Skip to content

Susquehanna University · Pennsylvania

Susquehanna scholarships and merit aid

Every admitted student is automatically considered for a competitive academic merit scholarship of $40,000–$44,000/yr (no separate application), but the awards are holistic — Susquehanna publishes no GPA/test grid.

Verified Jun 20263 months ago

The short answer

Is Susquehanna worth a closer look?

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

Merit tiers8See who qualifies
Research checkedJun 2026By our research team

Free Merit Check

See what Susquehanna's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at Susquehanna

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

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.

$40,000-$44,000

Academic Scholarships (First-Year)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Awarded on a competitive basis from an assessment of academic achievement and potential; no separate application required.

How to keep it

Renewable for eight regular academic terms; reviewed annually by the Scholarship Selection Committee; must meet GPA requirements, be a responsible member of the community, and enroll full-time.

Notes

Awarded without regard to family income. No published GPA/test grid — holistic.

Source

$40,000-$44,000

Transfer Scholarships

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Outstanding academic achievement in previous college work.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to eight regular academic terms (university scholarship renewal policy).

Notes

Community-college transfers in Phi Theta Kappa receive a $5,000 scholarship in addition to the merit award; transfers with an associate degree receive an additional $2,500 (matriculation-timing restrictions apply — dual-enrollment associate degrees not eligible).

Source

$2,500

Alumni Scholarships

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Children, stepchildren or grandchildren of Susquehanna alumni.

How to keep it

Annual award; standard university scholarship renewal applies.

Notes

Awarded in addition to any other merit scholarship.

Source

$5,000

Janet Weis Writers Institute Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

First-year creative writing majors; based on quality of writing portfolio (submit a 5–10 page portfolio within two weeks of applying, no later than Feb. 15).

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years with full-time enrollment as a creative writing major and a 3.2 GPA in the major.

Notes

Ten awards. The Bundy Scholarship may also be awarded if funding is available. These awards are in addition to merit scholarships but MAY NOT EXCEED the total cost of tuition.

Source

$4,000-$12,000

The Lawrence M. & Louise Kresge Isaacs Scholarship for Music

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Exceptional music major; by audition.

Notes

Annual award.

Source

$1,000-$5,000

Music Scholarships

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Outstanding music students; by audition.

Notes

Performance scholarships.

Source

Up to $45,000

International Student Merit Scholarships

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

International applicants; automatically considered on completion of the application. Submitting SAT/ACT scores helps maximize the award. Sponsored students not eligible.

Notes

Partial-tuition only — the page states applicants can receive up to a $45,000 (USD) merit scholarship and that full scholarships are NOT available. No need-based aid for international students.

Source

$1,000

Lutheran Summer Music Alumni Scholarship

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Lutheran Summer Music alumni who are admitted and complete a music audition.

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 Susquehanna's published information.

  • Renewal ruleAcademic Scholarships (First-Year): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable for eight regular academic terms; reviewed annually by the Scholarship Selection Committee; must meet GPA requirements, be a responsible member of the community, and enroll full-time. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What families often miss

  1. Susquehanna publishes only a $40,000–$44,000 first-year range and states awards are 'based upon an assessment of each admitted student's academic achievement and potential' on a competitive basis — there is no published grid, so the exact amount cannot be predicted from stats.

  2. Outside scholarships are 'used first to offset equal amounts of loans and/or work-study awards' — they reduce self-help (loans/work-study) first rather than adding cash savings beyond it.

  3. The page states these add-on awards 'may not exceed the total cost of tuition,' so the combined institutional award is capped at tuition.

  4. Each of those $2,000 grants explicitly excludes students awarded Tuition Exchange or Tuition Remission.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong-but-holistic applicants (no minimum GPA/test cutoff is published) who want a high sticker-discount automatically; creative-writing and music students who can add portfolio/audition awards on top.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $82,300 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Susquehanna, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$19,757
$30,001–$48,000$18,493
$48,001–$75,000$21,171
$75,001–$110,000$24,190
$110,001+$33,866
All income levels (average)$28,819

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$59,850
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$28,819

That works out to roughly a 62% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $75,410 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
82%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
86%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$27,000 (~$286/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$61,723
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
27%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
70%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships are applied first to reduce loans and/or work-study (loan-first treatment), not to displace the merit grant. University scholarship + grant aid is capped at eight semesters. Named endowed (need-based) awards may be exchanged dollar-for-dollar with need-based aid. Add-on awards such as the Janet Weis writing scholarships may not exceed the total cost of tuition.

Per the scholarships page: outside scholarships 'will be incorporated into financial aid packages and will be used first to offset equal amounts of loans and/or work-study awards.' Susquehanna-funded aid (scholarship and grant) is limited to a maximum of eight semesters. Need-based awards may be exchanged dollar for dollar with named endowed scholarships.

Source

Other Susquehanna scholarships worth checking

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

Amount$5,000EligibilityCommunity college transfer students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa.

In addition to the merit award.

Source

Amount$2,500EligibilityTransfer students with an associate degree (must have matriculated to community college after high school graduation; dual-enrollment associate degrees not eligible).

In addition to the academic merit scholarship.

Source

Amount$2,500EligibilityDependent children of ordained Lutheran clergy.

Per year.

Source

Amount$2,000EligibilityFirst-year students who apply and are admitted by Dec. 1, 2025 ($8,000 over four years).

Students awarded Tuition Exchange or Tuition Remission are not eligible.

Source

Amount$2,000EligibilityEligible students who visit campus (Spring & Fall 2027 first-years: visit Jan. 5–Nov. 21, 2026); $8,000 over four years.

Students awarded Tuition Exchange or Tuition Remission are not eligible.

Source

Amount$2,000EligibilityEligible students who file the FAFSA (entering fall first-years file by March 15); renewable if FAFSA filed annually (school code 003369).

Students awarded Tuition Exchange or Tuition Remission are not eligible.

Source

AmountFull tuitionEligibilityChildren of full-time faculty/staff at ~600 participating colleges; selection based on academic credentials.

Several awarded each year; excludes the Early Admit/Visit/FAFSA grants.

Source

Susquehanna merit aid FAQ

  • Do I need a separate application for merit scholarships?

    No. The page states students are 'automatically considered for scholarships through Susquehanna and cannot apply directly for them.' The only exceptions are music auditions and the creative-writing portfolio.

  • What is the creative-writing scholarship deadline?

    Submit a 5- to 10-page portfolio within two weeks of applying, and no later than Feb. 15.

  • When must I apply to get the Early Admit Grant?

    First-year students who apply and are admitted by Dec. 1, 2025 receive the $2,000/yr Early Admit Grant ($8,000 over four years).

  • How long do scholarships renew?

    All university scholarships can be renewed for eight regular academic terms, subject to GPA requirements, full-time enrollment, and annual review by the Scholarship Selection Committee.

See sources and other schools

How Susquehanna compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Susquehanna is in a recognizable cluster (145 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.

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

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Susquehanna merit aid