UMN Duluth automatically considers applicants for a single GPA-based admissions scholarship ($750-$8,000/yr, up to $32,000 over four years) with Duluth-landmark tier names; you can only hold one UMD admissions scholarship.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is UMN Duluth worth a closer look?
UMN Duluth is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.
Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards44%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Free Merit Check
See what UMN Duluth's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.
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.
$750-$8,000
First Year Student Admissions Scholarship (Best of Class / Zenith / Superior / Beacon / North Shore / Ascent tiers)
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
Primarily based on GPA at time of admission (Best of Class tier requires 3.9+)
ACT
A strong composite ACT may benefit/raise the award if submitted (test-optional)
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Automatic consideration on the admission application; no separate scholarship application. Apply by the Jan 15 regular-decision deadline for full consideration.
How to keep it
Renewable for up to 4 years (total $3,000-$32,000) contingent on maintaining a 3.0 University of Minnesota cumulative GPA and full-time (12+ credit) enrollment. Graduating in less than four years forfeits the remaining award and it cannot transfer to non-degree/grad/professional enrollment.
Notes
The page names six tiers by Duluth landmarks (Best of Class, Zenith, Superior, Beacon, North Shore, Ascent) but publishes only the overall $750-$8,000 range — NO per-tier dollar amounts are given, so none are invented here. Best of Class is the top honor.
Highest-honor admissions tier; effectively for students ranked #1 or #2 in their MN class (schools that don't rank require a scholarship-appeal verification). Homeschooled students do NOT qualify. Must apply by the Jan 15 regular-decision deadline.
How to keep it
Same renewal terms (3.0 UMN CGPA + full-time).
Notes
Distinct named top tier with a hard 3.9 GPA floor and a rank/MN-resident pathway; the dollar amount is not published on this page (do not assume the $8,000 top of the general range applies).
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from UMN Duluth's published information.
Renewal ruleFirst Year Student Admissions Scholarship (Best of Class / Zenith / Superior / Beacon / North Shore / Ascent tiers): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to 4 years (total $3,000-$32,000) contingent on maintaining a 3.0 University of Minnesota cumulative GPA and full-time (12+ credit) enrollment. Graduating in less than four years forfeits the remaining award and it cannot transfer to non-degree/grad/professional enrollment. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $31,100 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at UMN Duluth cannot push the package past $31,100. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
What families often miss
UMD awards only ONE admissions scholarship per student from the Office of Admissions — the named tiers are mutually exclusive, not additive.
Total aid (all scholarships + grants) cannot exceed UMD's cost of attendance; receiving an outside scholarship triggers a review and may reduce your loans, work-study, or institutional aid.
The admissions scholarship requires a 3.0 University of Minnesota cumulative GPA and full-time (12+ credit) enrollment to renew; graduating early forfeits the remaining award.
Swenson College of Science & Engineering undergraduates pay an additional $520/year in tuition that is NOT shown in the COA charts but is included in financial-aid eligibility.
Best of Class requires a 3.9 GPA and is tied to being ranked #1 or #2 in a Minnesota class (with an appeal path for non-ranking schools); homeschooled students do not qualify.
Duluth has its own scholarships, costs, and One Stop system of record on the d.umn.edu domain.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
A solid-GPA applicant (3.9+ unlocks the top Best of Class honor) who applies by the Jan 15 regular-decision deadline, will live on campus, and understands UMD awards exactly one admissions scholarship and caps total aid at cost of attendance.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $31,100 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at UMN Duluth, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at UMN Duluth, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$7,256
$30,001–$48,000
$8,145
$48,001–$75,000
$11,965
$75,001–$110,000
$17,056
$110,001+
$24,453
All income levels (average)
$18,743
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$14,610
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$20,130
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$18,743
That works out to roughly a 32% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $27,680 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
UMN Duluth is a public school; Scorecard's net price figure covers in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
65%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
81%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$22,024 (~$233/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$62,616
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
22%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
57%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
A student may hold only ONE admissions scholarship from the Office of Admissions. Outside (non-UMD) scholarships may be combined with the admissions scholarship, but total aid (all scholarships and grants) cannot exceed UMD's cost of attendance; an outside award may reduce loans, work-study, or institutional aid.
Per the FAQ: students may only qualify for one admissions scholarship; scholarships from outside the university may be combined. Total annual aid cannot exceed COA; financial aid (loans, work-study, scholarships, grants) may be reduced if total aid exceeds the program cost. An outside scholarship triggers a review and possible reduction of other aid.
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From UMN Duluth’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
44%of admitsget merit
Average award$2,487Covers ~8% of $31,100 cost of attendance
At UMN Duluth, roughly 1 in 2 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $2,487 — about 8% of total cost.
As filed in UMN Duluth's CDS Section H2A: of 1,808 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 792 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $2,487. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 2,289 of 7,091, averaging $2,540. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit44%First-year students, Common Data Set 2023-2024
Average merit award$2,487Across recipients, Common Data Set 2023-2024
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityNon-resident students with UMD alumni parents or grandparents; apply by Jan 15 of senior year; contingent on acceptance and enrollment
December 1 is the Early Action priority deadline; January 15 is the Regular Decision deadline for all merit scholarship consideration (and the deadline to qualify for Best of Class). August 1 offers limited consideration depending on availability. For spring entry, the Regular Decision merit deadline is October 15.
Do I need to apply separately for the scholarship?
No — UMD automatically considers you for the merit scholarship when you apply for admission, primarily based on your GPA (a strong ACT may help if submitted).
What is the 2026-27 cost of attendance?
Resident living on campus is about $31,100 (tuition $13,815; fees $1,725; housing $6,160; food $6,200; books $760; personal $2,000; transportation $340; loan fees $100). Midwest nonresident on campus is $31,760 and full nonresident on campus is $38,650. Swenson science/engineering students add $520/year.
See sources and other schools+
How UMN Duluth compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
UMN Duluth is in a recognizable cluster (235 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.
UMN Duluth 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 UMN Duluth’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
