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USF (San Francisco) scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$89,298per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

USF (San Francisco) awards automatic merit on admission. USF (San Francisco) does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.

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. Fall 2026 First-Year Merit Scholarships (University / Presidential / Provost / Hilltop / Ignatius / Dons / St. Francis)$17,000-$37,000AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Fall 2026 First-Year Merit Scholarships (University / Presidential / Provost / Hilltop / Ignatius / Dons / St. Francis)

    $17,000-$37,000

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    Awarded based on your USF-calculated GPA in core academic subjects (no public GPA-to-tier mapping)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Fall 2026 First-Year Merit Scholarships (University / Presidential / Provost / Hilltop / Ignatius / Dons / St. Francis)

    Who qualifies

    All applicants automatically considered; no additional application

    How to keep it

    Renewable each year for up to four years, as long as you maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress toward your degree.

    Worth knowing

    Tier amounts: University $37,000; Presidential $35,000; Provost $33,000; Hilltop $31,000; Ignatius $29,000; Dons $27,000; St. Francis $17,000. Merit scholarships can only be applied to TUITION. The GPA cutoffs for each tier are not published — do not invent them.

  2. Araoz Nursing Scholarship (Hilltop first-year nursing program)$25,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Araoz Nursing Scholarship (Hilltop first-year nursing program)

    $25,000

    Published amountNot 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 Araoz Nursing Scholarship (Hilltop first-year nursing program)

    Who qualifies

    Students admitted to the Hilltop first-year nursing program — they are excluded from the standard merit grid

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms stated for merit scholarships generally: renewable up to four years with Satisfactory Academic Progress.

    Worth knowing

    Replaces (does not add to) the standard merit tiers for direct-admit nursing students — a nursing admit cannot also hold the $37,000 University Scholarship.

  3. Charles E. Cross Award for Catholic High School Students$5,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Charles E. Cross Award for Catholic High School Students

    $5,000

    Published amountNot 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 Charles E. Cross Award for Catholic High School Students

    Who qualifies

    Graduating or graduated from a Catholic or Jesuit high school

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to four years (three years for transfer students), provided you maintain satisfactory academic progress each semester.

    Worth knowing

    Applied toward the cost of tuition.

Lights up against USF (San Francisco)'s published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.

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The fine print

Outside awardsNo published displacement order

USF (San Francisco)'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.

What makes USF (San Francisco) different

USF (Jesuit) publishes seven named Fall 2026 merit tiers from $17,000 to $37,000 — awarded automatically from a USF-calculated core GPA, tuition-only, with a flat $25,000 Araoz award replacing the grid for direct-admit nursing students and a stackable $5,000 Catholic/Jesuit high school award.

Merit tiers31 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

More than one award path

Separate the two paths.

Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  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 USF (San Francisco)'s decision sheet

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

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. 'Merit scholarships can only be applied to tuition,' and need-based institutional grants 'can be used for tuition only.' With 2026-27 on-campus COA at $89,298 (housing $12,930 + food $6,220 + indirect costs), roughly $25,000 of annual cost cannot be touched by USF institutional aid.

  2. Hilltop first-year nursing admits 'are not included in the criteria above; they are awarded a new Araoz Nursing Scholarship in the amount of $25,000' — a fixed award that replaces the $17,000-$37,000 grid, even for a 4.0 student who would otherwise earn $37,000.

  3. Tiers are set by 'your USF-calculated GPA in core academic subjects' — USF recalculates GPA on core courses, which may differ from the transcript GPA, and no public cutoff table maps GPA to tier.

  4. The Charles E. Cross Award adds $5,000/yr toward tuition for up to four years (three for transfers) — make sure the high school is correctly identified on the application; renewal requires SAP each semester.

  5. Need-based institutional aid requires the FAFSA or CA Dream Act application 'by their required deadlines' — merit is automatic, but the need-based layer is not.

  6. USF states 'tuition, fees, housing, and food costs increase slightly each year. Over the last few years, annual increases have ranged from 2.8% to 4.9%' — and merit awards are flat dollar amounts, so the gap grows annually.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong-GPA students who want guaranteed-consideration merit at a Jesuit university in San Francisco; Catholic/Jesuit high school grads add $5,000/yr, but direct-admit nursing students should note their merit is fixed at $25,000.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $89,298 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at USF (San Francisco), academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$31,537
$30,001–$48,000$33,207
$48,001–$75,000$34,315
$75,001–$110,000$38,933
$110,001+$52,497
All income levels (average)$41,431

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$60,492
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$41,431

That works out to roughly a 48% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $80,141 (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
70%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
84%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$23,000 (~$244/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$89,812
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
29%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
51%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

USF says private scholarships should supplement, not replace, university-funded aid, but only states that a reduction of aid 'may be required' to remain compliant with federal or state financial aid regulations — the published policy names no specific dollar threshold, cost-of-attendance cap, or trigger point; confirm the actual mechanism with the financial aid office.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Private Scholarship Displacement is a practice where colleges and universities displace previously awarded financial aid when a student is awarded a private scholarship, effectively reducing the amount of financial aid awarded and resulting in a zero net gain for the student. At the University of San Francisco, we believe that private scholarships should supplement, not replace grants and scholarships, provided by the University of San Francisco to students who demonstrate financial need. There are times, however, when a reduction of a grant, scholarship, or other aid may be required in order to remain compliant with federal or other state financial aid regulations.

Source

Other USF (San Francisco) scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityIntercollegiate participation in listed NCAA sports (women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball, triathlon, beach volleyball; men's baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field)

Contact the Athletic Department at (415) 422-6891.

Source

AmountFull tuition plus an annual stipend for books and suppliesEligibilityFour-, three- and two-year Army ROTC scholarships

External (Army) funding administered through USF's ROTC program.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityDemonstrated financial need via FAFSA or CA Dream Act application by required deadlines

Tuition only.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityDependents of employees at Tuition Exchange member institutions (page listed in aid navigation; details not opened)

Flagged for reviewer; terms not extracted.

Source

USF (San Francisco) merit aid FAQ

  • Do I need to apply separately for USF merit scholarships?

    No — 'At USF, there is no additional application needed for merit scholarships. All applicants will automatically be considered.' Your decision letter states any merit award.

  • How much are the Fall 2026 merit scholarships?

    Seven tiers: University $37,000, Presidential $35,000, Provost $33,000, Hilltop $31,000, Ignatius $29,000, Dons $27,000, St. Francis $17,000 — based on your USF-calculated core GPA, tuition-only, renewable four years with SAP.

  • What does USF cost in 2026-27?

    Published full COA: $89,298 living on campus, $90,854 off campus, $81,510 with family (tuition $63,880; fees $612; on-campus housing $12,930; food $6,220; plus indirect costs). Health insurance adds $4,477 if not waived.

  • What keeps the scholarship each year?

    Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress toward your degree; the merit award renews annually for up to four years. The Cross Award requires SAP 'each semester.'

  • Is there a scholarship deadline?

    No separate merit deadline is published — merit follows the admission application. Need-based aid requires the FAFSA or CA Dream Act application by their required deadlines (see USF's dates & deadlines page).

See sources and other schools

How USF (San Francisco) compares

  • 133 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    USF (San Francisco) is in a recognizable cluster (133 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 133 of 749 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

    USF (San Francisco) is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.

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

    USF (San Francisco) 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 USF (San Francisco)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

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