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?
USF Presidential Award (Florida Resident)Up to $4,000 per year (approximately $16,000 over 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
USF Presidential Award (Florida Resident)
Up to $4,000 per year (approximately $16,000 over 4 years)
Variable or qualified 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 USF Presidential Award (Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Highest merit award for Florida residents. Based on academic excellence throughout high school. Auto-considered for all admitted Florida-resident first-year applicants who complete the application by January 15. No separate application.
How to keep it
Renewable for up to 8 consecutive full-time fall/spring semesters within 4 years of coursework, or completion of bachelor's degree, whichever comes first.
Worth knowing
The Presidential is structured to stack with Florida Bright Futures (state lottery) — together they meaningfully close the in-state COA gap.
USF Directors Award (Florida Resident)Not publicly disclosed in a per-year table; second-tier in-state awardNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
USF Directors Award (Florida Resident)
Not publicly disclosed in a per-year table; second-tier in-state award
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 USF Directors Award (Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Florida residents below Presidential threshold but with strong academic credentials. Auto-considered through admission application by January 15.
How to keep it
8 consecutive full-time fall/spring semesters within 4 years.
USF Scholars Gold Award (Florida Resident)Not publicly disclosed in a per-year table; third-tier in-state awardNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
USF Scholars Gold Award (Florida Resident)
Not publicly disclosed in a per-year table; third-tier in-state award
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 USF Scholars Gold Award (Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Florida residents at the entry tier. Auto-considered through admission application by January 15.
How to keep it
8 consecutive full-time fall/spring semesters within 4 years.
Green & Gold Presidential Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)Up to $11,000 per year (approximately $44,000 over 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Green & Gold Presidential Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Up to $11,000 per year (approximately $44,000 over 4 years)
Variable or qualified 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 Green & Gold Presidential Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Top tier of USF's out-of-state waiver program. Auto-considered for non-Florida residents who complete the application by January 15. Waiver applies only to out-of-state tuition — not housing, meals, books, or other COA components.
How to keep it
Out-of-state tuition waiver — must remain classified as a non-Florida resident to retain the waiver. If residency updates to Florida, the waiver is canceled and not replaced by an in-state award.
Worth knowing
Cannot be combined with the USF Grandparent Waiver or Green & Gold Talent Award (both waive the same portion of non-resident tuition).
Green & Gold Directors Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)Up to $9,000 per year (approximately $36,000 over 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Green & Gold Directors Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Up to $9,000 per year (approximately $36,000 over 4 years)
Variable or qualified 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 Green & Gold Directors Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Second tier of OOS waiver program. Auto-considered through admission application by January 15.
How to keep it
Out-of-state tuition waiver; must remain non-Florida resident to retain.
Green & Gold Scholars Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)Up to $5,000 per year (approximately $20,000 over 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Green & Gold Scholars Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Up to $5,000 per year (approximately $20,000 over 4 years)
Variable or qualified 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 Green & Gold Scholars Waiver (Non-Florida Resident)
Who qualifies
Entry tier of OOS waiver program.
How to keep it
Out-of-state tuition waiver; must remain non-Florida resident to retain.
USF Tradition of Excellence National Merit / USF Golden Achievement (NMF)Full USF National Merit package (combines USF + NMSC funding; specific composition varies by Florida residency)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
USF Tradition of Excellence National Merit / USF Golden Achievement (NMF)
Full USF National Merit package (combines USF + NMSC funding; specific composition varies by Florida residency)
Variable or qualified 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 USF Tradition of Excellence National Merit / USF Golden Achievement (NMF)
Who qualifies
National Merit Finalists who designate USF as their first-choice institution. Florida Benacquisto Scholarship covers Florida residents; Golden Achievement Scholarship covers non-Florida residents. Recipients also eligible for a one-time $2,000 USF Passport Scholarship for a USF-sponsored study abroad experience.
How to keep it
8 consecutive full-time fall/spring semesters within 4 years.
Worth knowing
USF's most generous merit pathway for NMF. The Golden Achievement Tuition and Fee Waiver is a combination out-of-state + in-state waiver — should the student establish Florida residency mid-college, the waiver adjusts to cover the full in-state COA.
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The fine print
Renewal ruleUSF Presidential Award (Florida Resident): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to 8 consecutive full-time fall/spring semesters within 4 years of coursework, or completion of bachelor's degree, whichever comes first. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $39,140 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at USF cannot push the package past $39,140. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
What makes USF different
Florida public research university that distributes 10,000+ merit awards annually with a three-tier in-state ladder (Presidential ~$16k total, Directors, Scholars Gold) and a parallel three-tier out-of-state waiver ladder (Green & Gold Presidential ~$44k, Directors ~$36k, Scholars ~$20k) — but residency changes to Florida cancel the OOS portion outright.
Merit tiers7See who qualifies
First-year students with school awards15%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
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.
Read the selection rules
Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.
Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
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.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award+
What families often miss
USF's January 15 deadline is the cliff for merit consideration — applications submitted after this date are not eligible for the auto-considered admissions merit scholarships. Applications must be fully complete (submitted, fees paid, test scores received, STARS/transcript on file) by January 15 to qualify.
USF's Green & Gold Waivers (Presidential ~$11k/yr, Directors ~$9k/yr, Scholars ~$5k/yr) are tied to out-of-state status. If a student updates to Florida residency mid-college, the waiver is canceled and is NOT replaced by an in-state equivalent. The cost-of-attendance math can flip unfavorably — running both scenarios before initiating residency change is essential. The single exception: Golden Achievement bundle, which adjusts to cover in-state COA on residency change.
USF explicitly excludes combining the Green & Gold Waivers with the USF Grandparent Waiver or Green & Gold Talent Award — all waive the same portion of non-resident tuition. Other OOS waivers may combine but the total cannot exceed the OOS tuition charge. Multiple-source families need to compare amounts and accept the largest single waiver.
USF's National Merit package (Florida Benacquisto for Florida residents, USF Golden Achievement for non-residents) requires the finalist to designate USF as first-choice institution with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Missing this designation forfeits both the USF package and the $2,000 USF Passport Scholarship for study abroad.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
Strong Florida residents stacking USF Presidential with Bright Futures; out-of-state students with high stats who can hit the $11k/year Green & Gold Presidential Waiver; National Merit Finalists targeting Florida Benacquisto (FL residents) or USF Golden Achievement (non-residents) — both offer the most generous USF package.
Cost of attendance$27,134–$39,140 for 2025-26Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$39,140
$18K
$15K
In-state, on-campus$27,134
$6.4K
$15K
Tuition & fees
Housing & food
Books
Travel
Personal
On-campus full-time undergraduate. In-state and out-of-state differ only in tuition & fees.
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at USF, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at USF, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$4,122
$30,001–$48,000
$5,444
$48,001–$75,000
$9,326
$75,001–$110,000
$15,224
$110,001+
$18,497
All income levels (average)
$9,812
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$6,410
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$17,324
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$9,812
That works out to roughly a 57% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $22,859 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
USF 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
77%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
91%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$17,988 (~$191/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$57,743
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
28%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
24%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
USF caps total aid at the estimated cost of attendance per federal regulations. Out-of-state waivers cannot combine with one another (same tuition portion), and the OOS waiver tier is canceled outright if a student updates to Florida residency. The waiver does NOT convert to an in-state equivalent.
Per USF's published terms and conditions, total aid from federal, state, and institutional sources cannot exceed the estimated total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, miscellaneous). Excess aid is reduced. Out-of-state tuition waivers from multiple sources combined cannot exceed the OOS tuition charge. The OOS waiver and USF Grandparent Waiver / Green & Gold Talent Award are mutually exclusive. Residency changes terminate OOS waivers without replacement (except the Golden Achievement bundle, which adjusts).
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From USF’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
15%of admitsget merit
Average award$3,493Covers ~9% of $39,140 cost of attendance
At USF, roughly 1 in 7 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $3,493 — about 9% of total cost.
As filed in USF's CDS Section H2A: of 5,678 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 827 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $3,493. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 3,998 of 30,064, averaging $3,404. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit15%First-year students, Common Data Set 2023-2024
Average merit award$3,493Across recipients, Common Data Set 2023-2024
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
AmountState-funded; covers institutional cost of attendance for Florida-resident NMFEligibilityFlorida resident National Merit Finalists who designate a Florida college as first choice. Awarded by the state; USF participates.
Amount$2,000 one-time semester awardEligibilityTradition of Excellence National Merit, Florida Benacquisto Scholarship, and USF Golden Achievement recipients. For one semester of USF-sponsored study abroad. Full-time enrollment not required for this award.
USF awards 10,000+ merit scholarships annually. Florida residents: Presidential Award up to $4,000/year (~$16k over 4), plus tiered Directors and Scholars Gold awards below. Non-Florida residents: Green & Gold Waivers — Presidential up to $11,000/year (~$44k), Directors up to $9,000/year (~$36k), Scholars up to $5,000/year (~$20k) — all applied only to out-of-state tuition. National Merit Finalists who designate USF first-choice receive the most generous USF package (Florida Benacquisto for FL residents; USF Golden Achievement for non-residents).
Do I need to apply separately for USF scholarships?
No. All first-time-in-college applicants who complete the admission application by January 15 are automatically considered. Notifications arrive via postal mail and the Student Self-Service portal after initial admissions decisions are released.
What happens to my USF scholarship if I become a Florida resident?
It depends on the award. Out-of-state Green & Gold Waivers are canceled if a student updates to Florida residency, and are NOT replaced by an in-state equivalent. The USF Golden Achievement Tuition and Fee Waiver — the National Merit award — DOES adjust to cover the full in-state cost of attendance on residency change. Verify which award you hold before initiating a residency change.
Can I stack USF scholarships with Florida Bright Futures?
Generally yes — Bright Futures (state) layers with USF institutional awards. The combined total still cannot exceed USF's estimated cost of attendance. Florida residents at the top end stacking Presidential + Bright Futures Academic Scholar typically end up at very low net cost.
Is there a USF full ride?
Yes — for National Merit Finalists. The Florida Benacquisto Scholarship (state-funded, for Florida-resident NMF) and the USF Golden Achievement Scholarship (for non-resident NMF) combine USF and NMSC funding into a full institutional COA package. Both also include a one-time $2,000 USF Passport Scholarship for a USF-sponsored study abroad semester.
See sources and other schools+
How USF compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
USF 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.
USF 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.
132 of 749 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
USF is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against USF’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
