What this page covers
CollegeClearly estimates what a college could cost your family, and what borrowing the remaining amount could mean as a monthly payment. Some schools publish scholarship criteria clearly enough to include in that estimate. This page explains when CollegeClearly uses that information, when it does not, and what the resulting number means.
CollegeClearly is not a scholarship search tool. It does not find scholarships, track applications, or tell you what you are likely to be awarded.
Two kinds of merit scholarships
Schools award merit scholarships in two broad ways.
Some publish criteria in advance. The award amount is tied to stated inputs, usually a GPA and often a test score, along with residency. Many schools consider admitted students for these awards as part of the admission process rather than through a separate scholarship application, and they publish the criteria openly so families can plan around them. Other conditions usually apply as well, including admission itself, deadlines, enrollment status, and each school's own rules.
Others award scholarships through review. A committee reads the full application and decides. The amount depends on the applicant pool, the school's priorities that year, and factors no published table can capture.
CollegeClearly uses only the first kind. The second kind cannot be estimated from a student's numbers, and CollegeClearly does not try.
When CollegeClearly uses a published merit figure
CollegeClearly includes a school's published criteria only when they are clear enough to apply without interpretation. In practice, that means the school itself publishes all of the following:
- a specific award amount, or a specific value such as full tuition
- the academic thresholds that amount is tied to, such as a GPA range and a test score range
- who the criteria apply to, such as non-resident first-year students
- an indication that admitted students are considered for the award based on those published criteria
If any of those is missing, vague, or described by the school as approximate, CollegeClearly does not use it. It is better to leave a number out than to show one the school has not stated in writing.
CollegeClearly does not carry merit information for every school on the site. Many schools do not publish criteria in this form at all.
Where the numbers come from
The criteria come from the institution's own published pages, usually its financial aid or admissions scholarship pages. CollegeClearly does not use estimates, reported award outcomes, family-reported results, or third-party summaries.
Those pages are reviewed periodically, not continuously, and different schools were reviewed at different times. Schools change amounts, thresholds, and deadlines, sometimes during an admissions cycle, and a school's page can change the day after CollegeClearly reads it. Treat anything shown here as a starting point to confirm with the school, not as a current quote.
How a merit figure changes your estimate
When you enter a GPA and test score and those inputs match criteria a school publishes, CollegeClearly shows the corresponding published amount and gives you the option to use it. Doing so sets the Grants & Scholarships field to that amount. The figure is counted there, once, and is not subtracted again anywhere else in the estimate.
This school's average grant figure and its published merit amount are two different estimates of the same institutional aid, not two separate awards. The average grant and scholarship figure reported to the U.S. Department of Education already reflects scholarship aid awarded by the school. So CollegeClearly uses one or the other, whichever you choose, rather than adding them together. Adding them would overstate the aid and understate what you would need to borrow.
The field stays editable throughout. If you have an actual aid offer from the school, enter that figure instead. A real offer is better than either estimate.
From there, the estimate follows the same path it follows for every school:
Cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships, including any applicable published merit amount equals your estimated annual cost Your estimated annual cost minus what your family plans to contribute equals your estimated annual borrowing
CollegeClearly then translates that borrowing into an estimated monthly payment, using the same 20-year, 6% framework it applies to every school.
One thing to be clear about: CollegeClearly counts the merit amount as a straightforward reduction in what you would pay. It does not model how that award would interact with the rest of an aid package. Some schools reduce their own grant aid when a merit award is applied. Some cap total institutional aid at the cost of attendance. Some treat outside scholarships differently from their own. Those rules are specific to each school, CollegeClearly does not have them, and CollegeClearly does not attempt to reproduce them. An actual aid letter may combine these amounts differently.
For the broader picture of how scholarships of all kinds affect what college costs, including renewal conditions and displacement, see how scholarships affect affordability.
What CollegeClearly is not saying
A merit figure on CollegeClearly means one thing: the numbers you entered match criteria the school publishes. It does not mean:
- that a student qualifies for, is eligible for, or will receive the award
- that this amount will appear in an aid letter
- that CollegeClearly has reviewed every award a school offers
- that CollegeClearly can estimate competitive or committee-reviewed scholarships
- that a student will be admitted, which every award of this kind depends on first
Deadlines matter as much as numbers. Many schools gate these awards behind a scholarship deadline that falls earlier than the admission deadline. CollegeClearly does not track those deadlines.
How to confirm a real number
Confirm anything you plan to rely on directly with the school:
- the school's financial aid office, which can tell you what its published criteria mean for your student
- the school's own net price calculator, for an institution-specific estimate
- the school's scholarship page, for current amounts, thresholds, and deadlines
CollegeClearly is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any college or university. Figures are for informational purposes only and are not financial advice.