University at Buffalo · New York

University at Buffalo Merit Aid

Verified Jun 20262 months ago· HX-AUTO

Merit tiers54 automatic on stats

Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst HX-AUTO

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Checking merit aid at University at Buffalo

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The merit-aid verdict at University at Buffalo

UB offers merit awards recognizing academic achievement, diversity contributions, and leadership across many majors.

Who this school is for

High-achieving students from New York, transfer students, and those pursuing specialized programs like pharmacy should explore UB's scholarship options.

Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $35,922 for 2026-2027. Source

Federal cost and outcome data

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

Average annual net price by family income at University at Buffalo, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income	Average net price paid
$0–$30,000	$14,668
$30,001–$48,000	$16,585
$48,001–$75,000	$21,262
$75,001–$110,000	$24,117
$110,001+	$28,079
All income levels (average)	$20,995

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23: $10,936
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23: $31,536
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22: $20,995

That works out to roughly a 32% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $30,785 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

University at Buffalo 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: 75%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort: 85%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers: $19,000 (~$201/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21): $70,814
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22: 39%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22: 46%

How to read these numbers

Net price reflects only first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV financial aid — not University at Buffalo's full student body.
Published tuition is the catalog sticker price for all students, not a Title IV-only figure.
Graduation rate reflects the entire first-time, full-time, degree-seeking cohort — not only students who received Title IV aid.
Retention rate reflects all first-time, full-time, bachelor's-seeking students — not only Title IV aid recipients.
Median debt reflects only completers who took out federal student loans — not University at Buffalo's full graduating class, and not limited to first-time, full-time students.
Median earnings reflect Title IV aid recipients who entered college and were working (not enrolled) roughly a decade later — not necessarily the graduating cohort, and not a recent graduate's paycheck.
Pell grant and federal loan participation covers first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students only.
Net price blends need-based aid and merit aid together — it is not a merit-specific estimate. It shows what similar-income families actually paid on average after every kind of aid, not what a strong-stats student could win in merit dollars alone. Treat it as cost context, not a merit forecast — a MeritPlaybook models merit aid specifically for your student’s own stats, which this net-price figure cannot do.

None of this is current-year data — the U.S. Department of Education reports it on a delay, and different figures below come from different reporting years. Net price is an academic year 2021-22 figure. Published tuition reflects the 2022-23 academic year. Graduation rate reflects the Fall 2016 entering, full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking cohort; completion measured within 150% of normal time (~6 years for a bachelor's degree). IPEDS Graduation Rates component (C150_4). Retention reflects the Fall 2021 full-time, first-time, bachelor's-seeking cohort retained into the following fall. IPEDS Fall Enrollment component (RET_FT4). Median debt reflects the NSLDS FY2020 and FY2021 pooled completer cohorts (GRAD_DEBT_MDN, GRAD_DEBT_MDN10YR_SUPP). Median earnings reflect the Treasury-matched cohort entering college in AY2009-10 or AY2010-11, earnings measured 10 years later in calendar years 2020 and 2021, inflation-adjusted to 2022 dollars (MD_EARN_WNE_P10).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

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

Provost Scholarship

AutomaticRenewable

Source

Amount not published

Transfer Student Scholarships

AutomaticRenewable

Source

Amount not published

Athletic Scholarships

Application

Source

Amount not published

Pride Of New York Scholarship

AutomaticRenewable

Source

Amount not published

Flagship Scholarship

AutomaticRenewable

Source

Lesser-known scholarships at University at Buffalo

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

Empire State Diversity Honors Daniel Acker Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityEmpire State Diversity Honors/Daniel Acker Scholarships are awarded to academically competitive first-year students eligible for the Daniel Acker Scholars Program and are renewable for four years if continuing eligibility requirements are maintained.

Source

School Of Pharmacy And Pharmaceutical Sciences Deans Leadership Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityAll first-year students admitted directly into the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Doctor of Pharmacy degree program through the Early Assurance Program 2+4=6 option will earn a Dean’s Leadership Scholarship upon successful transition to the professional third year of study, with no additional application needed.

Source

Steven B Sample Distinguished Honors Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityTo be eligible for the Steven B. Sample Distinguished Honors Scholarship, a student must be a newly admitted first-year student accepted into both the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the University Honors College.

Source

How University at Buffalo compares across our verified dataset

668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
University at Buffalo 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.

Sources used on this page

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

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