Affordability

Most Penn State Beaver students qualify for financial aid programs to help ease the financial burden associated with completing a college degree. In addition, there are many awards and scholarships that help make a Penn State Beaver education affordable. In fact, up to 90% of our students receive some form of financial aid.

Penn State seal

Penn State Discover Award

The Penn State Discover Award is available to first-time, first-year domestic students who enroll at a Penn State commonwealth campus for both the fall and spring semester immediately following their high school graduation. The $6,000-per-academic-year award is renewable for eight continuously enrolled semesters for a total of $24,000.

Undergraduate transfer students who have attempted a minimum of 18 credits after high-school and enroll in a degree program that can be completed at a Penn State commonwealth campus are eligible to receive a $6,500-per-year Penn State Discover Award for up to six continuously enrolled semesters. 

Penn State Discover Award
Lion Shrine at University Park

The Provost Award

The Provost Award is dedicated to Pennsylvania residents and ranges between $5,000 (for freshmen and sophomores) and $7,000 (for juniors and seniors). The Provost Award follows a student if the student transitions to another Commonwealth Campus or to University Park.

Carey McDougall poses outside near a tree.

The Chancellor Award

The Chancellor Award ranges between $1,000 and $6,000, with a preference for high-achieving, first-year students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Ross Administration Building

Campus Scholarships

Penn State Beaver provides numerous merit-based campus scholarship to incoming first-year and transfer students. All incoming students are automatically considered for campus scholarships. Awards range in value from $2,000 to $4,000 a year and are all renewable for a second-year with a 2.5 minimum cumulative GPA. About 70 percent of incoming students each year receive a campus scholarship. Campus scholarships may be funded by institutional, endowed, or annual awards and may not be combined with Discover or Provost awards.

More about scholarships
Professor Mari Pierce sits with a group of students in her classroom.

Other Special Funds and Benefits

Complete Penn State

The Complete Penn State scholarship helps students who are within 30 credits of graduation (within 15 credits for an Associate Degree program) and are either currently enrolled or who have walked away from their studies due to an unanticipated financial barrier to complete their degrees at Penn State.

Veterans' Benefits

Penn State Beaver values its veteran students. You can find information about services and benefits for veterans on our veterans page.

Housing Awards

  • Penn State's LiveOn Student Success Grant is available to Pennsylvania residents who want to live on campus but can't afford it. The need-based grants supported by Penn State Housing and Food Services (HFS) aim to assure student undergraduate academic success, persistence to undergraduate degree completion, and address potential housing and food insecurities throughout a student’s four-year academic career.
  • Students from Pittsburgh who have a Pittsburgh Promise Scholarship will be given a $1,000 housing award per semester.

Student Emergency Fund

The Student Emergency Fund is designed to provide limited, non-tuition financial help to students facing an emergency situation, such as a family member’s job loss, illness, or death; a student’s own sudden illness; an automotive breakdown for a commuter student; or other unexpected need. The hope of the Student Emergency Fund is to prevent students from abandoning their dream of earning a Penn State degree in the face of difficult personal and financial circumstances due to no fault of their own. Awards do not need to be repaid. An application for consideration can be obtained in the Office of Admissions and Student Aid, 102 RAB.

Graduates leave the auditorium after receiving their degrees.

Additional Resources

Knowing that many families are anxious about how to pay for a college education, Penn State's Financial Literacy site provides a wealth of information covering everything from saving to budgeting to loan repayment strategies. The site offers different learning modules and even has a mentoring program to connect alumni with students.

Penn State Beaver's Financial Aid page pulls together everything that a prospective or current student needs to know about paying for their education and who to contact for help.