University of Dayton · Ohio
Marianist Catholic private with a fully automatic four-tier merit ladder running from roughly $17k to $33k per year, paired with a net-tuition guarantee that locks each year's discounted tuition at admission.
The short answer
Dayton is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and 4 are based on those numbers.
Free Merit Check
These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.
Awarded automatically as part of the admission decision; based on GPA, test scores (if submitted), and academic rigor. No separate application.
Renewable for all four years (eight semesters) as long as academic requirements are met each year.
Awarded automatically as part of the admission decision. GPA and test-score thresholds are not published; Dayton evaluates each application holistically against the same merit criteria for every tier.
Renewable for eight semesters as long as academic requirements are met each year.
Awarded automatically as part of the admission decision. Third of four published merit tiers.
Renewable for eight semesters as long as academic requirements are met each year.
Top published merit tier. Awarded automatically as part of the admission decision to the highest-credentialed applicants; no separate application.
Renewable for eight semesters as long as academic requirements are met each year. At the top end this covers roughly 64% of 2025-26 tuition.
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Dayton's published information.
Dayton'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.
Straight from the aid office
Answers provided in writing by UD Admission, University of Dayton, August 6, 2026. Quotes are verbatim from the office's email reply.
Does the award stay the same all four years even if tuition goes up?
It is locked and does not increase. The office confirmed merit is fixed at the time of admission, while need-based aid is recalculated year by year and can pick up additional grants or university funds as tuition rises. Only the need-based half of the package can respond to a cost increase.
“Yes, we will lock merit scholarships at the time of admission. So, merit scholarships do not increase. However, need-based aid is determined on a year-by-year basis. There may be additional grants or university funds available year-to-year, even if tuition increases.”
Does an outside scholarship reduce what Dayton already awarded?
No. The office stated it will not decrease scholarships or grants already awarded, and that students stack outside scholarships on top of the package.
“No, we will not decrease any scholarships or grants awarded. We let students stack outside scholarships on their award package.”
What goes into the merit decision?
A holistic read — GPA, courses taken, recommendations, extracurriculars, and the essay, with test scores added to scholarship review only if the student submits them. There is no stat-to-dollar grid to reverse-engineer.
“We do a holistic review of students. So, we review their GPA, classes taken, letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvement, and the essay. If students choose to send their test scores, those also will be used in scholarship review.”
What is the applicant profile at Dayton?
The office gave a middle 50% of 3.4–3.8 weighted GPA and 1140–1290 on test scores. Read those as the applicant pool, not as scholarship thresholds — they say where a student sits in the class, not what the award will be.
“Our middle 50% GPA range for students applying to UD is between 3.4-3.8 weighted GPA. As for test scores, the middle 50% is between 1140-1290.”
How does going test-optional change merit consideration?
It shifts the weight onto GPA. The office noted that withholding scores puts more emphasis on the transcript for merit decisions — which cuts both ways depending on whether the score or the GPA is the stronger half of the file.
“By going test optional, more emphasis is carried on the student's GPA when determining merit scholarships.”
What does a student have to do each year to keep the award?
Stay full-time at 12–18 semester hours and hold a 2.50 cumulative college GPA. The office framed that as the requirement for maintaining all financial aid, not merit alone.
“To maintain all financial aid, students must maintain full-time academic status (12-18 semester hours) and maintain academic eligibility. This is a 2.50 cumulative collegiate GPA.”
Dayton publishes the four-tier dollar ranges but does not publish a stat-banded ladder. The tier you receive is decided holistically inside the admission review against GPA, test scores (if submitted), and academic rigor. Do not assume 'X test score = Trustees' tier' — there is no published threshold.
The merit scholarship is the dollar amount of the award. The net-tuition guarantee is a separate four-year promise that whatever discounted tuition you are offered at admission will not increase across your eight semesters. Housing, meals, and fees are not locked — only tuition is.
Dayton's public site documents only the reporting requirement (notify via the Porches portal) and is silent on whether outside scholarships displace institutional merit aid. Top-tier merit awards can already cover a large share of tuition, so an outside award may displace institutional aid rather than add to it. Ask the office directly before counting on the dollars.
The Trustees' Merit Scholarship is Dayton's highest published merit tier at $31,000 to $33,000 per year, renewable for all four years (eight semesters) as long as the recipient maintains academic standing. Unlike many top-tier private-school scholarships at peer institutions, the Trustees' award is fully automatic on the admission decision — there is no separate application, no on-campus interview weekend, and no essay competition. Dayton's published criteria are GPA, test scores (if submitted), and academic rigor. At the $33,000 top of the range, this covers roughly 64% of 2025-26 published tuition ($50,610), but leaves housing, meals, and fees (about $21,755 more) for the family. Combined with Dayton's net-tuition guarantee, the discounted tuition that the Trustees' award produces is locked at admission for all four years.
Strong students looking for a mid-sized Catholic university where merit aid is awarded automatically at admission and the offered tuition price will not change year over year. Particularly attractive to out-of-state families who do not want to chase competitive scholarship applications.
Tuition figure includes a $50 professional/license/certificate fee allowance. 2025-26 used to match input year.
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Dayton, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
| Family income | Average net price paid |
|---|---|
| $0–$30,000 | $21,736 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $21,595 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $24,155 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $26,871 |
| $110,001+ | $33,731 |
| All income levels (average) | $29,533 |
That works out to roughly a 55% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $65,881 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Dayton requires students to report outside scholarships through the Porches student portal but does not publish a displacement formula. Families cannot tell from the public site whether an outside award will offset institutional merit aid, loans, or work-study — call Flyer Student Services before banking on stacking on top of a Trustees' or President's award.
The University of Dayton's public 'External Scholarships' resource page covers how to find and vet third-party awards and tells students to notify the university via the Porches portal, but it does not state whether outside scholarships reduce institutional aid, reduce loans first, or only fill unmet need. The displacement rule is decided case-by-case by Flyer Student Services (fss@udayton.edu, 937-229-4141).
No. Dayton says explicitly that 'you will automatically be considered for a merit scholarship as part of the admission process.' All four tiers — Chaminade, Deans', President's, and Trustees' — are awarded inside the admission decision based on GPA, test scores (if submitted), and academic rigor.
Dayton does not publish stat cutoffs. The merit page lists the four tiers and their dollar ranges, but only says that awards are 'based on a variety of criteria including GPA, test scores (if submitted) and academic rigor.' The decision is holistic, not formulaic.
Yes — both at the award level and at the tuition level. Dayton's merit scholarships are 'renewable for all four years, or eight semesters,' as long as you 'meet academic requirements each year,' and the net tuition produced by your award is guaranteed not to increase. Housing, food, and fees are not part of that guarantee.
Dayton requires that you report outside scholarships through the Porches portal, but the public site does not publish a displacement rule. That means the effect of an outside award on your institutional aid, loans, or work-study is decided case-by-case by Flyer Student Services. Call (937-229-4141) or email fss@udayton.edu before counting on stacking.
Tuition is $50,610. Total cost of attendance for a residential first-year student is $72,365. Tuition is the same for all majors and all states. For 2026-27, Dayton lists tuition at $51,910 and COA at $74,940.
Dayton is in a recognizable cluster (135 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
Dayton is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
Dayton 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.
Every claim is checked against Dayton’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
