New Freshman Scholarships

The Presidential Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship offered at BYU. Recipients are among the most academically gifted students who enter the university. However, the scholarship is not awarded on academic merit alone. Recipients must also demonstrate the highest standards of character, leadership, integrity, testimony, devotion to the Church, and modesty in word, action, dress, and grooming, thereby modeling the values outlined in the For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices.

We select 50 new entering freshman students each year to receive this award, which is valued at 150% of Latter-day Saint tuition for eight semesters. Applicants should complete the essay portion of the regular scholarship application. The scholarship committee will review that information as well as information from the admissions application to determine the recipients of this scholarship. You must also submit your ACT or SAT score for consideration.

The Heritage Scholarship is an eight-semester, full Latter-day Saint tuition scholarship awarded to incoming freshman students. These scholarships honor the intellectual, spiritual, and cultural heritage of the Church and the university. You must also submit your ACT or SAT score for consideration.

If you are a National Merit finalist, have listed BYU as your first-choice school, and qualify to receive a Presidential or Heritage scholarship, you may receive a BYU-sponsored National Merit Scholarship instead, which pays full Latter-day Saint tuition for up to eight semesters.

National Merit Scholarships are sponsored either by National Merit, a corporation, or BYU. If you are sponsored by National Merit or a corporation, you will not be eligible to receive a BYU-sponsored National Merit Scholarship. All National Merit decisions will be announced after June 1.

If you are initially awarded a Heritage Scholarship and are then selected as a BYU-sponsored National Merit Scholarship, you will have the Heritage Scholarship replaced by the National Merit Scholarship in June. The National Merit pays full Latter-day Saint tuition for up to 8 semesters. The $500 basic National Merit stipend is part of your full tuition scholarship. You will not receive an extra payment.

If you are the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship and you are a National Merit finalist, you will receive the Presidential Scholarship with National Merit recognition. The $500 basic National Merit stipend is included as part of your Presidential Scholarship award (150% of Latter-day Saint tuition for up to eight semesters).

If you are planning to serve a mission, you must complete the missionary deferment with BYU. You will also need to request a leave of absence from National merit every year that you are on your mission. You (or a family member) can send an email to scholar@nmerit.net with the following information:

• Full Name
• Scholar ID
• Date you plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate coursework
• Brief description of your plans during the leave of absence

The Sterling Scholar Awards Program is sponsored by the KSL Broadcast Group and Deseret News. It recognizes outstanding scholastic achievement of high school seniors in Utah.

There are several categories in which students compete. High schools may nominate one candidate to compete in each category and students may only compete in one category. Each high school determines how nominees are selected. From the nominees, they select a semi-finalist who will then move on to the Regional Level to compete.

The five regions are: Wasatch Front, Northeast Utah, Central Utah, Southeast Utah, and Southwest Utah.

If you are the winner in your category on the Regional (or final) level, BYU offers you a full Latter-day Saint tuition scholarship for two semesters.

If you qualify for a scholarship offered by the Financial Aid Office separate from the Sterling Scholarship, BYU will offer you whichever scholarship is of greater monetary value. For instance, if you qualify for a half tuition scholarship and are a Sterling Scholar winner in your region, BYU will offer you the Sterling Scholarship.

If you qualify for a full tuition scholarship and you are a winner, BYU will offer you the original full tuition scholarship rather than the Sterling Scholarship.

If you are going on a mission right out of high school, you will need to apply for admission to BYU for the Fall following your high school graduation and reach out to your regional representative to claim the Sterling Scholarship. We will defer the scholarship while you are on your mission. However, if you neglect to claim it right out of high school and then immediately defer, it will not be available.

University scholarships are awarded for half or full Latter-day Saint tuition. Scholarships are awarded based on a holistic review of several factors that include academic performance, rigor of program, and financial need. Particularly because of the financial need component, we strongly recommend that you fill out the essay section of the scholarship application to be considered for all possible scholarships.

BYU administers private scholarships donated to BYU by individuals, companies, trusts, etc. for students who fit within certain criteria, such as descendants of scholarship donors, members of a specific area, ward, or stake, or graduates of certain high schools. In such cases, BYU determines the recipients of these scholarships. Typically, the scholarships cover half or full Latter-day Saint tuition.

Though optional, we strongly recommend that you fill out the essay section of the scholarship application to be considered for all possible scholarships, since we often use the essay to identify which students fit the criteria for these scholarships. We also use information collected in the Geographical Information and the Descendant sections to award these scholarships, so we recommend filling out those sections as well.

Need-based scholarships are awarded based primarily on financial need. Scholarships are typically awarded for half or full Latter-day Saint tuition. Need-based scholarships require completion of the FAFSA each year by January 20 for the upcoming academic year.

Though optional, we also strongly recommend completing the financial need essay section of the scholarship application to be considered for all possible scholarships based on your circumstances.

Departmental scholarships are awarded directly through the department. Most departments do not offer scholarships to new freshman; however, you can check to see if your department awards scholarships to new freshman by contacting them directly or reviewing the Departmental Scholarships page.