmet tuition charges ...

Source

Other National Louis scholarships worth checking

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

Amount$0 tuition (last-dollar)EligibilityNeed-based: family income $75,000 or less; Illinois resident; enrolling as an undergraduate freshman; FAFSA or IL Alternative App by April 23, 2026. Covers any gap after MAP/Pell; housing and U-Pass not included; Accelerate U, Culinary, Baking and Pastry, and Nursing programs not included.

Need-based, not merit, but it is NLU's flagship affordability pledge and may beat the merit awards for low-income Illinois families.

Source

Amount15% of total tuitionEligibilityVeterans and active duty military, first responders, U.S.-licensed/certified patient care workers, and their spouses or dependent children. Active duty tuition reduced to $167/quarter hour undergraduate. Capped at 10% for certain Graduate Leadership Programs; excludes all Accelerate U, Culinary Arts, First-Time Freshman, and Nursing programs.

Note the exclusion of First-Time Freshman programs.

Source

AmountUp to $1,800 ($600 per term)EligibilityNeed-based, automatic for eligible transfer students: 30+ quarter hours of accepted transfer credit, transfer GPA of at least 2.5, EFC of $7,000 or less, 14+ quarter hours per term. Renewable with a 2.5+ GPA.

Need-based companion to the merit-based Baker Scholarship; same one-institutional-resource rule.

Source

AmountOne full last-dollar tuition scholarshipEligibilityTransfer student who is a One Million Degrees Scholar and has earned an Associate's Degree. Renewable for up to three years. Deadline to apply: June 1, 2026; decisions by July 15, 2026.

Only one award for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityMembers of Phi Theta Kappa (high-achieving community college students).

Detail page not opened; amount not stated on the main scholarships page.

Source

Amount50% of full-time tuition (two awards)EligibilityFirst-year international applicants who attended secondary school outside the U.S.; 500-1000 word essay or 2-5 minute video on leadership and intercultural learning. Deadline July 15 (no year stated on page).

Two annual, renewable awards.

Source

Amount10% of the full-time tuition rate (valued up to $7,599)EligibilityAll international students admitted to an NLU Bachelor's degree program; annual and renewable; maintain full-time status and 2.0 GPA.

Automatically applied upon acceptance.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityDozens of donor scholarships across all degree programs; merit-based; awarded to both incoming and continuing NLU students.

Separate listing page exists (not opened).

Source

National Louis merit aid FAQ

  • What are the Bold Futures Scholarship deadlines for fall 2026 entry?

    Complete the NLU admission application by February 28, 2026; submit the FAFSA or IL Alternative Application by March 31, 2026; and submit your roughly 2-minute video by April 17, 2026. Winners announced by April 21, 2026.

  • What is the D214 National Louis Scholarship deadline?

    April 13, 2026 for the Summer 2026 - Spring 2027 award year (this is also the date to file the FAFSA/RISE Alternative Application). NLU warns the Illinois MAP deadline can be set earlier at the last minute and overrides the posted date.

  • Is the Bold Futures full-tuition scholarship a full ride?

    No. It covers only the tuition balance remaining after all other gift aid posts, and it does not cover fees, housing, or the U-Pass.

  • Can I combine two NLU scholarships?

    No. Per the scholarships page, students are only eligible to receive one NLU resource per academic year.

  • What is the NLU Forward Scholarship deadline?

    Submit your FAFSA or IL Alternative App by April 23, 2026 (Illinois residents, family income $75,000 or less, enrolling as an undergraduate freshman).

  • Does NLU require ACT/SAT scores for merit scholarships?

    No. NLU is test blind and will not use ACT/SAT for admissions decisions; merit awards are based on GPA and (for Bold Futures) a video submission.

  • What does NLU cost?

    For Summer 2026 - Spring 2027, full-time undergraduate tuition (entering with 30 quarter hours or less) is $12,420/year, plus a $275/term full-time student fee; optional housing runs $3,906-$5,925 per term. NLU does not publish a full cost-of-attendance total on its tuition page.

See sources and other schools

How National Louis compares

  • 133 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    National Louis is in a recognizable cluster (133 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 133 of 749 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

    National Louis is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.

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

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

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring National Louis merit aid

The next chapter

Where does National Louis fit in your plan?

You have the school’s rules. Now put them in the context of your student and the rest of your list.

  1. Check your student’s numbers, free
  2. Explore another school
  3. See how the research becomes a plan

Ready to work through your whole list? Get my playbook

Inside the sample

Jordan’s playbook

Same student.
Four schools.
Four very different bills.

An illustrative student profile, with a school order, scholarship research and a to-do list. Open the sample to see how it works.

Open the sample playbook