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Merit Scholarship Opportunities
  2. Additional Merit Scholarships

Additional Merit Scholarships

National Merit Scholarships

Vanderbilt provides scholarship assistance for admitted and enrolled students who are named National Merit Finalists. Students must designate Vanderbilt as their first choice school with the National Merit Corporation by National Merit's final deadline and enroll as an entering freshman student to receive Vanderbilt's National Merit Scholarship. For those finalists who also receive one of Vanderbilt's merit scholarships, we guarantee an additional $2,000 in National Merit total scholarship dollars per year from all sources (with Vanderbilt supplementing any smaller corporate or one-time National Merit Corporation awards). Beginning with entering students for the fall 2023 class, those finalists who do not receive an additional merit scholarship from Vanderbilt will receive a total of up to $6,000 per year in National Merit scholarship dollars from all sources (with Vanderbilt supplementing any smaller corporate or one-time National Merit Corporation awards). For students entering Vanderbilt before fall 2023, the scholarship total is up to $5,000 per year.

Additional Merit Scholarships

Vanderbilt offers a limited number of merit-based scholarships in amounts starting from $8,000 per year. Candidates for these scholarships will be identified by the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships on the basis of academic achievement and fulfillment of any specific scholarships qualifications. Students wishing to ensure their consideration for these awards are encouraged to submit the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship application by December 1, 2024.

These additional merit-based scholarships include the following:

  • The Blair Community Scholars Program for Blair students who are committed to civic-minded service, fostering diversity in the arts, cultivating new audiences for the arts and strengthening public arts education (full cost of attendance and summer study stipend; eligible applicants must also demonstrate financial need)
  • The Carell Family Scholarship for students who have held part-time employment during their high school years and demonstrate financial need (full tuition and fees),
  • The Clark Scholars Program provides scholarship and programmatic assistance to meritorious engineering undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need ($15,000 per year plus assistance for summer immersive experiences),
  • The Curb Leadership Scholarship for students who place creativity at the center of their lives and use their talents and leadership to transform their communities ($8,000),