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Rochester scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$92,270per year · 2025-2026 · On-campus
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Rochester may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
4 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

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.

Where does your student land?

  1. Rochester Merit Scholarship (general)Average around $14,000 per year (range not publicly disclosed; awarded to ~50% of admitted students)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Rochester Merit Scholarship (general)

    Average around $14,000 per year (range not publicly disclosed; awarded to ~50% of admitted students)

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Rochester Merit Scholarship (general)

    Who qualifies

    All admitted undergraduate applicants to Arts, Sciences, Engineering, and Business are auto-considered. No separate application. Selection based on academic achievement, regardless of financial circumstances. Students are eligible to receive only ONE merit scholarship.

    How to keep it

    Renewed annually for up to three additional years (4 total) with satisfactory academic performance and full-time status. Award amount is frozen at admission — does NOT increase with annual tuition and fee increases.

    Worth knowing

    Rochester explicitly states merit scholarships are used to meet financial need if need exists — for need-eligible students, the merit award effectively replaces the institutional grant rather than stacking on top. Net financial impact for need-eligible families is often zero from the merit alone.

  2. Bausch + Lomb Science Scholarship$6,000 per year ($24,000 over four years)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Bausch + Lomb Science Scholarship

    $6,000 per year ($24,000 over four years)

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Bausch + Lomb Science Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Winners of the Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award (school-nominated junior, selected for academic excellence in science, rigor of science coursework, PSAT/SAT/ACT performance) are automatically considered upon application to Rochester. Selection is competitive based on overall strength of the admission application. Intended major is not a factor. Restricted to full-time freshmen entering the College — not transfers, not Eastman School of Music.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for four years; subject to standard Rochester merit renewal terms (satisfactory academic performance + full-time enrollment).

    Worth knowing

    Sponsored since 1933 by Bausch + Lomb. Each high school may nominate one junior. There is no cap on the number of awards granted globally.

  3. High School Awards Program — General Nominee MeritAt least $5,000 per year for nominees admitted to RochesterNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    High School Awards Program — General Nominee Merit

    At least $5,000 per year for nominees admitted to Rochester

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for High School Awards Program — General Nominee Merit

    Who qualifies

    School-nominated juniors for the Rochester High School Awards Program (Bausch + Lomb, Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award, Xerox Award, George Eastman Young Leaders' Award). All nominees admitted to Rochester are eligible for at least $5,000/year merit. Application fee waived for nominees.

    Worth knowing

    Nomination does not guarantee admission or a specific scholarship. The named scholarships (Bausch + Lomb Science Scholarship at $6,000/yr) layer for science nominees competitively.

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  • “it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa

The fine print

Renewal ruleRochester Merit Scholarship (general): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewed annually for up to three additional years (4 total) with satisfactory academic performance and full-time status. Award amount is frozen at admission — does NOT increase with annual tuition and fee increases. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Rochester different

Mid-size private research university in upstate New York with broad merit access (≈50% of admits get merit, averaging $14,000/year) and a meets-full-need promise — but a tight 'merit fills need before grants' rule means merit and need aid don't truly stack for need-eligible families.

Merit tiers3See who qualifies
First-year students with school awards23%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. Know what happens next year

    Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.

The fine print / Three questions to carry forward

Before you count on it.

Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.

Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.

Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.

Take Rochester's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

Straight from the aid office

What Rochester's aid office says

Per the Financial Aid Office, University of Rochester, August 2026. How we verify

Outside scholarships

What does an outside scholarship replace first?

Unmet federal need, work-study, and federal loans — in that framing — before the need-based Rochester National Grant is touched. Self-help absorbs the outside award first; institutional grant aid is the last thing affected.

“Our policy at the University of Rochester is to incorporate Outside Scholarships into the financial aid offer, which replaces any unmet federal need, work-study, and Federal Loans, before affecting the Rochester National Grant (a need-based grant).”
Annual reapplication

Does need-based aid renew automatically?

No — students reapply for need-based aid every year.

“would need to reapply for need-based financial aid at URochester.”
What sets the offer

What information drives the aid offer?

The FAFSA, the CSS Profile, and prior-prior-year tax documents — and Rochester describes its first offer as its best offer, not an opening position.

“At URochester, we go out with our best offer based on the information provided on the FAFSA, the CSS Profile, and prior-prior year tax documents.”
Why the CSS Profile

Why does institutional aid run on the CSS Profile?

Because it is the deeper application — the office uses CSS Profile calculations to set the family contribution and institutional eligibility so its limited funds are awarded consistently.

“To award our limited university funds fairly and equitably, we rely on the calculations from the CSS Profile to determine the Expected Family Contribution and a student’s eligibility for institutional aid, as it is a more in-depth application.”
Year-over-year consistency

Will need-based aid hold steady across the four years?

Roughly, yes — the office said the need-based portion should stay relatively consistent as long as household income, assets, and size do. Swings in those inputs are what move the number.

“offer should remain relatively consistent so long as household income, assets, and size remain relatively consistent from year to year.”
Merit renewal bar

What keeps a merit scholarship, and does the amount change?

The office stated merit scholarships will not fluctuate year to year as long as the student holds a 2.0 cumulative GPA and completes at least 67% of attempted credits — a low bar, with the pace requirement being the one families overlook.

“maintains at least a 2.0 or greater cumulative GPA and completes at least 67% of the credits he attempts.”

What families often miss

  1. Rochester's published policy is that merit scholarships are used to meet financial need if need exists. For a need-eligible student receiving a $14,000 merit award, the institutional grant component is reduced by approximately the same amount — the total package size is unchanged. Merit is genuinely additive only for students whose family resources exceed the cost of attendance (no need). Modeling merit as new money on top of a need-based offer is a common mid-five-figure mistake.

  2. Rochester's published policy: 'Award amounts remain constant and do not increase with tuition and fee increases.' A merit scholarship awarded at $14,000 in freshman year remains $14,000 in senior year even though tuition has risen meaningfully. Real value of the merit award declines year over year. Plan for tuition inflation to come out of pocket — even with merit.

  3. Rochester explicitly states: 'Students are eligible to receive only one scholarship.' A Bausch + Lomb Science Award winner who also might have qualified for the general merit scholarship receives only the higher of the two. Plan the merit math around a single award.

  4. The Bausch + Lomb, Frederick Douglass / Susan B. Anthony, Xerox, and George Eastman awards each have one nomination slot per high school annually. Students who would qualify often don't know they exist because the nomination is school-driven. Junior-year students interested in Rochester should explicitly ask their counselor whether the school nominates and who has been picked — the application fee waiver and $5,000/yr minimum merit alone make pursuit worthwhile.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong students without significant demonstrated need (merit lands as new money rather than displacing grants), top humanities/STEM applicants who can be nominated for the High School Awards Program, and need-eligible students who recognize that Rochester's 100%-of-need promise — not the merit award — is the real financial story.

Cost of attendance$92,270 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
On-campus$92,270
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Personal
  • Travel

Residential Students budget (SAS and Hajim). Tuition & fees combines Tuition ($69,030) and Mandatory Fees ($1,452). Housing & food combines Housing ($12,328) and Food ($8,138). Books and course materials are included in tuition via the UR Essentials program.

Rochester cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Rochester, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Rochester, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$9,678
$30,001–$48,000$12,185
$48,001–$75,000$21,087
$75,001–$110,000$27,883
$110,001+$46,801
All income levels (average)$29,278

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$67,080
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$29,278

That works out to roughly a 66% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $85,962 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
85%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
91%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,000 (~$223/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$79,042
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
20%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
35%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

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): The University allows the amounts you receive in outside scholarships to replace self-help in the financial aid award. If self-help is completely replaced by outside aid, any excess amount will reduce grant or scholarship aid that would otherwise be provided by the University of Rochester. Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: Rochester awards only one merit scholarship per student. (per https://www.rochester.edu/financial-aid/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/FA-Handbook-2025-26.pdf)

Source

More school data

From the Rochester Common Data Set 2024-2025:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Rochester’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
23%of admitsget merit
Average award$17,238Covers ~19% of $92,270 cost of attendance

At Rochester, roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $17,238 — about 19% of total cost.

As filed in Rochester's CDS Section H2A: of 1,317 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 304 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $17,238. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,400 of 6,029, averaging $17,163. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

Receive institutional merit23%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Average merit award$17,238Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025

Source: Common Data Set 2024-2025 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other Rochester scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountAt least $5,000 per year (per general nominee minimum); specific merit award may be larger for selected scholarsEligibilityRecognizes outstanding juniors for achievement in humanities and social sciences with commitment to social justice. School nominated. Application fee waived for nominees.

Source

AmountAt least $5,000 per yearEligibilitySchool-nominated junior for innovation in technology, computer science, or information systems.

Source

AmountAt least $5,000 per yearEligibilitySchool-nominated junior for leadership and community engagement.

Source

Rochester merit aid FAQ

  • How much merit aid does the University of Rochester give?

    Roughly 50% of admitted students receive merit, with an average award around $14,000 per year. All admitted Arts, Sciences, Engineering, and Business applicants are auto-considered with no separate application. Students are eligible for only one merit award. Named pathways include the Bausch + Lomb Science Scholarship ($6,000/year) for nominated science students, plus the Frederick Douglass / Susan B. Anthony, Xerox, and George Eastman awards (≥$5,000/yr for all admitted nominees).

  • Does Rochester meet full financial need?

    Yes, for all incoming students. Rochester commits to meeting 100% of demonstrated institutional need through a combination of grants, scholarships, loans, and work eligibility. For upper-class students the commitment is 'as much as resources will allow' — institutional aid can be reduced as family resources strengthen or as siblings cease undergraduate enrollment.

  • Does Rochester merit stack with need-based aid?

    Not in net effect. Rochester's published policy is that merit scholarships are used to meet need if need exists. For need-eligible students, merit dollars replace what would have been institutional grant dollars, so the total aid package does not grow. The merit is meaningful only when the family is over-need (i.e., expected family resources exceed cost).

  • Does Rochester require the CSS Profile?

    Yes. Rochester uses CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service PROFILE) plus FAFSA for institutional need-based aid determination. Some students may be required to submit additional paperwork through the College Board's IDOC service.

  • Will my Rochester merit award increase with tuition?

    No. Rochester's published handbook says 'Award amounts remain constant and do not increase with tuition and fee increases.' A $14,000 freshman-year award is still $14,000 senior year — but tuition has risen, so the real coverage shrinks. Budget for tuition inflation even with merit.

See sources and other schools

How Rochester compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Rochester 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.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Rochester 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 Rochester’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • Marist merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • NYU merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • St. Lawrence merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Syracuse merit aid. New York private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring Rochester merit aid

The next chapter

Where does Rochester fit in your plan?

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