College resources for financial support of
your undergraduate education
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. These funds are intended to provide small awards to assist with a temporary financial restraint caused by an unexpected change in life circumstances (i.e. medical emergency, temporary job loss). These funds are not intended to provide large awards to be used towards outstanding tuition balances.
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.
Complete Penn State scholarships:
Students who are nearing completion of their degree and who have exhausted all other financial aid resources are eligible for a Complete Penn State scholarship review.
Scholarship Eligibility:
- currently enrolled as an undergraduate student in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State University Park
- one or two semesters away from completing a first associate’s or bachelor’s degree (30 or fewer credits remaining)
- in good academic standing (2.0 GPA or higher)
- experiencing a hardship that is complicating degree completion
- a current FAFSA on file (if applicable, international students may still apply)
- documentation that confirms an official timeline to degree completion
- financial need for educational expenses related to the current academic year
- record of having accepted all available aid (including Direct Loans, Parent Plus Loan, or private loans)
- not previously awarded the maximum "Open Doors" scholarship (typically $3,000 total)
Students are able to self refer to the program; however, faculty, staff and advisors may also refer a student for this program independently. Referrals can be submitted using this Complete Penn State Open Doors scholarship referral form.
Student Transitional Experiences (STEP) Program scholarships:
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 $4.32 million dollars every year in need and merit-based scholarships to our students. The majority of those awards are made by our science departments directly to students enrolled in their majors. Please speak to your academic adviser about departmental scholarship eligibility.
In addition to departmental scholarships, $1.3 million is awarded annually to eligible students in the college by a committee of faculty and staff who evaluate all science students for these awards. Typical awards are $2,000 to $3,000 for an academic year. Most of these decisions are made during the summer months of July and August for the following academic year. No additional application is required for these scholarships.
College scholarship information:
For additional information regarding Eberly College of Science scholarships, please submit your request using this Undergraduate Student Scholarship Information Request form.
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.