Get merit aid21%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Last verifiedJul 2026Analyst COWORK
Free Merit Check
See what Old Dominion's published rules mean for your student's numbers. Takes 30 seconds.
The merit-aid verdict at Old Dominion
ODU runs a holistic merit model — incoming freshmen are auto-considered (no separate application) and matched by a committee to academic and endowed scholarships, with no published GPA/test dollar grid.
Rules that bite at Old Dominion
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Old Dominion's own published policy, not generic advice.
displacementNo published displacement order
Old Dominion'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.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Old Dominion
ODU does not publish a merit dollar grid. Awards are committee-determined and matched to donor criteria; the only stat stated is that recipients 'generally' have at least a 3.4 GPA.
There are no additional scholarship applications beyond the admissions application and FAFSA — but new students must select 'YES' to the institutional scholarship indicator on the admissions application to flag interest.
Merit-based scholarships don't require need, but need-based university scholarships require the FAFSA, and ODU urges filing on time (October 1) and before its priority date for 2026-2027.
It renews 'up to three years (six semesters)' provided Honors College requirements continue to be met.
A student cannot receive both VMSDEP and state grants — the state grant is cancelled once VMSDEP is authorized — and VMSDEP can reduce university grants/scholarships.
The Scholarship Form for Continuing and Graduate Students must be received by March 1 each year to be considered for the following year.
Who this school is for
Strong students (recipients generally have at least a 3.4 GPA) who complete the admissions application, opt in to the institutional scholarship indicator, and file the FAFSA on time; international students with a separate $5,000-$14,000 merit track.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $34,928 for 2025-2026. Source
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Old Dominion, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Old Dominion, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$9,739
$30,001–$48,000
$10,114
$48,001–$75,000
$13,123
$75,001–$110,000
$16,940
$110,001+
$23,567
All income levels (average)
$14,638
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$12,750
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$33,780
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$14,638
That works out to roughly a 50% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $29,446 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Old Dominion 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
46%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
77%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$24,000 (~$254/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$54,914
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
43%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
47%
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.
Amount not published
Academic / Merit-Based Scholarships (Office of Admissions)
Application
GPA
No published cutoff; 'Generally, recipients have earned at least a 3.4 grade point average and are full time, degree-seeking students.'
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
Must be admitted. Incoming freshmen are automatically CONSIDERED based on academic performance; financial need not required. Selection by a university scholarship committee; students matched to endowed scholarships using admissions application, transcripts, and FAFSA.
Notes
No published GPA/test dollar grid. There is NO separate scholarship application — only the admissions application and FAFSA. New students should select 'YES' to the institutional scholarship indicator on the admissions application. Eligibility/consideration is automatic but an award is not.
Honors College Scholarships (Perry Honors College)
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Awarded to a select group of entering freshmen and transfer students selected for admission into the Honors College on the basis of academic achievement.
Renewal terms
Students who continue to meet the Honors College requirements after the first year may have the scholarship renewed up to three years (six semesters).
Notes
Tied to Honors College admission. Renews up to three years (six semesters), NOT four years. No dollar amount published on the official pages.
ODU states it is 'Unique among public research institutions' in offering this renewable (up to four years) international undergraduate merit scholarship; awards range between $5,000 and $14,000 annually.
Outside/agency scholarships must be reported to financial aid and are considered when calculating the automatic deferment. State veterans' benefits (VMSDEP) are treated as a financial resource and may reduce state grants, university grants/scholarships, federal loans, work-study, and private loans; a student cannot receive both VMSDEP and a state grant.
The scholarship page does not state a general rule for how OUTSIDE private scholarships interact with ODU institutional merit awards beyond a reporting requirement. The clearest displacement language is for VMSDEP (a state benefit), which reduces other aid and cancels the state grant.
From the Old Dominion Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated figures):
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Old Dominion’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
21%of admitsget merit
Average award$8,011Covers ~23% of $34,928 cost of attendance
At Old Dominion, roughly 1 in 5 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $8,011 — about 23% of total cost.
As filed in Old Dominion's CDS Section H2A: of 2,641 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 558 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $8,011. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 2,172 of 13,550, averaging $7,410. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
The 2025-2026 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.
AmountUp to $16,000 annually (covers tuition and fees)EligibilitySelected for scholastic and extracurricular accomplishment; not based on financial need.
Army winners also receive a tax-free $150/month subsistence allowance up to 10 months/year. Federal ROTC program, not institutional merit.
No. For incoming freshmen and transfers there are no additional scholarship applications beyond the admissions application and the FAFSA, though you should select 'YES' to the institutional scholarship indicator on the admissions application.
What GPA do scholarship recipients usually have?
The page states that, generally, recipients have earned at least a 3.4 GPA and are full-time, degree-seeking students. No specific cutoff or dollar grid is published.
When should I file the FAFSA for 2026-2027?
ODU advises completing the FAFSA on time (October 1st) and before ODU's priority consideration date to maximize aid and scholarship consideration.
How long does the Honors College scholarship last?
It may be renewed up to three years (six semesters) if you continue to meet Honors College requirements after the first year.
What is the deadline for continuing students to update scholarship eligibility?
The Scholarship Form for Continuing and Graduate Students must be received by March 1 each year.
How Old Dominion compares across our verified dataset
135 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.
Old Dominion is in a recognizable cluster (135 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
135 of 750 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.
Old Dominion is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Old Dominion 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 Old Dominion’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
