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State University of New York at Plattsburgh · New York

SUNY Plattsburgh scholarships and merit aid

SUNY Plattsburgh's institutional merit is a flat, automatic $3,500/year Cardinal-family scholarship for first-years with a 90+ high-school average (region-specific: North Country, NYC, or other regions), renewable for up to eight semesters; out-of-state students instead get a larger room-and-cost grant package, and there is no published high-stat 'presidential' merit grid.

Verified Jun 20263 months ago

The short answer

Is SUNY Plattsburgh worth a closer look?

SUNY Plattsburgh awards automatic merit on admission. SUNY Plattsburgh does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.

Merit tiers74 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJun 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.

$3,500 per year

Cardinal Scholarship (Other Regions)

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
High school average of 90 or higher, or the highest combination of academic excellence and extracurricular achievement
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Graduate from a high school in an eligible NYS county outside the North Country and NYC; U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or eligible non-citizen paying the in-state tuition rate; graduate June 2026 or January 2027; be admitted to the main campus; pay the $250 deposit; attend full-time (12+ credits) starting Aug 2026 or Jan 2027; live on campus. Nursing applicants get the Cardinal Nursing Scholarship instead.

How to keep it

Students may receive the scholarship for up to eight semesters of consecutive full-time study. Students who need to withdraw may maintain eligibility under certain circumstances. No renewal GPA is published.

Notes

Deducted from non-tuition educational costs (not tuition). Awarded through the admission process; no separate scholarship application. NCAA Division III rules mean eligibility is assessed without regard to athletic ability/participation.

Source

$3,500 per year

North Country Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
High school average of 90 or higher, or the highest combination of academic excellence and extracurricular achievement
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Graduate from a high school in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis or St. Lawrence counties; U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying in-state rate; graduate June 2026 or Jan 2027; admitted to main campus; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027; may live on campus OR commute from home. Nursing applicants get the Cardinal Nursing Scholarship instead.

How to keep it

Students may receive the scholarship for up to eight semesters of consecutive full-time study. Students who need to withdraw may maintain eligibility under certain circumstances. No renewal GPA is published.

Notes

Same $3,500/year as the Cardinal Scholarship but for the seven North Country counties; unlike the other-regions and NYC versions, North Country recipients may commute from home (do not have to live on campus). Deducted from non-tuition educational costs.

Source

$3,500 per year

Cardinal NYC Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
High school average of 90 or higher, or the highest combination of academic excellence and extracurricular achievement
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Graduate from a high school in a NYC county: Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens or Richmond (Staten Island); U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying in-state rate; graduate June 2026 or Jan 2027; admitted to main campus; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027; live on campus. Nursing applicants are not eligible.

How to keep it

Students may receive the scholarship for up to eight semesters of consecutive full-time study. Students who need to withdraw may maintain eligibility under certain circumstances. No renewal GPA is published.

Notes

The NYC version of the same $3,500/year award ($1,750 per semester). Deducted from non-tuition educational costs. EOP applicants are routed to an equivalent Cardinal EOP Grant instead.

Source

$1,500 per year

Cardinal Nursing Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Accepted as a first-year student into the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program; U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying the in-state OR out-of-state rate; graduate June 2026 or Jan 2027; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027.

How to keep it

Students may receive this for up to eight semesters if they remain a matriculated full-time undergraduate. Students who change majors lose this scholarship but are awarded an equivalent-amount scholarship/grant with the same terms (minus the major requirement). No renewal GPA is published.

Notes

Replaces the regional $3,500 Cardinal/North Country/NYC scholarships for nursing applicants (nursing students get this $1,500 award instead, not in addition). Page text labels the amount as both 'Cardinal Nursing Scholarship' and once as 'Cardinal Scholarship of $1,500 per year' — the $1,500 figure is consistent. Deducted from non-tuition educational costs.

Source

$9,000 per year

Welcome to New York Grant (out-of-state, on-campus)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Resident of any U.S. state other than New York; U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying the non-resident tuition rate; admitted to the main campus; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027; live on campus. First-year, transfer, and readmit applicants are eligible.

How to keep it

Up to eight semesters if the student remains a matriculated full-time undergraduate, pays the non-resident tuition rate, and continues to live on campus.

Notes

A non-resident discount, not a stats-based merit award (no GPA/test cutoff). Deducted from room and meal costs ($4,500 per semester). Out-of-state students living on campus typically combine this with the $2,500 Cardinal Out-of-State Grant; the master scholarship-programs page lists the combined value as $11,500.

Source

$2,500 per year

Cardinal Out-of-State Grant

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Resident of any U.S. state other than New York; U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying the non-resident tuition rate; admitted to the main campus; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027. Available to students living on OR off campus.

How to keep it

Up to eight semesters if the student remains a matriculated full-time undergraduate and pays the non-resident tuition rate.

Notes

The out-of-state grant available regardless of on/off-campus housing; pairs with the $9,000 Welcome to New York Grant for on-campus students (combined $11,500). Deducted from non-tuition educational costs. Not stats-based.

Source

$1,000 to $2,000

Transfer Scholarship

Based on grades or scores
GPA
Cumulative college GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale based on coursework at all previously attended colleges
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Transfer to SUNY Plattsburgh (main or branch campus) for the first time; U.S. citizen/permanent resident/eligible non-citizen paying the in-state rate; pay the $250 deposit; full-time (12+ credits) from Aug 2026 or Jan 2027. Nursing and exclusively-online program applicants are not eligible. Students transferring 1-23 credits, or EOP transfers, are evaluated for first-year scholarships first.

Notes

Awarded on academic merit via the admission process (no separate application). Deducted from non-tuition educational costs, first year only. Need-based Transfer Grant ($1,000-$2,000, SAI under 15,000) exists for those not eligible for the scholarship.

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 SUNY Plattsburgh's published information.

  • Renewal ruleCardinal Scholarship (Other Regions): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Students may receive the scholarship for up to eight semesters of consecutive full-time study. Students who need to withdraw may maintain eligibility under certain circumstances. No renewal GPA is published. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • Outside awardsNo published displacement order

    SUNY Plattsburgh'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.

What families often miss

  1. There is no such grid. The institutional first-year merit award is a flat $3,500/year, gated by a single threshold (a 90+ high-school average) and by your high-school's region. A 95 average and a 90 average get the same $3,500.

  2. Nursing applicants get the $1,500 Cardinal Nursing Scholarship INSTEAD of the $3,500 regional Cardinal/North Country/NYC scholarship — it replaces it, it does not stack on top.

  3. The Cardinal-family scholarships are 'deducted from non-tuition educational costs' — they reduce fees, housing, and other costs, not the tuition line. (NYS Excelsior is the program that can zero out tuition, and only after TAP and Pell.)

  4. The $9,000 Welcome to New York Grant and $2,500 Cardinal Out-of-State Grant (combined $11,500) are non-resident discounts with no GPA/test cutoff; the $9,000 piece requires living on campus and is deducted from room and meal costs, so it shrinks if you move off campus.

  5. That billed-cost total is for a 2025-2026 NYS-resident undergraduate living on campus (tuition + mandatory/optional fees + housing & food). It excludes non-billed costs like books, transportation, and personal expenses, and 2026-2027 figures were not yet published as of June 2026.

  6. Renewal is capped at eight semesters of consecutive full-time study (12+ credits); the transfer scholarship is even shorter — first year only (two semesters). No public renewal-GPA is stated, so confirm the maintenance requirement with the aid office.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

In-state New York students with a strong-but-not-elite record (a 90+ high-school average is the merit cutoff, not test scores) who want a low-cost SUNY with a small, automatic, predictable scholarship; out-of-state students who want New York's deepest non-resident discount package; and transfer students with a 3.0+ college GPA. This is a low-cost public, not a big-merit private — institutional awards are modest and flat, not stat-scaled.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $27,176 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at SUNY Plattsburgh, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$9,400
$30,001–$48,000$12,121
$48,001–$75,000$17,076
$75,001–$110,000$17,655
$110,001+$24,611
All income levels (average)$17,156

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$9,035
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$18,945
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$17,156

That works out to roughly a 39% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $28,244 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

SUNY Plattsburgh 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
59%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
73%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,196 (~$225/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$56,403
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
46%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
66%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

SUNY Plattsburgh publishes no explicit institutional stacking or outside-scholarship-displacement policy on its scholarship pages. The structure is mutually exclusive at the regional/nursing level — a nursing applicant gets the $1,500 Cardinal Nursing Scholarship INSTEAD of (not on top of) the $3,500 regional Cardinal/North Country/NYC scholarship; an EOP/NYC applicant is routed to the equivalent EOP grant instead of the NYC grant. The out-of-state Welcome to New York Grant ($9,000) and Cardinal Out-of-State Grant ($2,500) are designed to be received together (combined $11,500). NYS Excelsior is explicitly last-dollar (it covers tuition remaining after TAP, Pell, and other grants/scholarships). No statement was found on how a third-party OUTSIDE scholarship affects institutional awards.

The 'Other Scholarships' table notes outside awards exist and links search sites, but states no displacement rule. The clearest stacking-relevant published rule is Excelsior's last-dollar tuition logic ('It covers any remaining tuition liability after the NYS TAP Grant, federal Pell Grant, and other sources of grants and scholarships'). Because the regional Cardinal scholarships are deducted from NON-tuition costs while Excelsior covers tuition, they are complementary rather than competing — but outside-award treatment is not addressed on official pages.

Source

Other SUNY Plattsburgh scholarships worth checking

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

Amount$1,500 per yearEligibilityFirst-years from eligible regions NOT eligible for a Cardinal Scholarship who have financial need (EFC under 15,000 or equivalent SAI on the FAFSA).

NEED-BASED, not merit. Mirror grants exist as North Country Grant and Cardinal NYC Grant, all $1,500/year, up to eight semesters while need criteria are met.

Source

Amount$1,500EligibilityFirst-years accepted into the Educational Opportunity Program based on economic and academic disadvantaged status.

NEED/EOP-based, not merit. Replaces the Cardinal NYC Grant for EOP students.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityAdult students in the honors program with a 3.5 GPA or higher; essay required on educational goals.

Honors-program award; no published dollar amount. Endowment-funded.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityFemale honors-program students with a 3.0 GPA and financial need; short essay required; preference for those pursuing graduate/professional study. One student per year.

Partly need-based honors award; no published amount.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityHonors-program students at junior level or below who represent the program's goals, perform exceptionally outside honors seminars, and are academic/intellectual leaders; two professor references required.

Merit honors award; no published amount.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityChosen for performance proficiency and potential to contribute to the music program.

Departmental/talent award; no published amount.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityChosen for potential to contribute to the art program.

Departmental/talent award; no published amount.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityContinuing students who have demonstrated academic excellence in their major; most do not require an application; recipients chosen by a department committee.

Generally for continuing (not incoming) students; amounts not published.

Source

SUNY Plattsburgh merit aid FAQ

  • Is there a scholarship application or deadline?

    No separate scholarship application. Eligibility for the Cardinal-family and transfer scholarships is determined automatically through the admission process. The gating actions are admission to the main campus and paying the $250 deposit; accepted first-years not automatically awarded a scholarship can email admissions@plattsburgh.edu to ask about a scholarship appeal.

  • What stats do I need for the merit scholarship?

    A high-school average of 90 or higher (or 'the highest combination of academic excellence and extracurricular achievement'). Test scores are not the cutoff. Which scholarship you get depends on your high-school's region: North Country counties, NYC boroughs, or other eligible NYS counties — all award $3,500/year.

  • Is the scholarship renewable, and for how long?

    Yes. The first-year Cardinal-family scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters of consecutive full-time study (12+ credits). The transfer scholarship is first-year only (two semesters). No specific renewal GPA is published; confirm the maintenance requirement with Student Financial Services.

  • Can I stack the SUNY Plattsburgh scholarship with an outside scholarship?

    The official pages do not publish an outside-scholarship displacement rule. Within institutional aid, the regional scholarships are mutually exclusive (nursing or EOP applicants get an equivalent award instead), while the out-of-state grants are designed to combine. NYS Excelsior is last-dollar on tuition only. Ask the aid office directly how an outside award would affect your package.

See sources and other schools

How SUNY Plattsburgh compares

  • 133 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    SUNY Plattsburgh is in a recognizable cluster (133 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 133 of 749 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

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

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

    SUNY Plattsburgh 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 SUNY Plattsburgh’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring SUNY Plattsburgh merit aid