Understanding costs and financial aid:
We encourage every student in the college to familiarize themselves with the costs of attendance and the full breadth of financial aid opportunities available. We recommend you begin with the following central resources:
- Penn State Office of Student Aid
- Penn State Undergraduate Admissions Costs & Aid
- Penn State Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center
If you are eligible, we encourage every student to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, as many scholarships require us to restrict the eligible pool of students to those who have a FAFSA on file.
College emergency funds:
Students may encounter different obstacles during their time at Penn State that can dramatically impact their ability to complete a semester or complete their degree. We have several scholarship funds that we are able to allocate specifically to students with emergency needs.
Please fill out this form if you wish to self refer and request an evaluation for your eligibility for one of these scholarships.
Students are strongly encouraged to also contact Student Care & Advocacy for possible additional support for emergency needs.
Open Doors scholarships:
Students who are nearing completion of their degree, have experienced an unexpected hardship, and who have exhausted all other financial aid are eligible for a Complete Penn State scholarship. This program is a collaboration between colleges and the Student Success Center. Students are able to self refer to the program, however, Dean's office staff and advisors may also refer a student for this program independently.
Students who are changing campuses to University Park in order to complete their degree in the Eberly College of Science are eligible for the "Student Transitional Experiences Program", which will include a STEP award toward summer tuition.
College need-based and merit-based scholarships:
The College distributes more than $750,000 every year in need-based and merit-based scholarships. All eligible students in the college are considered for this aid, and a committee of faculty and staff evaluates all students for these awards. No application is necessary. Typical awards are $2,000 to $3,000 for an academic year. Most of these decisions are made in late spring for the following academic year.
College scholarship contact:
For questions regarding all of these college scholarships for continuing students, please email Shannon Hawkins – Scholarship Awarding Coordinator at slc189@psu.edu. Please be sure to include your PSU ID in all communications.
Department or major need-based and merit-based scholarships:
Many of the scholarships for students in our college have guidelines which restrict them to specific majors or departments. These types of scholarships are awarded by the departments, and some of these do require an application. Check with your department for more information. Some of the programs have additional information on their websites:
Scholarships for incoming first year students:
If you are in the process of applying to be a new first year undergraduate student in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, we have separately provided information on scholarships for future students.