Scholarships

Scholarships are funds awarded to students who meet certain criteria, such as merit, need, and background. Generally, these funds are considered gift aid, which means that they do not need to be repaid, whether a student does or does not graduate. First-time freshmen and transfer students apply for KU scholarships through the KU Office of Admissions.

KU scholarships

Find out more about scholarship eligibility requirements for freshman and transfer students through the Office of Admissions.

Unless otherwise noted, KU provides four-year renewable scholarships to eligible freshmen who submit a complete application by the priority scholarship deadline of Dec. 1. Scholarships are based on a student's overall GPA on a 4.0 scale (weighted or unweighted) at the time of application. Recipients receive written notification of their scholarship eligibility at the time of admission.

An incoming fall freshman or transfer student can defer a scholarship for one year, or until they attend another college, university, or community college. Any change in residency or resident tuition rates may also impact eligibility for a scholarship.

Renewal criteria

Freshman scholarships expire after eight consecutive semesters of undergraduate study, or upon graduation with a first bachelor’s degree, whichever occurs first. Transfer scholarships expire after six consecutive semesters of undergraduate study, or upon graduation with a first bachelor's degree, whichever occurs first.

Scholarship recipients must be enrolled full-time (i.e. 12 credit hours per semester) and maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative KU GPA.

After spring grades have posted, Financial Aid & Scholarships will verify that students have met the renewal criteria. Students are notified of their scholarship status for the upcoming academic year via their KU email address.

If a scholarship is not renewed after the first year due to grades and/or hours, it is possible to earn that scholarship back for a future academic year. Financial Aid & Scholarships annually monitors grades and hours for all students, and will send notification if renewal criteria is met.

For students that take a gap year, KU will hold their scholarship until the next fall semester, as long a they don’t attend another college or university. Students that attend another school will be considered a transfer student and will be considered for a transfer scholarship.

Additional KU scholarships

On-campus groups, departments, schools, and offices at KU also offer scholarships:

 

Private scholarships

A student may also obtain scholarships offered by private businesses, community organizations, and local and state governments.

  • Resources like the Kansas ScholarShop, provided by the Office of the Kansas State Treasurer and powered by the Sallie Mae scholarship search engine, can help identify scholarships you may qualify for.
  • Kansans can also visit the Board of Regents website for scholarship opportunities through the State of Kansas.

Additional places to seek out scholarship opportunities

  • Scholarship search engines such as CollegeBoard, Scholarships, or FastWeb.
  • Guidance counselors and/or advisors
  • School libraries and local libraries
  • Civic organizations
  • Businesses/organizations

The KU Financial Aid and Scholarships office is providing this information as a courtesy and does not promote, validate or maintain the websites listed. By linking to these external sites, it is not implied that the University of Kansas or the Financial Aid and Scholarships office agrees with the material contained or linked in the websites.

Report outside scholarships

Types of aid