National Scholars Award

The terms and conditions below apply to awards initially offered to students for the 2025-2026 academic year. Students who received offers for academic years prior to 2025-2026 must visit the Terms and Conditions pertaining to their original award offer year from the Scholarship selection menu.

Review each scholarship for specific eligibility criteria; including residency classification, campus, location and/or modality. Eligibility varies per scholarship and all scholarships are subject to the availability of funds.

The terms and conditions below apply to awards initially offered to students for the 2025-2026 academic year. Students who received offers for academic years prior to 2025-2026 must visit the Terms and Conditions pertaining to their original award offer year from the Scholarship selection menu.

Review each scholarship for specific eligibility criteria; including residency classification, campus, location and/or modality. Eligibility varies per scholarship and all scholarships are subject to the availability of funds.

Award Amount

National Scholars include:

• National Merit Finalists

The National Finalist Merit Scholarship award includes the college-sponsored, corporate-sponsored, or National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC)-sponsored awards in the total offered amount. Students must respond to NMSC by their established dates to accept these awards.

• Arizona Residents: $18,000 per academic year
• Non-Arizona Residents: the value of the original Arizona Tuition Award + $3,000 National Scholar Award. See "Arizona Tuition Award" for merit review and offer details.

Selection

This award is offered to the National Scholars who qualify by taking the Preliminary SATs (PSATs) in high school. The Office of Admission will be notified of a student's National Scholar status.  

If you are a National Merit Finalist, you must declare the University of Arizona as your first school of choice with National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) by their deadline. Visit the NMSC website.

Availability

Four consecutive years (8 semesters total) for fall and spring semesters only*; based on academic year renewal requirements. This award is not available for use in Arizona Online programs.

Students who complete their undergraduate degree in less than 8 consecutive semesters may use the remaining semester(s) toward graduate tuition (only) at Arizona in the semester immediately following undergraduate degree completion. Students who meet the aforementioned criteria may notify the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) once admitted to an Arizona Graduate Degree-Seeking program and enrolled as a full-time graduate student. Students who are accepted into certain professional programs such as Pharmacy, which do not require the completion of a Bachelor’s degree, may qualify to use their remaining semester(s) of their merit tuition award towards this program after completing their undergraduate coursework and are admitted into the PharmD program at Arizona. Please contact OSFA to inquire about full eligibility requirements.

*Students who are enrolled in the College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture’s 5-year Bachelor of Architecture degree program will receive five consecutive years (ten semesters total) for fall and spring semesters only, based on academic year renewal requirements.

Application

A completed University of Arizona Admission Application for Fall 2025 serves as the application for this award.

Deadline

Scholarships are subject to the availability of funds.

Non-resident (domestic, out-of-state) students: Maximum scholarship consideration, pending availability of funds, is given to applicants who apply by the priority date of December 2, 2024. Please see our application deadline pages for the most up to date information.

Resident students: Maximum scholarship consideration, pending availability of funds, is given to applicants who apply by the priority date of May 1, 2025. Please see our application deadline pages for the most up-to-date information.

Eligibility

1. Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, demonstrate lawful immigration status, or be a qualifying, non-citizen Arizona high school graduate who is receiving in-state tuition through Proposition 308.
2. Students must be pursuing a first Bachelor's Degree for Undergraduate studies.
3. Enroll in courses at Arizona as a first-time, full-time, degree-seeking student (i.e. students who did not attend any higher education institution including Community Colleges, Universities, or International post-secondary education schools after high school graduation).
   • Summer enrollment immediately before attending fall term at Arizona does not impact eligibility. Dual enrollment (college enrollment during high school) and/or participation in non-credit-bearing programs during and post high school do not impact eligibility. All attempted post-secondary credit at accredited and non-accredited institutions post-high school does impact eligibility.
4. The award must be used beginning Fall 2025 semester.
5. Scholarships are subject to the availability of funds.
6. Arizona Online and Near You Network campuses are excluded from first-year awards.
7. Applicants with GEDs or High School Equivalency tests are not eligible for first-year awards.
8. Applicants who attend high school that do not utilize grades (ex. Mastery Transcript) may be eligible for first-year awards upon additional review. Review may require additional information.
9. Homeschool applicants are eligible for first-year awards based on the same unweighted core GPA described above for applicants graduating from a high school.