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Rutgers University–New Brunswick · New Jersey

Rutgers scholarships and merit aid

Big Ten public flagship that uses a single combined merit-award process — every admit gets at most one of Trustee, Henry Rutgers, Presidential, or Carr — paired with one of the most generous in-state affordability stacks in the Northeast (Scarlet Guarantee, Garden State Guarantee, Bridging the Gap).

Verified Jul 20261 month ago· PT

The short answer

Is Rutgers worth a closer look?

Rutgers is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

See our full reasoning

Worth chasing if your student is a holistically strong applicant willing to hit the December 1 priority deadline — but Rutgers hands each admit one merit award, not a stack, so plan around the single-award math.

Rutgers' defining mechanic is the single-award merit process: every admit receives exactly one Rutgers merit scholarship, not several stacked. The highest published fixed-dollar named award is the James Dickson Carr Scholarship at $10,000/yr (up to $40,000 over four years). The only stat-driven, automatic award is the National Merit College-Sponsored Award at $1,000/yr — and it is the rare second line item Rutgers will add on top of your main award. The largest computable dollar step is National Merit's $1,000 versus the $10,000 Carr, a $9,000/yr gap, though these are awarded through different paths rather than a single ladder. Presidential, Trustee, and Henry Rutgers are partial-to-full-tuition awards with no published dollar figures, so they cannot be sized here. Hard deadline: apply by December 1 for Carr consideration. Stacking is COA-capped: outside and need-based aid stack on top of merit but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance ($61,635 OOS / $40,260 in-state, 2025-2026), so large outside awards can reduce institutional aid at the top.

Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards2%First-year students, CDS 2022-2023
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.

$10,000 per year…$10,000 per year (up to $40,000 over four years; up to $50,000 for five-year programs)

Rutgers James Dickson Carr Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

First-year applicants. Selected on academic promise (high school work, SAT/ACT), extracurricular activities, and community involvement. Preference is given to qualified applicants who are members of minority groups historically underrepresented at the university. Apply by the December 1 priority deadline.

How to keep it

Renewable for three additional years if the student enrolls full-time (≥ 12 credits per semester) and completes 24 degree credits per academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better. Some Carr variants in other Rutgers colleges require 30 credits at 3.0 GPA; confirm at the campus level.

Notes

The Carr is one of the more generous fixed-dollar named awards in the Big Ten and is unique in that it is paired explicitly with the Honors College Alumni Scholarship in some configurations. There is no separate application; the standard Rutgers application initiates consideration.

Source

Partial- to full-tuition merit award…Partial- to full-tuition merit award (highest tier in the single-award process)

Presidential Scholarship

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Selected from the most competitive admits via the single combined merit award process. No separate application. Awarded based on first-choice school, academic strength, applicant pool competitiveness, and available funding.

How to keep it

Strictest renewal among Rutgers awards: ≥ 12 credits per semester, 24 credits completed per year, and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better (vs 3.25 for other awards).

Notes

Rutgers awards exactly one merit scholarship per admit through this process: Presidential is the highest tier, with Trustee, Henry Rutgers, and Carr representing other paths.

Source

Partial-tuition awards…Partial-tuition awards; specific dollar amounts not publicly published

Trustee and Henry Rutgers Scholarships

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Selected through the same single-award process as the Presidential. Awards are competitive and depend on the strength of each year's applicant pool and available funding.

How to keep it

≥ 12 credits per semester, 24 credits completed per year, 3.25 cumulative GPA.

Notes

These are the most common 'named' merit outcomes at Rutgers. Recipients accept the award by accepting the offer of admission by the May 1 candidate's reply date.

Source

$1,000 per year (renewable)

National Merit College-Sponsored Award

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Must be selected by the National Merit Scholarship Committee and list Rutgers as the first-choice school through the National Merit Corporation.

How to keep it

Valid for four years of undergraduate study with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Notes

Stacks with the standard single merit award process; this is one of the few cases where Rutgers does add a second merit line item.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Rutgers's published information.

  • cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$9,000/yr ($10,000 Carr − $1,000 National Merit)

    Rutgers publishes a tier ladder where crossing National Merit add-on → James Dickson Carr Scholarship changes the marginal value by +$9,000/yr ($10,000 Carr − $1,000 National Merit). The only delta computable from two published dollar figures. These come through different award paths, not one stat ladder, so it is a path difference rather than a clean threshold cliff.

  • renewalRutgers James Dickson Carr Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable for three additional years if the student enrolls full-time (≥ 12 credits per semester) and completes 24 degree credits per academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better. Some Carr variants in other Rutgers colleges require 30 credits at 3.0 GPA; confirm at the campus level. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • capHard $61,635 cost-of-attendance ceiling

    Institutional aid at Rutgers cannot push the package past $61,635. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What families often miss

  1. Rutgers explicitly uses a single-award process for first-year admits: every admit receives at most one Rutgers merit award (Presidential OR Trustee OR Henry Rutgers OR Carr). The only routine exceptions are the National Merit College-Sponsored Award ($1,000/yr) and need-based aid layered on top.

  2. Merit consideration at Rutgers–New Brunswick requires applying by December 1 with all credentials submitted. Late applicants are still admitted, but they are not in the merit-award pool.

  3. Some Rutgers merit awards have a need-based component; the FAFSA is also the gating document for the Scarlet Guarantee, Garden State Guarantee, R-UN to the Top, and Bridging the Gap. NJ residents should also file the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application (NJAFAA) if FAFSA-ineligible. Skipping the FAFSA can forfeit far more than the merit award is worth.

  4. The Scarlet Hub eligibility page lists the Carr at New Brunswick under 24 credits / 3.25 GPA renewal but at other Rutgers campuses with different rules (e.g. 30 credits / 3.0 GPA). Confirm the renewal terms in the offer letter for the specific Rutgers campus you accept.

  5. The Rutgers single-award process is calibrated against the year's applicant pool and available funding. There is no published appeal path or stat-match guarantee; the only lever an applicant has is timing (apply by December 1) and the strength of the application as submitted.

See award cutoffs and special programs

What named awards actually pay

Rutgers awards one merit scholarship per admit through a single competitive process; National Merit is the one stat-automatic add-on. Only two tiers publish hard dollar figures — the others are partial-to-full-tuition awards with no published amounts.

Student profileLikely outcome
National Merit Finalist · lists Rutgers first-choiceNational Merit College-Sponsored Award — $1,000/yrThe only automatic, stat-driven award. Renewable four years at 3.0 GPA. Stacks on top of the single main merit award — the rare second line item Rutgers adds.
Strong holistic first-year applicant · applies by Dec 1James Dickson Carr Scholarship — $10,000/yrLargest published fixed-dollar named award (up to $40,000 / four years). Competitive and holistic, not stat-automatic; renews at 3.25 GPA with 24 credits/yr. Some campus variants require 30 credits at 3.0 — confirm at campus level.
Most competitive admits · single-award processPresidential / Trustee / Henry Rutgers — amount not publishedPresidential is partial-to-full tuition (strictest renewal: 3.5 GPA); Trustee and Henry Rutgers are partial-tuition at 3.25 GPA. Specific dollar amounts are not publicly published, so they cannot be sized or ranked numerically here.

The one computable dollar step

Only two Rutgers tiers publish dollar figures (National Merit $1,000 and Carr $10,000), so just one delta can be computed honestly. Presidential, Trustee, and Henry Rutgers have no published amounts and are omitted rather than guessed.

ThresholdMarginal value
National Merit add-on → James Dickson Carr Scholarship+$9,000/yr ($10,000 Carr − $1,000 National Merit)The only delta computable from two published dollar figures. These come through different award paths, not one stat ladder, so it is a path difference rather than a clean threshold cliff.
National Merit Finalist stacked on top of main merit award+$1,000/yr (additive, not displaced)Rutgers' one documented case of adding a second merit line item rather than substituting. Genuinely additive, subject to the overall COA cap.
See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Two distinct audiences. First: New Jersey residents, for whom Rutgers may be effectively free or reduced through Scarlet Guarantee, Garden State Guarantee, R-UN to the Top, and Bridging the Gap, depending on family income. Second: high-stat out-of-state and international students who can credibly compete for the single combined merit award (Trustee, Henry Rutgers, Presidential, Carr) and who understand that 'one shot, one award' is how Rutgers does merit. The December 1 priority deadline is the gating event.

Cost of attendance$40,260–$61,635 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$61,635
In-state, on-campus$40,260
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Loan fees

New Brunswick, on-campus. financialaid.rutgers.edu source redirects to scarlethub.rutgers.edu.

Rutgers cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Rutgers, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$16,343
$30,001–$48,000$16,210
$48,001–$75,000$18,282
$75,001–$110,000$25,106
$110,001+$35,016
All income levels (average)$24,406

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$17,929
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$37,441
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$24,406

That works out to roughly a 34% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $36,993 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Rutgers 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
84%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
93%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,500 (~$228/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$74,479
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
27%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
37%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Rutgers caps total aid (institutional, federal, state, and outside) at the cost of attendance. The signature constraint is the single-award merit process: admits get one Rutgers merit scholarship, not several stacked. Need-based aid, the Scarlet Guarantee, the Garden State Guarantee, and outside scholarships all stack on top of merit but are constrained by the COA cap.

Per the Scarlet Hub merit-based scholarship eligibility criteria: 'Financial aid from all sources, including scholarships, cannot exceed the cost of attendance.' First-year merit awards are renewable for three additional years with 24 credits per year and 3.25 GPA (3.5 for Presidential). Need-based awards on top of merit require 2.5 GPA. The Scarlet Guarantee operates as a 'last-dollar' award covering the cost of in-state tuition and eligible fees after other aid is applied; it explicitly supplements (not replaces) the Garden State Guarantee. Bridging the Gap and R-UN to the Top further reduce in-state cost for families under $100K and $65K respectively. Outside scholarships count toward the COA cap; large outside awards can reduce institutional aid if total aid exceeds COA.

Source

More school data

From the Rutgers Common Data Set 2022-2023:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Rutgers’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
2%of admitsget merit
Average award$10,071Covers ~16% of $61,635 cost of attendance

At Rutgers, roughly 1 in 50 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $10,071 — about 16% of total cost.

As filed in Rutgers's CDS Section H2A: of 7,769 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 162 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $10,071. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,936 of 34,630, averaging $8,686. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

Receive institutional merit2%First-year students, CDS 2022-2023
Average merit award$10,071Across recipients, CDS 2022-2023

Source: Common Data Set 2022-2023 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other Rutgers scholarships worth checking

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

AmountLast-dollar award covering in-state tuition and mandatory fees (student, school, and technology fees)EligibilityFirst- and second-year Rutgers–New Brunswick students. Supplemental to Garden State Guarantee; together they ensure many in-state families pay no tuition.

This is the single biggest reason in-state Rutgers can be effectively free for middle- and lower-income NJ residents, even before considering merit awards.

Source

AmountFree or reduced tuition for NJ residents based on adjusted gross incomeEligibilityNew Jersey resident undergraduates in their third and fourth years of study at Rutgers, paired with the Scarlet Guarantee for first and second years.

State-funded program. Combined with R-UN to the Top and Bridging the Gap, makes Rutgers tuition-free for many in-state families under $65,000 AGI and reduced for families under $100,000.

Source

Amount$5,000 to $16,000 per yearEligibilityAdmitted international students on valid non-immigrant visas. Automatically considered; no separate application. Earlier applicants are more likely to be awarded.

International students are not eligible for federal or NJ state aid; these scholarships are the primary institutional aid available to them.

Source

AmountTwo-year merit award for transfer studentsEligibilityPhi Theta Kappa Honor Society members transferring from a community college. Distinct from first-year merit; transfers should reference Scarlet Hub renewal criteria.

Renewable across the two undergraduate years remaining for most transfers.

Source

Rutgers merit aid FAQ

  • Is Rutgers really tuition-free for in-state families?

    It can be, depending on family income. The Scarlet Guarantee covers in-state tuition and eligible fees as a last-dollar award for first- and second-year students; the Garden State Guarantee extends similar coverage for years three and four. R-UN to the Top, Bridging the Gap, and need-based grants make Rutgers tuition-free for many NJ residents with family AGI under $65,000 and reduced for those under $100,000. Filing the FAFSA or NJAFAA annually is required.

  • How does the single merit award process actually work?

    Rutgers reviews every admitted first-year student against four merit award levels (Presidential, Trustee, Henry Rutgers, Carr) plus several college-specific awards. Each admit can receive at most one of these awards. Selection is based on first-choice Rutgers school, academic strength, applicant pool competitiveness, and available funding; there is no separate application. Award notification arrives with the admission decision; awards are accepted by accepting the offer of admission by May 1.

  • What is the GPA needed to renew a Rutgers merit scholarship?

    3.25 cumulative GPA for most awards (Trustee, Henry Rutgers, Carr) with 24 completed credits per year. The Presidential Scholarship requires 3.5 cumulative GPA. Need-based awards stacked on top of merit require 2.5 GPA. All require ≥ 12 credits per semester (full-time enrollment).

  • Will an outside scholarship reduce my Rutgers merit award?

    It can if total aid exceeds the cost of attendance. Outside scholarships first replace unmet need, then reduce loans/work-study, then institutional grants; the merit scholarship itself is reduced only if all those buffers are exhausted. Always report outside awards to the Office of Financial Aid as soon as you are notified.

  • Do I get to keep the Carr Scholarship for a five-year engineering program?

    Yes. The Carr is awarded for four years of undergraduate study or five years if the student is enrolled in a five-year program, for total values of $40,000 or $50,000 respectively. Renewal terms apply each year.

See sources and other schools

How Rutgers compares

  • 241 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    Rutgers is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

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

    Rutgers 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.

  • 63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.

    Rutgers is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.

Sources used on this page

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

How Rutgers compares

Families looking at Rutgers–New Brunswick typically also evaluate these peers:

  • Maryland's Banneker/Key and Honors College ladder. Both schools use holistic merit selection rather than stat ladders, but Maryland layers multiple awards (Banneker/Key + President's + Frederick Douglass) on top of each other while Rutgers gives every admit exactly one merit scholarship through its combined process. Maryland's Banneker/Key full ride is more generous than Rutgers' richest non-Carr awards; Rutgers' in-state affordability stack is deeper than Maryland's.
  • Michigan and the Big Ten need-aware model. Michigan and Rutgers both treat merit aid as small and competitive rather than automatic. Both have flagship in-state need-based commitments (Go Blue Guarantee at $125K for Michigan; Scarlet Guarantee + Garden State Guarantee for NJ residents). For OOS applicants, Michigan offers slightly better merit dollars at the very top; Rutgers' Carr Scholarship at $40K total is competitive with most named-merit OOS awards from peer Big Ten schools.
  • Boston College Presidential and Shaw merit. Boston College is the natural Northeast private peer for high-stat NJ families. BC's Presidential Scholars program awards full tuition + leadership funding to a small cohort with a separate competitive process; Rutgers' Trustee/Henry Rutgers awards are partial-tuition. For most middle-income NJ families, Rutgers in-state pricing crushes BC's headline cost even with BC merit.
  • Villanova Presidential and St. Augustine merit. Villanova is another close geographic peer for NJ families and offers Presidential Scholarship full tuition awards plus partial-tuition St. Augustine awards. Like Rutgers, Villanova merit is competitive and selected from the standard application, but Villanova has a higher sticker price and no need-based safety net comparable to Garden State Guarantee.
Want a side-by-side comparison? Build a personalized playbook and we’ll compare likely costs across Rutgers and any peers you want to evaluate.

Keep exploring Rutgers merit aid