A full-ride scholarship covers the full cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies and equipment.
It can include college-specific awards, national programs from private scholarship providers, and athletic scholarships.
While winning a full-ride scholarship is a prestigious accomplishment and significantly eases the cost of paying for college, it's very elusive, with few students winning a full-ride each year. The good news is, there are steps you can take to improve your chances.
Real Data: Number of Full-Ride Scholarships Each Year
Only 1.35% of students in Bachelor’s degree programs received enough grants and scholarships to cover the full cost of college, based on data from the 2019-2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20).
The percentage increases to 3.1% for students who received at least 90% of the cost of attendance, 7.1% for students who received at least 75% of the cost of attendance, and 21.1% for students who received at least 50% of the cost of attendance.
More than 40,000 students in Bachelor’s degree programs won at least $25,000 in scholarships. That’s 0.5% of students in Bachelor’s degree programs. The percentage decreases to 0.2% for students at public 4-year colleges and increases to 1.0% of students at private non-profit 4-year colleges.
More than 6,400 students in Bachelor’s degree programs won at least $50,000 in scholarships.
A student is more likely to have their scholarships cover full college costs when they enroll at a lower-cost college. For example, even though the average cost of attendance for a Bachelor’s degree was $30,379 in 2019-2020, the median cost of attendance was $12,234 among students whose grants and scholarships were at least the cost of attendance.
Of students with a full-ride from grants and scholarships, 79.3% were enrolled at public colleges and 16.5% at private non-profit colleges. The figures for public colleges break down to 37.7% at public 4-year colleges and 39.0% at public 2-year colleges.
"Only 1.35% of students in Bachelor's degree programs received enough grants and scholarships to cover the full cost of college."
How To Win A Generous Scholarship
Full-ride private scholarships are very competitive.
Full-ride scholarships are particularly available to students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
To win a full-ride scholarship, the student should demonstrate the following characteristics:
- Academic excellence with a high GPA and SAT/ACT test scores. They should be in the top 1% in the nation.
- Leadership, especially with extracurricular activities and volunteering, with a long-term commitment in a few key activities, as opposed to superficial involvement in many activities.
- The student should specialize in a unique talent or skill, such as art, athletics, STEM or music.
- The student should have unique contributions or achievements that set them apart.
- The student should compete in national and international competitions, earning medals and ranking among the top few.
- The student should write a powerful essay, secure strong recommendations, and practice for interviews.
The student should apply for every scholarship for which they are eligible. This will increase their chances of winning a scholarship, since there’s an element of luck in who wins scholarships, not just skill.
College-Specific Scholarships
There are several college-specific scholarships for highly qualified students.
The QuestBridge National College Match provides full ride scholarships at more than 55 colleges for high achieving, low-income students.
The Stamps Scholarship is worth up to $90,000 per year for four years at 37 partner colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Northeastern, Purdue, Ohio State, Tulane, University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh and University of Texas at Austin, among others.
The National Merit Scholarship are based on academic excellence. Most provide just $2,500, but a handful of participating colleges offer a full ride. These include the University of Alabama, University of Central Florida and University of Oklahoma.
Other merit-based college-specific scholarship programs include:
- The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program is available at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Boston College Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program
- Boston University Trustee Scholarship
- Emory University Scholars Program
- University of Alabama at Huntsville offers the Presidential Elite Scholar program for students with a perfect GPA and test scores as well as other full tuition merit scholarships
- University of North Carolina (UNC) Morehead-Cain Scholarship
- University of Virginia (UVA) offers the Jefferson and Walentas Scholarship Programs
- Vanderbilt University offers the Ingram Scholars Program and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholars Program.
- Washington University in St. Louis Danforth Scholars Program
Other colleges may offer full-ride or full-tuition scholarships based on academic merit. They often call these presidential or trustee scholarships.
The U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy provide full-ride scholarships to all students. To get into these institutions, the student must get a nomination from a U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, the Vice President or the President. They must also excel academically and demonstrate leadership, physical fitness and high moral character.
Students can also win need-based grants sufficient to cover all college costs by demonstrating high need at the colleges that have no-loans financial aid policies. These colleges replace loans with grants in the financial aid package. Examples include MIT, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, the Ivy League colleges and the University of Chicago Odyssey Scholarship.
Students at no-loans colleges may still be expected to participate in work-study jobs. For example, MIT has no tuition for families with annual income under $200,000 and no parent contribution for families with annual income under $100,000, but the student is still expected to contribute from a summer job and part-time work during the academic year.
Private Scholarships
This is a list of generous private scholarships that provide $100,000 or more in total per student. The maximum aggregate award amount is listed after each scholarship.
- Breakthrough Junior Challenge ($250,000)
- Davidson Fellows Scholarships ($100,000)
- Gates Scholarship (full cost of attendance minus other aid)
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation ($220,000)
- Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) ($100,000)
- Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) ($250,000)
- U.S. Department of Defense STEM Scholarships (DoD STEM) ($120,000)
There are also Promise Scholarships that offer free tuition at one or more local public colleges.
Athletic scholarships may not provide a free ride. However, the new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities may provide talented students to make money from a personal brand if they excel in certain sports, such as football and basketball for men and basketball and gymnastics for women.
NCAA Division I colleges may offer full scholarships for students in certain sports.
Bottom Line
While it's possible to win a full ride scholarship (or a very generous scholarship), the odds are against most college students.
As such, students and their families need to plan their college application list accordingly - with a mix of both colleges the can afford, as well as some that may be a stretch financially.
Editor: Colin Graves Reviewed by: Robert Farrington
Mark Kantrowitz is an expert on student financial aid, scholarships, 529 plans, and student loans. He has been quoted in more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles about college admissions and financial aid. Mark has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, USA Today, MarketWatch, Money Magazine, Forbes, Newsweek, and Time. You can find his work on Student Aid Policy here.
Mark is the author of five bestselling books about scholarships and financial aid and holds seven patents. Mark serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid, the editorial advisory board of Bottom Line/Personal, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of the National Scholarship Providers Association. Mark has two Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master’s degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).