Skip to content

University of Washington · Washington

UW Seattle scholarships and merit aid

Washington flagship public with essentially no stat-based automatic merit and an explicit policy that non-resident financial aid will be primarily federal loans. The Purple & Gold Scholarship for out-of-state students exists but is competitive, variable, and does not reduce tuition to resident levels.

Verified May 20263 months ago· CA-1

The short answer

Is UW Seattle worth a closer look?

UW Seattle is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

See our full reasoning

UW Seattle is need-based for in-state and loan-heavy for out-of-state. If you're chasing automatic merit dollars, this is not the school.

UW publishes one of the most direct out-of-state aid disclosures in higher ed: 'As a non-resident student, your financial aid award will primarily consist of federal financial aid' and 'We are unable to offer state, or university grants to non-resident applicants.' The Purple & Gold Scholarship is real merit money for non-residents, but amounts are not published, the awards are competitive, and the recipient cannot become a WA resident during the four-year award — so the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition stays open across the entire undergraduate career. UW does not participate in any program that lets non-residents pay in-state tuition. For families whose decision driver is automatic merit dollars at a flagship public, look at Alabama, Mississippi State, Arizona, Tennessee, or LSU. For families chasing UW's program-specific strengths (CS, engineering, business, public health) at out-of-state sticker, run the math at full COA before counting on Purple & Gold to close the gap.

Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards10%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
Research checkedMay 2026By our research team

Free Merit Check

See what UW Seattle's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at UW Seattle

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

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.

Variable…Variable; awarded for four years; specific amounts not publicly listed by tier

Purple & Gold Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

U.S. students who are not Washington residents (U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees, undocumented residents). Selection is 'predominately academic but also incorporates activities, achievements, leadership, and socio-economic factors.' Recipients cannot become WA residents or qualify for resident tuition during the four-year award. Students admitted to UW Academy are NOT eligible. Considered automatically based on admission application by November 15. Notification mid-March.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years contingent on maintaining good academic standing, enrolling as a full-time student (minimum 12 credits per quarter for three quarters per year), and confirming enrollment by May 1.

Notes

UW's only published merit pathway for out-of-state students. Not need-based. Award amounts vary by recipient — UW does not publish a tier table.

Source

Endowment-funded scholarships acros…Endowment-funded scholarships across multiple categories

Mary Gates Endowment Scholarships

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Open to all UW undergraduates regardless of residency. Application required. Categories include research, leadership, and service.

Notes

One of the few notable UW funding sources open to out-of-state and international students with no residency requirement.

Source

Variable Honors-program-specific sc…Variable Honors-program-specific scholarships

UW Honors Program Scholarships

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Awarded to incoming first-year students admitted to UW Honors. The Honors Program application also serves as the scholarship application — no separate form required.

Source

Several hundred awards annually…Several hundred awards annually; amounts vary

Financial Aid Scholarship Services Office scholarships (WA residents only)

Apply separately
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

WA residents demonstrating outstanding academic achievement and financial need. Must complete FAFSA or WASFA by the February 28 priority deadline. Separate application not required, but additional info may be requested.

Notes

Restricted to WA residents — non-residents are explicitly not eligible. Need + merit hybrid.

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 UW Seattle's published information.

  • renewalPurple & Gold Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable for four years contingent on maintaining good academic standing, enrolling as a full-time student (minimum 12 credits per quarter for three quarters per year), and confirming enrollment by May 1. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • capHard $67,800 cost-of-attendance ceiling

    Institutional aid at UW Seattle cannot push the package past $67,800. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What families often miss

  1. UW states explicitly: 'There are no scholarships awarded solely based on GPA and/or test scores.' All UW merit awards consider activities, achievements, leadership, and other factors beyond stats — no automatic dollar amounts at specific GPA/test thresholds.

  2. UW publishes the rule: 'The University of Washington does not participate, at the undergraduate level, in any programs that allow out-of-state students to pay in-state tuition.' Purple & Gold reduces the out-of-state sticker but does not bring it down to resident levels — and the recipient cannot become a resident during the four-year award.

  3. UW non-residents 'will primarily consist of federal financial aid' for need-based aid. State and university grants are unavailable to non-residents. Purple & Gold is the one institutional lever — there is no second institutional grant layer on top for non-residents.

See award cutoffs and special programs

Purple & Gold Scholarship — UW's only out-of-state merit lever

The Purple & Gold Scholarship is the only published merit pathway for U.S. non-resident students at UW Seattle. Eligible categories include U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees, and undocumented residents who are not WA state residents. Selection is automatic from the admission application (deadline November 15) — no separate scholarship application required. The award is renewable for four years contingent on full-time enrollment (minimum 12 credits per quarter for three quarters per year), good academic standing, and an explicit pledge: recipients cannot become Washington residents or qualify for resident tuition during the four-year award. Notification arrives in mid-March. UW does NOT publish dollar amounts or tier structure — award size varies by recipient and is described as 'predominately academic but also incorporates activities, achievements, leadership, and socio-economic factors.' Students admitted to UW Academy are excluded from eligibility.

Source

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Washington residents who qualify for WASFA/FAFSA-based aid; high-income or full-pay families comfortable with out-of-state private tuition rates; out-of-state applicants chasing UW's strong CS, engineering, or business programs who understand merit dollars will not bring the price down to a comparable in-state public. If your goal is automatic out-of-state merit, look at Alabama, Mississippi State, Arizona, or Tennessee instead.

Cost of attendance$36,746–$67,800 for 2026-27Each 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$67,800
In-state, on-campus$36,746
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Personal
  • Travel

Seattle undergraduate, lives on/off campus budget. Tuition based on 2025-26 rates per UW note; U-Pass included in tuition & fees.

UW Seattle cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at UW Seattle, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$6,384
$30,001–$48,000$7,039
$48,001–$75,000$8,110
$75,001–$110,000$14,328
$110,001+$30,019
All income levels (average)$14,091

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$12,973
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$43,209
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$14,091

That works out to roughly a 57% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $32,446 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

UW Seattle 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
85%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
95%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$14,615 (~$155/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$78,466
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
18%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
18%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

UW applies federal cost-of-attendance over-award rules. Outside scholarships must be reported to the Office of Financial Aid; private scholarship checks of $2,000+ are split across remaining quarters, and smaller checks are applied to the current quarter. The policy does not specify whether loans or grants are reduced first when displacement occurs.

UW's Office of Financial Aid notes that outside scholarships 'could impact your financial aid package' and requires reporting from financial aid recipients. Student Fiscal Services applies the funds against the student account. Federal rules cap total aid at cost of attendance; over-award handling is decided case-by-case. UW also explicitly tells non-resident applicants that their aid offer will primarily consist of federal financial aid and that 'we are unable to offer state, or university grants to non-resident applicants' — outside scholarships are therefore the main lever for non-resident families to reduce out-of-pocket costs.

Source

More school data

From the UW Seattle Common Data Set 2023-2024:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From UW Seattle’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
10%of admitsget merit
Average award$4,035Covers ~6% of $67,800 cost of attendance

At UW Seattle, roughly 1 in 10 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $4,035 — about 6% of total cost.

As filed in UW Seattle's CDS Section H2A: of 6,928 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 668 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $4,035. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 3,454 of 29,820, averaging $4,274. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

Receive institutional merit10%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
Average merit award$4,035Across recipients, CDS 2023-2024

Source: Common Data Set 2023-2024 (verified 2026-07-23)

UW Seattle merit aid FAQ

  • Does UW have automatic merit scholarships for out-of-state students?

    The Purple & Gold Scholarship is automatic-on-application for out-of-state U.S. students, but UW does not publish a stat-banded ladder. UW states explicitly: 'There are no scholarships awarded solely based on GPA and/or test scores.' Selection considers activities, achievements, leadership, and socio-economic factors alongside academics.

  • Can UW merit aid bring out-of-state tuition down to in-state rates?

    No. UW states: 'The University of Washington does not participate, at the undergraduate level, in any programs that allow out-of-state students to pay in-state tuition.' Purple & Gold reduces sticker but does not equalize residency rates, and recipients are barred from becoming WA residents during the four-year award.

  • What aid do non-residents typically receive at UW?

    UW says directly: 'As a non-resident student, your financial aid award will primarily consist of federal financial aid... We are unable to offer state, or university grants to non-resident applicants.' Outside scholarships and the Purple & Gold are the meaningful levers beyond federal loans.

  • When are Purple & Gold scholarship decisions announced?

    Recipients are notified by letter in mid-March from the Office of Admissions. To be in the pool, the UW admission application must be submitted by the November 15 deadline. No separate application or FAFSA is required for Purple & Gold consideration.

  • Will an outside scholarship reduce my UW aid?

    It can. UW says: 'If you are a Financial Aid recipient, please notify the Office of Financial Aid of any scholarships you are receiving as additional funds could impact your financial aid package.' Federal cost-of-attendance over-award rules apply. The displacement ordering (loans vs grants first) is not specified in the public policy.

See sources and other schools

How UW Seattle compares

  • 241 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    UW Seattle is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

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

    UW Seattle is one of them. The cohort minority (82 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 UW Seattle’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring UW Seattle merit aid