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Southern New Hampshire University · New Hampshire

SNHU Merit Aid

SNHU leads with low sticker price (online tuition $354/credit; '94% of full-time SNHU students were awarded grant or scholarship aid') rather than a published merit grid — campus scholarship details sit behind interactive page sections, and the clearest published merit award is a $3,000 International Merit Scholarship for new international master's students.

Verified Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK
Merit tiers3See requirements
Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst COWORK

Rules that bite at SNHU

The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from SNHU's own published policy, not generic advice.

  • displacementNo published displacement order

    SNHU'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 SNHU

  1. The campus scholarship listings are in interactive page sections that don't render as accessible text, and no dollar-amount merit grid is published there. Families must contact Student Financial Services (603.645.9640 / SFScampus@snhu.edu) for actual award amounts and renewal terms.

  2. It is explicitly 'non-renewable,' disbursed only over the first two semesters, 'applied to tuition only,' non-refundable, and 'subject to availability of funds.'

  3. The aid page states: 'To demonstrate need and be considered for a federal grant, it's important you submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA)' (typo in original).

  4. The page warns: scholarship funds exceeding tuition and required fees 'may be reported to the IRS on Form 1042-S, and tax may be withheld at a rate of 14% or more depending on visa status,' with withheld tax charged to the student account.

  5. The page cautions that on-campus earnings 'should always be viewed as a supplement and never as being crucial to meeting the expenses of studying in the U.S. due to its unpredictability.'

Who this school is for

Price-sensitive students drawn to low base tuition (especially online) and campus students willing to call Student Financial Services for exact scholarship amounts, since SNHU's public pages do not display a dollar-amount merit grid in accessible text.

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

Campus and Online institutional scholarships (details not published in accessible text)

Application
View requirements
Eligibility

SNHU's aid pages list scholarship categories ('Online & Campus Scholarships', 'Online Only', 'Campus Only') in expandable sections whose contents are not rendered in the page's accessible text; no amounts, stat cutoffs, or named-award terms could be read

Notes

DRAFT GAP: SNHU's campus 'Grants, Scholarships and Loans' page and the 'Ways to Save' page both present scholarships in interactive accordions whose contents did not render; the named campus awards (e.g., a Presidential Scholarship referenced in search previews) could not be verified on an opened page and are NOT recorded here. Verify directly with Student Financial Services.

Source

$3,000

International Merit Scholarship (new international master's students)

Application
GPA
Minimum undergraduate GPA: 3.3
Requirements & details
Eligibility

New international master's students only; acceptance to SNHU required; awarded after acceptance

Notes

Applied to tuition only and non-refundable; all awards subject to availability of funds. Campus international students only.

Source

Amount not published

Athletic Scholarships

Application
View requirements
Eligibility

Outstanding athletes in basketball, cross-country, lacrosse, soccer (football), tennis, baseball, softball, and volleyball; amounts determined by the coaches

Source

Outside scholarship stacking policy

No stacking or outside-scholarship displacement policy was visible on the pages opened. The international scholarship page does note that scholarship funds exceeding tuition and required fees may be taxable for international students.

Pages opened describe aid categories and loans but do not state how institutional, outside, and federal aid combine or which is reduced first. International scholarships are 'applied to tuition only and are non-refundable.'

Source

Lesser-known scholarships at SNHU

Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityGraduate or undergraduate international student(s) studying on the Manchester campus

For currently enrolled students.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityGraduate School of Business students; preference to International Business or Finance majors using standard need and academic criteria

May be awarded to other Graduate School of Business students if no qualifying majors in a given year.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityInternational and U.S. undergraduate or graduate students who demonstrate commitment to helping new students adjust to the University

Memorial fund; service-oriented criteria.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityCampus students (normally after first year); requires living in a residence hall and assisting students

RA awards include a scholarship, a stipend, and a reduced rate on a single room accommodation.

Source

SNHU merit aid FAQ

  • Does SNHU publish an automatic merit-scholarship grid?

    Not in accessible text on the pages reviewed. Scholarship categories ('Online & Campus', 'Campus Only') are listed, but amounts and criteria are not displayed; contact Student Financial Services for campus merit award specifics.

  • What merit aid is clearly published?

    The International Merit Scholarship: $3,000, non-renewable, for new international master's students with a minimum 3.3 undergraduate GPA, disbursed over the first two semesters and applied to tuition only.

  • How do I find scholarships at SNHU?

    SNHU provides access to Scholarship Universe (snhu.scholarshipuniverse.com), 'a tool that creates a customized list of scholarships you could be qualified for,' plus need- and non-need-based grants and scholarships.

  • How much can transfer credit save?

    SNHU accepts up to 90 transfer credits toward a bachelor's degree; at the online rate of $354/credit, entering with 90 credits cuts the online bachelor's total to $10,620 per SNHU's published chart.

  • What share of students get aid?

    SNHU's campus tuition page states that 94% of full-time SNHU students were awarded grant or scholarship aid; the campus financial aid section says more than 90% of students receive financial aid.

How SNHU compares across our verified dataset

  • 199 of 751 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    SNHU is in a recognizable cluster (199 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 199 of 751 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

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

  • 133 of 751 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.

    SNHU is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

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

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