University of Maryland · Maryland
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.
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from University of Maryland's own published policy, not generic advice.
University of Maryland'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.
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.
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. They can, however, be combined with other grants and scholarships (need-based and outside awards), subject to cost-of-attendance cap.
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.
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 (44 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 right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
University of Maryland is one of them. The cohort minority (25 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.
