UC San Diego award rules
Will the scholarship last four years at UC San Diego?
We pulled the school’s grade, credit, and time limits into one place so you can see what it takes to keep the award.
The short answer
3 of 3 published awards are listed as renewable.
The exact rule can change by award. Check the award your student may receive before you count on the same amount every year.
What to do
Find the award name in the full research below. Save its grade, credit, and deadline rules with your college plan.
See every award rule, common mistake, and source
At a glance
- Renewable tiers
- 3 of 3
- One-time tiers
- 0
- Tiers with published renewal terms
- 3
- Renewal risk profile
- low
Renewal risk profile
UC San Diego's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.
- Regents Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
- Chancellor's Scholarship: See notes
- Triton Scholars Program: See notes
Renewal terms by tier
Regents Scholarship
$5,000/year for four years ($20,000 total). The most generous Regents cash honorarium in the UC system.To keep it: Paid annually over four years. Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Source: https://fas.ucsd.edu/types/scholarships/regents-scholarships-for-entering-freshmen.html
Chancellor's Scholarship
Up to $5,000/year for four years ($20,000 total).To keep it: Renewable for four years with Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Source: https://fas.ucsd.edu/types/scholarships/chancellors-scholarships-for-entering-freshmen.html
Triton Scholars Program
$5,000-$20,000/year (up to four years).To keep it: Renewable for up to four years. Specific renewal requirements not published.
Source: https://fas.ucsd.edu/types/scholarships/entering-freshmen.html
Rules that bite at UC San Diego
The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook, derived from UC San Diego's own tier rules and not generic advice.
- cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$15,000/yr ($20,000 − $5,000)
UC San Diego publishes a tier ladder where crossing Within Triton Scholars · floor ($5,000/yr) → ceiling ($20,000/yr) changes the marginal value by +$15,000/yr ($20,000 − $5,000). The program range spans $15,000/yr, a 4x step from floor to ceiling. Placement is unpublished, so treat the ceiling as a best case, not a default.
How UC San Diego compares across our verified dataset
- 667 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
UC San Diego 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.
- 63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.
UC San Diego is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.
Sources used on this page
Every renewal claim is checked against UC San Diego’s own published materials.
More on UC San Diego merit aid
- UC San Diego merit aid overviewFull tier ladder, named scholarships, departmental awards, and how families decide.
- UC San Diego scholarship stackingWhether outside awards land as upside or quietly displace institutional aid.
- Does UC San Diego displace outside scholarships?The dollar math on a $5,000 outside award, plus peer schools that handle it differently.