Merit Scholarships

Applications for the 2025-26 academic year are now closed. All award notices will be sent by April 18.

What are Merit Scholarships?

LSA Scholarships defines merit scholarships as any scholarships that do not have a need-based aid requirement. Our office awards approximately 40 of these scholarships each year to first-year incoming students. The criteria for these awards varies depending on the specific scholarship and donor intent.

How Are Students Selected for Merit Scholarships?

Merit Scholarships are awarded to admitted first-year LSA students who meet specific criteria. All incoming students are considered for all of the scholarship opportunities they are qualified for. When awarding merit scholarships we use data from LSA Admission applications. We may look at a student's intended major/field of study, career interests, leadership experience, academic achievement, community engagement, or even their geographical area. There is no other information or documentation you need to provide to be considered for these scholarships.

Note: Students qualifying only for merit scholarships do not need to have a FAFSA and CSS profile on file. All scholarship offers will be emailed by April 18. This allows you time to make an informed decision before LSA's enrollment deadline.

Merit Scholarship Opportunities

Out of these forty plus merit scholarships, there are a handful of well-known, prestigious awards that students and parents often ask us about. Read below to learn more about these specific opportunities. These and other opportunites, as they become available, will be listed in our application portal.

With the exception of the Bell Scholarship, all of these are awarded as a Four-Year Renewable Scholarship.

How to Apply

Please see the Four-Year Renewal Scholarship page for application login instructions and links.

The Gloria Wille Bell and Carlos R. Bell Scholarship Program (External Application Required)

The following are external, non-University scholarship opportunities that may be of interest to University/College students. Inclusion of an external scholarship opportunity is intended only as a resource for students and does not express or imply any University involvement with, or endorsement of, the external program.

The Bell Scholarship application period is now closed for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The Bell Scholarship is intended for first-year U-M students who show exceptional academic talent, reside in an eligible geographic area, and are pursuing an undergraduate, science-related degree in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts or in the College of Engineering.

Bell Scholars receive a renewable scholarship for four years of undergraduate study. Annual renewal is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. In-state students are awarded $10,000 per year. Out-of-state students are awarded $20,000 per year.

In order to be considered for this scholarship, students must meet full eligibility criteria and complete a separate application on the Bell Scholarship website.

The Alvin M. and Arvella D. Bentley Scholarship

The Alvin M. and Arvella D. Bentley Foundation established the Bentley Scholarship Program in 1983 to recognize and encourage public service in students from the state of Michigan.

The Bentley Scholarship is a scholarship awarded to incoming LSA students who are Michigan residents, demonstrated high academic achievement and leadership during high school, and are interested in a career in public service. Each year, 6–8 incoming LSA students are invited to campus to interview to receive this award. These students are selected from the pool of first-year admits. Of these candidates, 2 recipients are selected to receive the Bentley Scholarship.

Bentley Scholarship recipients receive a renewable scholarship for four consecutive years of undergraduate study in the amount of $15,000 per year.

Only students who are nominated for this award will be notified. Students who are not selected for this award will still be considered for all other Four-Year Renewable Scholarships they are qualified for.

Other Merit Scholarships

In addition to the scholarships listed above, there are 35+ additional merit scholarship opportunities through LSA Scholarships, and most of these do not require a student to be admitted by early action. Again, all newly admitted, first-year students will be considered for our Four-Year Renewable Scholarship.

Incoming LSA students who are only interested in merit scholarships are not required to complete a FAFSA or CSS profile.

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