Freshman Scholarships

The International Freshman Scholarship
The Provost Scholarship
The Presidential Scholarship
The University Honors College
Athletic Scholarships

The International Freshman Scholarship

The University at Buffalo offers merit-based scholarships in varying amounts to qualified international freshmen. Scholarship awards vary from $4,000 - $5,000 per academic year renewable for up to four years with good academic standing. Each year, 20 – 25 of these prestigious scholarships are awarded.

The International Freshman Scholarship:

Is awarded only to qualified incoming Freshman (first year) students who have no course work or credits completed at a post-secondary institution.
Is open only to full-time international students who will hold an F1 student visa (or in the case of Canadian citizens be eligible for the F1 visa status) at the time of enrollment.
Is only available to students initially enrolling in the fall semester.
May be combined with other UB scholarships (see information about other scholarships below).
Is reserved for top students.

Application & Review Process:

There is not a separate scholarship application form. Just submit the regular International Student Application form; download now (click here). Applicants using the online SUNY application form or the Common Application are also considered for the scholarship.
All Freshman applicants will be automatically reviewed and considered for the scholarship as part of the application review process.
The following criteria are taken into consideration:
- Scholarships are awarded using a holistic measure; that is, everything is considered together; while GPA and test scores are important, they are not the only criteria.
- Grade Point Average (GPA): most scholarship recipients have at least a B+ average (or the equivalent).
- SAT test scores: although the SAT is not required, it is strongly recommended and encouraged.
- Essay: a one page essay about why you want to study at UB (the content and ideas of the essay are more important than the grammar).
- Teacher Recommendation: at least one letter of recommendation from a teacher who can comment about your potential as a university student and your extracurricular activities.

Apply early. For scholarship consideration, we recommend you apply well before February 1. Scholarship awardees will be announced in late March. Thereafter, scholarships are awarded only if they are still available; in some cases, a Scholarship Wait List is established and any awardees will be notified in the summer.

The Provost Scholarship

These scholarships are very limited and awarded to only the very best applicants. Provost Scholarships start at $2,500. International applicants usually have the following qualifications to be eligible for consideration: high school average of at least 90%, SAT I score of at least 1200 (on the critical reading and math sections) and have taken the most challenging high school curriculum available. International freshman applicants who believe they meet these criteria and are interested in this program, should apply early (by December for the following fall semester). A separate application is not required.

The Presidential Scholarship

UB's top entering freshmen are awarded Presidential Scholarships. This scholarship covers full tuition, fees, housing, board and books for four years of undergraduate study. To be competitive for this award, students must show outstanding academic merit with a minimum unweighted high school average of 95 and a combined SAT critical reading and math score of at least 1470 or an ACT score of 33 . Students who receive Presidential Scholarships are automatically admitted to the Honors College and must maintain good standing within the program to keep their scholarship.

A separate application is required for this scholarship in addition to the general admissions application and is available from the Honor’s Office. Contact Honors College (honors@buffalo.edu) to request an application. The scholarship application for students enrolling as freshmen in the Fall 2012 class must be received by the Honors College by January 6, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

The University Honors College

Students with exceptional academic and extracurricular backgrounds may be admitted to the UB University Honors College (http://honors.buffalo.edu); admission to this special program is by invitation only. A special application is not required. While the University Honors College is not a scholarship program per se, it offers a rich academic and experiential program and the opportunity for access to related scholarships and fellowships.

Students invited to join the University Honors College receive special privileges. Privileges and benefits may include priority class registration, preferred on-campus housing, personalized advisement, evenings with faculty, faculty mentors, social events, a special notation on your transcript, and access to and guidance about special scholarships and fellowships.

To be eligible for consideration, you would need a high school average of at least 93 percent and an SAT I score of at least 1300 (critical reading + math). A special application is not required; but you must submit the regular application by December 31. Notification announcements will be made in March.

Athletic Scholarships

The University at Buffalo is part of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and offers Division I athletics. We recruit athletes from all over the world, especially our neighbors in Canada. Student Athletes are usually at the top of their division or conference levels in secondary schools. We offer athletic scholarships in the following sports: Baseball, Basketball (Men (M) & Womens (W)), Crew (W), Cross Country, Football, Soccer (M&W), Softball, Swimming (M&W), Tennis (M&W), Track & Field, Volleyball (W), Wrestling.

Interested students must contact coaches directly. Please fill out the questionnaire at: http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/teaminfo/recruiting.shtml