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University of the Pacific · California

Pacific scholarships and merit aid

Pacific automatically considers all admitted first-years for merit scholarships of $10,000-$30,000/year (holistic, no grid), but a federal COA cap means combined aid is reduced — self-help first, then scholarships/grants — once total aid exceeds the cost of attendance.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is Pacific worth a closer look?

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

Merit tiers6See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

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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.

$10,000-$30,000 per year

Academic Merit Scholarships for First-Year Students (Pacific, President's, Provost's, Regent's, Sequoia, Tiger Excellence, Humanities, Conservatory)

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Accepted first-year undergraduates; determined holistically (high school attended, GPA, curriculum rigor, commitment, extracurriculars, leadership, demonstrated interest). No published GPA/test grid.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years (eight fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment (12+ units) and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law.

Notes

All admitted students automatically considered — no separate application and FAFSA not required, EXCEPT CIP (FAFSA + separate app, need-based) and Forensic (separate app). Powell Scholarship requires a supplemental application (separate tier).

Source

$16,000-$30,000 per year

Transfer Academic Excellence Scholarship

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Academically exceptional transfer (domestic and international) students; determined holistically (transfer GPA, curriculum rigor, commitment, extracurriculars, leadership, demonstrated interest). Pacific Global transfers not eligible.

How to keep it

Generally renewable for up to a total of three years (six fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment and SAP. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law.

Notes

No separate application and FAFSA not required. Note the shorter 6-semester renewal window vs 8 for first-years.

Source

Amount not published

Powell Scholarship (Powell Scholars Program)

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Requires a supplemental application; honors-level program

How to keep it

Not stated on the scholarships page.

Notes

The ONLY academic merit scholarship that requires a supplemental application — students are NOT automatically considered. Amount not published on the scholarships page.

Source

$15,000 per year

Engineering Innovation Scholars

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Incoming first-year students in civil engineering and engineering management programs; application required

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years.

Notes

Includes a $15,000 annual scholarship plus two paid summer internships and one-on-one mentorship from a professional engineer.

Source

$1,000 per year

MESA Scholarship Program

Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
Minimum 3.00 (admission)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

NEED-BASED. Plan to major in a calculus-based STEM field; participated in a MESA program in HS or community college ≥1 year before entering; complete FAFSA and be eligible for need-based aid

How to keep it

Annually renewable; requires meeting university academic requirements and SAP.

Notes

Need-based (unmet need per FAFSA). Separate Google-form application for 2026-27.

Source

Amount not published

Community Involvement Program (CIP) Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

NEED-BASED. First-generation college students from the Stockton community; FAFSA required; separate application via the CIP program

How to keep it

Comprehensive scholarship and retention program; specific renewal terms not stated.

Notes

Need-based, not pure merit. Requires FAFSA and a separate CIP application.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Pacific's published information.

  • Renewal ruleAcademic Merit Scholarships for First-Year Students (Pacific, President's, Provost's, Regent's, Sequoia, Tiger Excellence, Humanities, Conservatory): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable for up to four years (eight fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment (12+ units) and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What families often miss

  1. A federal COA cap limits total aid to the cost of attendance. Self-help (loans/work-study) is reduced first, but once that's gone, scholarships and grants are reduced too — so a large outside award can shrink your Pacific aid.

  2. Scholarships 'can only be applied to undergraduate coursework' — students lose merit eligibility once they begin graduate-level professional courses in those programs.

  3. Renewal requires full-time enrollment (12+ units); enrolling less than full-time reduces eligibility for grants, scholarships, and loans.

  4. Transfer merit renews for only three years (six fall/spring semesters), versus four years (eight semesters) for first-years.

  5. Powell is the one academic merit award that requires a supplemental application — every other academic merit award is automatic with admission.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Academically strong first-years and transfers (Stockton, CA campus) who want automatic, no-application merit money; engineering, music, forensics, honors (Powell), and first-gen Stockton (CIP) students have dedicated tracks.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $78,536 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Pacific, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$17,004
$30,001–$48,000$18,152
$48,001–$75,000$19,209
$75,001–$110,000$24,323
$110,001+$38,662
All income levels (average)$25,447

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$57,080
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$25,447

That works out to roughly a 64% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $71,515 (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
69%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
88%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,500 (~$207/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$78,445
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
36%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
42%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Federal COA cap: total aid (scholarships + grants + loans + work-study + outside awards) cannot exceed the cost of attendance. When the cap is hit, the Office of Financial Aid reduces self-help (loans and work-study) first 'whenever possible' before adjusting scholarships and grants — but scholarships/grants CAN be reduced once self-help is exhausted. (A separate rule found via search but not confirmable on an opened page states a Pacific grant/scholarship plus any other tuition award cannot exceed actual tuition — see Section C.)

COA cap enforced; self-help (loans/work-study) reduced before scholarships/grants. Less-than-full-time enrollment reduces aid eligibility.

Source

Other Pacific scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityActive members of any United Methodist Church demonstrating academic excellence and commitment to the church; incoming and continuing students.

Apply via Tiger Scholarships portal.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityContinuing students, typically cumulative GPA 3.5+; offered by colleges/departments.

Application period Oct 1 – Jan 15 annually. First-fall enrollees only after their first fall semester.

Source

AmountFull or partial (varies)EligibilityOutstanding athletes on 17 NCAA Division I teams; coach decides.

'Full' covers tuition + room and board; many are partial (room/board only, tuition only, or a portion). Not every team member gets one.

Source

Pacific merit aid FAQ

  • Do I have to apply separately for merit scholarships?

    No for the main academic merit scholarships — all admitted students are automatically considered and FAFSA isn't required. Exceptions: the Powell Scholarship (supplemental application), CIP (FAFSA + separate app, need-based), and Forensic (separate application).

  • How much is the merit scholarship?

    $10,000-$30,000/year for first-year students and $16,000-$30,000/year for transfers, determined holistically. Pacific does not publish a GPA/test grid.

  • How long does merit last?

    Up to four years (eight fall/spring semesters) for first-years and three years (six semesters) for transfers, with full-time enrollment and SAP; it cannot be used for professional (pharmacy/dentistry/law) coursework.

  • Will outside scholarships reduce my aid?

    Total aid can't exceed your cost of attendance. The office reduces self-help (loans/work-study) first, then scholarships/grants if needed.

See sources and other schools

How Pacific compares

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

    Pacific 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.

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

Compare with similar schools

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