University of Maryland, College Park · Maryland
Free Merit Check
Maryland's top merit is the full Banneker/Key Scholarship, with President's and Dean's Scholarships below it - the marquee award is highly competitive and covers most of the bill for its recipients.
High-achieving applicants to UMD College Park, students competitive for the full Banneker/Key, and Maryland residents and nonresidents weighing named-scholarship upside against cost.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $32,408 for 2026-2027. Source
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.
Official Banneker/Key policy snapshot gives 2026-2027 on/off-campus full award table: resident tuition $11,014, fees $1,820, housing $10,290, food $7,180, book allowance $1,250, total $31,554.
Official Banneker/Key policy snapshot gives 2026-2027 on/off-campus full award table: non-resident tuition $42,266, fees $1,820, housing $10,290, food $7,180, book allowance $1,250, total $62,806.
Official admissions snapshot states President's Scholarship is a four-year scholarship ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 per year, available to in-state and out-of-state applicants, selected from admission application materials including listed factors, with notification by April 1.
Official admissions snapshot states Dean's Scholarship is $1,500 for freshman year or $4,500 for freshman and sophomore years, not renewable, only in-state applicants eligible, selected from admission materials including listed factors, roughly 400 recipients each fall, notified by April 1.
Official admissions snapshot states Dean's Scholarship offers $4,500 per year for freshman and sophomore years, is not renewable, only in-state applicants are eligible, selected from admission materials including listed factors, and selected students are notified by April 1.
Official admissions snapshot identifies Banneker/Key as UMD most prestigious merit scholarship for incoming freshmen, covering up to tuition, mandatory fees, housing/food and book allowance with Honors College admission; it states Honors College admits/early-action applicants are considered with no extra materials, interview invitations by March 1 and final amount by April 1.
Outside scholarships reduce loans and/or work-study first; institutional grants are only reduced if required to prevent an over-award.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): An overaward is when the total financial aid funds received by the student exceed their calculated financial need and/or their total cost of attendance. ... Overawards are resolved by reducing and/or canceling the financial aid offered. Undisbursed loans will be reduced before any reduction is made to previously disbursed awards. Overawards typically occur when the Office of Student Financial Aid, at the time of releasing the financial aid offer, is not aware of additional financial assistance a student is receiving. Students are responsible for notifying our office as soon as they are aware of additional aid they will receive. Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: UMD's five institutional merit scholarships (Banneker/Key, Frederick Douglass, Maryland Transfer, President's, and Dean's) cannot be combined with each other. Students may receive only one. Official Banneker/Key policy snapshot states students may receive only one of Banneker/Key, Frederick Douglass, Maryland Transfer, President's, or Dean's; these cannot be combined with one another but can be combined with other grants and scholarships, subject to the stated cost-of-attendance cap. (per https://financialaid.umd.edu/resources-policies/bannekerkey-scholarship-policy)
Students must submit their undergraduate admission application and all required materials by the November 1 early action deadline to be automatically reviewed for merit scholarships. No additional application is required. Spring admit students are not considered for merit scholarships.
Selected students for the President's Scholarship and Dean's Scholarship are notified of their awards by April 1. Banneker/Key Semifinalists receive their interview invitation by March 1 and are notified of their final scholarship amount by April 1.
University of Maryland 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.
University of Maryland is one of them. The cohort minority (81 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 University of Maryland’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
