Apply now for AY25-26 scholarships!
If you are a current matriculated student and will be attending next academic year (Fall 2025/Spring 2026), please take a few minutes to fill out the CCSU Foundation scholarship application. Application period ends December 15. You will need two references so don’t wait until the last minute.
Central Connecticut State University provides a variety of competitive endowed scholarships based on merit. Each year, the University awards over $3 million in scholarships funded by public scholarship programs and private donations to the CCSU Foundation, Inc. These scholarships aim to assist students with attendance costs and acknowledge their academic performance, leadership qualities, university/community service, and campus/community engagement.
In some cases, particularly those in which demonstrated financial need is part of the criteria, a FAFSA form must be completed and filed with the Financial Aid Office.
Incoming Students
Merit Scholarships for the 2025-2026 award year will be awarded to incoming first years students as follows:
| GPA | Merit Award Amount |
| 4.0 - 3.80 | $3,500 |
| 3.79 - 3.30 | $2,500 |
| 3.29 - 3.0 | $2,000 |
| 2.99 - 2.70 | $1,500 |
| 2.69 - 2.50 | $1,000 |
Central awards merit-based scholarships to select newly admitted first-year, transfer, and graduate students as part of the admission process in accordance with the criteria for each of the scholarship programs. No scholarship application is necessary to be considered for an admission-based merit scholarship.
Undergraduate Offerings
A growing number of scholarships are offered by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to incoming first-year and transfer students. Many of these scholarships are renewable contingent upon the recipient continuing to meet enrollment and academic achievement criteria.
Award notification is mailed to students by the Undergraduate & Graduate Admissions Offices.
All need-based aid is awarded by the Financial Aid Office.
Current Students
During the Fall semester, students will receive an email from scholarships@ccsu.edu when the application period for merit-based scholarships for the following academic year opens. More than 300 scholarship funds are awarded based on this competitive application process.
The application period begins annually in early November and closes in mid-December. This application period is the single time each year when all continuing students can apply for merit-based scholarships for the following academic year.
The general application is used to qualify a student for most of the scholarships, while a handful of the scholarships require an extra step in order to be considered. Once a student completes the general application, they will have an opportunity to apply to the small amount of very specific scholarships and will only be considered for those if they meet the qualifications.
Once the application period closes, applications are filtered, reviewed, and approved by scholarship subcommittees and sent to the University Scholarship Committee for final approval. Approved scholarships are then submitted to the Financial Aid Office for posting to individual student accounts for the academic year for which the scholarship award is made.
Scholarship awarding starts in May and continues into the summer. All awarded students will receive notification via email and will see the award on their account for the applicable semester(s).
To explore merit-based scholarship opportunities offered by the CCSU Foundation, Inc. visit the Endowed Scholarships web page.