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Early Action and Merit Scholarship Information

The University of Rhode Island offers a wide range of merit scholarships to students who have demonstrated academic success in a challenging college preparatory curriculum. You may be eligible for these awards if you have earned a GPA of 3.2/4.0, as well as SATs of 1050+ (critical reading and math) or ACT of 23+, and have demonstrated leadership and involvement in your school and/or community. All applicants are considered for these scholarships by submitting a complete application by February 1. There is no separate scholarship application.


To be considered for our highest scholarships, we recommend that you apply by our December 1 Early Action deadline. We also strongly recommend that students interested in engineering, nursing, and the doctorate in pharmacy apply by December 1 as spaces are limited in these programs.

  1. The latest test scores we will consider for scholarship review are the November SATs and the October ACT.
  2. We consider the single highest score on each section of the SAT (and ACT) across test dates, so there is no need to use "Score Choice."
  3. 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 2.8.
  4. Unlike "Early Decision," Early Action is non-binding.  You will not have to commit to URI until May 1.

Please note: The New England Board of Higher Education Regional Student Program offers discounted tuition to New England Residents for a select group of majors. In most cases, the regional tuition covers all four years of the program. For some majors, however, the regional tuition does not take effect until later in the program. When tuition is reduced from out-of-state to regional, merit scholarships are reduced to the corresponding regional scholarship amount.

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