Salisbury automatically reviews first-year applicants for named merit scholarships ($1,000–$6,000 in-state, $6,000–$8,500 out-of-state) but publishes no GPA/test grid — awards are holistic and competitive against the applicant pool.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Salisbury worth a closer look?
Salisbury may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.
Merit tiers3See who qualifies
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.
$1,000-$8,500
First-year Academic Merit Scholarships (Presidential, SU Deans, SU Excellence, SU Achievement)
Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
Reviewed on high school GPA
SAT
Reviewed on SAT or ACT scores
ACT
Reviewed on SAT or ACT scores
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
No separate application; automatic review with timely admission application. Award based on a numerical standard AND the competition of the applicant pool.
How to keep it
Maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to renew annually; enroll full-time (12+ credits) each semester; limited to a maximum number of semesters (see Scholarship Policies page).
Notes
No published GPA/test award grid. First-year ranges: $1,000–$6,000 in-state, $6,000–$8,500 out-of-state. Named tiers: Presidential, SU Deans, SU Excellence, SU Achievement. Merit awards limited to fall and spring undergraduate semesters.
Suggested 3.5 high school GPA to apply (4.0 = automatic Honors College admission)
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Must be admitted to SU; submit a complete Clarke Honors College application and essay (required even for automatic admission)
How to keep it
Renewal terms not stated on the honors application page.
Notes
The Clarke Honors College grants its own scholarships; amounts are not published on the application page. Priority scholarship consideration deadline is January 15 for fall; honors scholarship decisions by February 1.
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Salisbury's published information.
Renewal ruleFirst-year Academic Merit Scholarships (Presidential, SU Deans, SU Excellence, SU Achievement): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to renew annually; enroll full-time (12+ credits) each semester; limited to a maximum number of semesters (see Scholarship Policies page). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $31,496 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Salisbury cannot push the package past $31,496. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Straight from the aid office
What Salisbury's aid office says
Per the Office of Admissions, Salisbury University, August 2026. How we verify
Net Price Calculator for merit aid estimate
How can I get a preliminary estimate of my merit aid award?
The office suggests using the Net Price Calculator for a preliminary review of merit aid award.
“For a preliminary review of your merit aid award, you may use our Net Price Calculator <https://app.meadowfi.com/salisbury> for more insight.”
When merit aid is considered
When will I be considered for merit aid?
Merit aid consideration happens after the student submits an application and an admission decision is reached.
“when you submit your application to the University, and a admission decision is reached, you will be considered for merit aid”
What families often miss
Salisbury publishes only ranges; awards are based on a numerical standard AND the competition of the applicant pool, so the same GPA/test profile can yield different amounts year to year.
Early action by December 1 is required for guaranteed scholarship consideration; later applicants are reviewed only if funding remains.
It has been discontinued and will not be awarded to new students after 2025-26 — out-of-state students should not budget for it for 2026-2027.
All academic merit scholarships require a 3.0 cumulative GPA and full-time (12+ credit) enrollment to renew, and there is a maximum number of semesters of eligibility.
Unreported outside scholarships can trigger an over-award and require repayment of need-based aid; reported awards may still cause other aid to be reduced or canceled to stay under cost of attendance.
It equals just 5% of tuition, applies to tuition only, goes to the younger sibling, and is unavailable to anyone already receiving a tuition waiver.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
Competitive in-state and out-of-state first-years who file an early action application by December 1; out-of-state students see notably larger ranges ($6,000–$8,500). Strong 3.5+ GPA students should also apply to the Clarke Honors College.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $31,496 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Salisbury, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Salisbury, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$6,743
$30,001–$48,000
$9,915
$48,001–$75,000
$12,909
$75,001–$110,000
$16,669
$110,001+
$22,759
All income levels (average)
$17,743
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$11,084
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$22,174
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$17,743
That works out to roughly a 37% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $28,310 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Salisbury 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
68%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
78%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,000 (~$223/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$61,515
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
29%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
41%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Federal over-award rules apply: students must report outside scholarships, and when total aid from all sources exceeds the cost of education, Salisbury reduces or cancels other aid in the package. The Sea Gull Sibling Scholarship is tuition-only and unavailable to students receiving any other tuition waiver.
Outside scholarships are added to the package and may force reduction/cancellation of other aid to avoid an over-award above cost of attendance; unreported outside scholarships can require repayment of need-based aid.
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
Amount5% of tuitionEligibilityStudent with a sibling concurrently enrolled at SU; degree-seeking, enrolled at least half-time, meeting SAP (along with sibling). Awarded to the younger sibling(s).
Applies to tuition only; up to 8 semesters (undergrad). Students receiving any other tuition waiver are NOT eligible.
AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityPreviously for new students with a permanent home address outside Maryland; no separate application
DISCONTINUED — no longer awarded after the 2025-26 school year. Current holders continue to renew if criteria are met. Not available to new 2026-2027 students. Recipients were ineligible for the SU Transfer Grant / Transfer Merit Scholarships.
Do I need a separate application for merit scholarships?
No. First-year and transfer applicants are automatically reviewed for general merit scholarships based on their admission application. The Clarke Honors College scholarships do require a separate application and essay.
What is the scholarship deadline?
File an early action admission application by December 1 for guaranteed merit scholarship consideration. Clarke Honors College priority scholarship applications are due January 15 (all honors applications due April 15).
How much are the first-year merit scholarships?
$1,000–$6,000 for in-state students and $6,000–$8,500 for out-of-state students. Salisbury does not publish a GPA/test award grid.
How do I keep my scholarship?
Maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA and enroll full-time (12+ credits) each semester; awards have a maximum number of eligible semesters (see the Scholarship Policies page).
Is the out-of-state Sea Gull Nation Scholarship still available?
No. It has been discontinued and will not be awarded to new students after 2025-26; only current recipients continue to renew.
See sources and other schools+
How Salisbury compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Salisbury is in a recognizable cluster (235 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.
Salisbury 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 Salisbury’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
