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Stony Brook scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$33,912per year · 2025-2026 · ResidentNon-resident $57,892
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Stony Brook may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

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.

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. Simons STEM Scholars ProgramFull cost of education for four years (educational costs fully covered)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Simons STEM Scholars Program

    Full cost of education for four years (educational costs fully covered)

    Published award termsNot 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 Simons STEM Scholars Program

    Who qualifies

    Highly competitive program. Students entering STEM majors. Aimed at developing diverse leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Includes academic and career advising, peer/faculty mentoring, community-building, networking, stipends for program-related travel and study abroad.

    How to keep it

    Four-year scholarship covering full educational costs; continued participation in the cohort, mentoring, and STEM persistence required

    Worth knowing

    Stony Brook's flagship full-ride. Singular path to no-loan four years at SBU.

  2. Honors College Scholarship (typically Presidential or Presidential Merit)Not publicly disclosed in a tier tableNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Honors College Scholarship (typically Presidential or Presidential Merit)

    Not publicly disclosed in a tier table

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

    GPA
    Successful candidates typically have a 97-99 unweighted HS GPA
    SAT
    1500-1560 SAT (CR+M) typical
    ACT
    34-35 ACT typical
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Honors College Scholarship (typically Presidential or Presidential Merit)

    Who qualifies

    Highly competitive admission to the Honors College. ~100 freshmen enrolled annually. Considered after admission to the University. Test scores optional for Honors College consideration.

    How to keep it

    Continuation contingent on meeting Honors College criteria. Award duration varies by specific scholarship — some are 4-year, some are 1-year, some are renewable on annual criteria.

    Worth knowing

    Every admitted Honors College student receives some level of scholarship support, most commonly a Presidential or Presidential Merit Scholarship. The actual dollar amount is not published on the public site.

  3. Presidential ScholarshipNot publicly disclosed in a tier tableNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Presidential Scholarship

    Not publicly disclosed in a tier table

    Published award termsNot 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 Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Domestic current high school seniors with a 'meritorious unweighted high school average' automatically considered. Test scores may also be taken into account. No separate application — auto-considered through the admission application.

    How to keep it

    Stated as a four-year scholarship for qualifying domestic high school seniors; renewal terms in SOLAR 'Award Detail.'

    Worth knowing

    Stony Brook does not publish a stat-to-dollar tier. Modeling the Presidential at a specific amount from forum sources is unreliable.

  4. University Scholars / WISE (Women in Science and Engineering)Not publicly disclosed (program admission + scholarship support)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    University Scholars / WISE (Women in Science and Engineering)

    Not publicly disclosed (program admission + scholarship support)

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

    GPA
    97-99 HS GPA typical
    SAT
    1500-1560 SAT typical
    ACT
    34-35 ACT typical
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for University Scholars / WISE (Women in Science and Engineering)

    Who qualifies

    Highly competitive program admission, reviewed after University admission. WISE specifically for women in science and engineering.

    Worth knowing

    Parallel pathways to scholarship support alongside the Honors College. Used by Stony Brook to bundle peer cohort + research advising + funding.

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The fine print

Aid capHard $57,892 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at Stony Brook cannot push the package past $57,892. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes Stony Brook different

Long Island flagship of the SUNY system with a no-published-amount Presidential merit ladder and a real flagship: the Simons STEM Scholars Program, a four-year full-cost-of-education scholarship for students entering STEM majors.

Merit tiers4See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  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 Stony Brook'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. Per published Stony Brook policy, in most cases students receive only one institutional scholarship — the office selects the most beneficial single offer. Honors College recipients typically get Presidential or Presidential Merit support folded INTO their Honors offer, not in addition to a separate Presidential. Plan around one institutional award, plus stackable federal/state/outside aid up to the COA cap.

  2. Stony Brook does not publish dollar amounts for the Presidential, Presidential Merit, Honors College, University Scholars, or WISE awards on the main public aid page. The only published full-cost award is the Simons STEM Scholars Program. Forum-sourced 'Presidential = $X' anchors are not reliable. Use the actual award letter (visible under 'Award Detail' in SOLAR) as the authoritative number.

  3. Stony Brook's general scholarship application deadline for the 2026-27 academic year is March 15, 2026, unless otherwise stated. This is the catch-all date for awards requiring a separate application. Honors College, University Scholars, and WISE programs have their own selection windows reviewed alongside admission.

  4. The Simons STEM Scholars Program is the only published Stony Brook path to a four-year full-cost-of-education award. STEM-bound applicants should explicitly pursue Simons rather than assuming an Honors College or Presidential offer will reach the same value. The Simons cohort is small and selection is highly competitive — apply early and treat it as the primary merit play.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong STEM applicants who can target Simons; top New York applicants (97-99 HS GPA, 1500+ SAT) who can hit Honors College/University Scholars/WISE selection; everyone else should price Stony Brook at full SUNY in-state COA and treat any merit as a bonus.

Cost of attendance$33,912–$57,892 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$57,892
In-state, on-campus$33,912
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Personal

Health insurance excluded as waivable. Personal line combines transportation + personal ($3,060) per source.

Stony Brook cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Stony Brook, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,943
$30,001–$48,000$15,432
$48,001–$75,000$20,728
$75,001–$110,000$23,424
$110,001+$27,716
All income levels (average)$18,784

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$10,931
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$32,741
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$18,784

That works out to roughly a 38% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $30,539 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Stony Brook 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
76%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
90%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$18,228 (~$193/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$74,502
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
45%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
41%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships only trigger an aid adjustment if total aid would exceed the cost of attendance (or the student's aid eligibility cap); below that ceiling, awards are not displaced.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): "Your financial aid awards cannot exceed your total cost of attendance. Your cost of attendance is based upon your direct charges (driven by your enrollment) and indirect charges." Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: Per Stony Brook Financial Aid, in most cases students will not be awarded more than one institutional scholarship — the office picks the most beneficial single offer. (per https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/finaid/undergraduate/types_of_aid/incoming_freshmen_scholarships)

Source

Other Stony Brook scholarships worth checking

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

AmountRecognition awards, often without separate cash componentEligibilityStony Brook scholars and high-achieving upper-division students; awarded post-enrollment.

Source

Amount$1,000 per year (example: four $1,000 awards for upper-division students in Women's Studies and/or Political Science)EligibilityUpper-division undergraduates (juniors/seniors) majoring in the eligible program with demonstrated financial need.

Source

Stony Brook merit aid FAQ

  • What merit scholarships does Stony Brook offer?

    Stony Brook awards merit through several tracks. The flagship is the Simons STEM Scholars Program — a four-year full-cost-of-education scholarship for STEM-bound students. Honors College admits receive scholarship support (typically Presidential or Presidential Merit) folded into their Honors offer. The Presidential Scholarship is auto-considered for domestic high school seniors with strong unweighted GPAs. Stony Brook does not publish a stat-to-dollar tier table for any of these except Simons (which is full cost).

  • Can I stack scholarships at Stony Brook?

    Generally no. Stony Brook's published policy is that in most cases students receive only one institutional scholarship — the office selects the most beneficial single offer. Outside scholarships, federal aid (Pell), and state aid (TAP for NY residents) can layer on top of the institutional award up to the budgeted cost of attendance.

  • What stats do I need for the Honors College at Stony Brook?

    Stony Brook reports that its most successful Honors College, University Scholars, and WISE candidates typically have 97-99 unweighted high school GPAs, 1500-1560 SAT critical reading + math composite, and 34-35 ACT composite. Test scores are optional for Honors College consideration. Roughly 100 freshmen enter the Honors College each year.

  • Is there a full ride at Stony Brook?

    Yes — the Simons STEM Scholars Program covers the full cost of education for four years for selected STEM-bound students. Beyond Simons, Stony Brook does not publish another named full-cost award on its public aid pages.

  • When is the scholarship deadline at Stony Brook?

    Stony Brook's general scholarship application deadline for the 2026-27 academic year is March 15, 2026 (unless otherwise specified on a specific application). Auto-considered awards (Presidential, Honors College) are reviewed alongside the admission application. Simons STEM Scholars has its own competitive timeline reviewed during the admission cycle.

See sources and other schools

How Stony Brook compares

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

    Stony Brook 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.

    Stony Brook 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 Stony Brook’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Stony Brook merit aid

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