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The Centennial Scholarship

Merit Scholarships for Outstanding Freshmen

No separate application is required for our merit-based scholarships, but all students who would like to be considered for any merit award must apply by the December 1 Early Action Deadline (all required application materials must be received by this date). These scholarships are awarded to students who live anywhere in the US, as well as to international students.

Please Note: If mid-year grades or other information is requested, applicants may not receive a decision until end of March.

Preference for our highest level awards will be given to students with:

  • A challenging curriculum
  • GPA of 3.4/4.0
  • Class rank of top 25%
  • Combined SAT score (critical reading and math) of 1200 or ACT of 26
  • Involvement and leadership in their schools and/or communities

Satisfaction of the minimum criteria listed here does not guarantee a scholarship; the overall applicant pool determines the degree of competition for these awards. Depending upon available funding, other scholarships may be awarded to students with a strong record of academic achievement who fall slightly below these criteria.

  • November is the latest test date for SAT scores to meet the December 1 deadline. We recommend that you send us all of your SAT scores, because we will take your highest score for each section from different test dates. If you elect to use “Score Choice,” your November scores may not reach us by the Early Action deadline (December 1).  October is the last date for the ACT.
  • The College Board can take up to four weeks to send test scores to colleges. If you submit a request to the College Board after the first week of November to have your scores sent to URI, there is a strong possibility that you will miss our scholarship deadline. We recommend that when you register to take the SAT, you list URI as one of the colleges to receive your test scores. (November scores will reach us on time if you do this.)
  • Most Early Action applicants receive their admission decision by the end of January or mid February.  Early Action is non-binding.
  • Merit Scholarships are four-year awards, renewable each semester as long as you maintain continuous full-time enrollment (12 credits per semester) and a minimum GPA of 3.0.

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URI Honors Program

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