Merit scholarships are an investment in student achievement and in Bucknell’s future. Strategic merit aid allows us to compete for outstanding talent while sending a clear message: at Bucknell, achievement is valued, potential is nurtured and excellence is celebrated.”

Kevin Mathes ‘07, Vice President of Enrollment Management & Dean of Admissions

The Vision

For every family considering Bucknell, one question sits at the heart of the decision: Will Bucknell recognize and invest in what my student can become? Merit scholarships provide that answer from the very beginning. A meaningful merit award tells a student that Bucknell sees what they have achieved and is ready to invest in what they will accomplish next. Distinction is the portion of The Promise that makes Bucknell the place the most talented students have every reason to choose.

The Challenge

The most accomplished students compare offers carefully. Today, the numbers work against Bucknell. Top applicants are choosing peer institutions offering $50,000 or more compared to Bucknell’s highest level $40,000 flagship award — and that gap decides outcomes. Across the broader admitted pool, strong students are weighing peer offers of $25,000 to $35,000. Each year, students who would elevate Bucknell’s classrooms, labs and teams enroll elsewhere.

The opportunity to grow merit scholarships extends beyond admission. Some of Bucknell’s most remarkable students reveal themselves after they arrive on campus. They become standout researchers, dynamic leaders, artists, athletes and scholars, yet the scholarship offered at admission is the only one they will ever receive.

The Solution

The Promise advances a comprehensive merit strategy that competes for talent at every level and invests in it at every stage. Flagship merit scholarships will provide meaningful, competitive awards to students whose academic accomplishments, leadership, talent and potential distinguish them among Bucknell’s applicants. Flexible and college-specific awards will allow Bucknell to compete across the entire admitted pool. Athletic merit scholarships reward the talent, discipline and drive that sets student-athletes apart in every arena of competition, giving Bucknell coaches the flexibility to recruit Division 1 competitors that raise the bar for our teams and our classrooms alike. And continuing merit scholarships will reward students who earn their place among Bucknell’s best after they arrive — those who thrive at the highest levels in the classroom, the lab, on stage and across campus — so that excellence earned at Bucknell is recognized at Bucknell. 

Together, these investments ensure Bucknell recognizes achievement at every stage — from admission through graduation — while strengthening its ability to attract and retain exceptional students.

Margo Bigue ’29 hadn’t finished her first semester before she was conducting faculty-mentored research — and presenting to community leaders across the Susquehanna River Valley.

The opportunity began with the Malesardi Merit Scholarship, which pairs first-year students with a Bucknell professor for a yearlong fellowship. Bigue chose Robyn Eversole, the Howard I. Scott Professor of Practice in Social Entrepreneurship in the Freeman College of Management, to study how mission-driven organizations strengthen rural communities — work that bridges her planned international relations major with the Freeman College.

That is merit working exactly as intended: exceptional students, deep academic experiences, from day one.

Strategic Priorities

• Priority 1: Flagship Merit Scholarships Top-tier students compare offers carefully. Increasing flagship awards from $40,000 to $50,000 annually and doubling cohort sizes in all three colleges puts Bucknell in contention for the strongest applicants in the country. Named flagship scholarships include an experiential grant that opens doors to high-impact opportunities beyond the classroom. 
• Priority 2: Tiered Merit Scholarships Strong students across our admitted pool are choosing peers offering $25,000 and $35,000. Expanding merit awards lets Bucknell compete at every level and recognize talent across every discipline, including the arts — building stronger, broader first-year classes. 
• Priority 3: Athletic Merit Scholarships Great student-athletes weigh offers from the most competitive programs in the country. Increased scholarship flexibility lets Bucknell coaches recruit accomplished Division I student-athletes who bring standout talent to both our teams and our classrooms.
• Priority 4: Continuing Merit Scholarships Bucknell’s students lead in the lab, on the field, on stage and across campus life, yet their scholarship is set the day they are admitted. A continuing merit fund will provide $5,000 – $25,000 annually to a small cohort of upperclass students whose achievement at Bucknell distinguishes them, keeping our top talent here and engaged.

Funding Opportunities

• Flagship Merit Scholarship Program: $15 million
  • Funds and names a highly competitive, college-based flagship merit program in the Freeman College of Management or the College of Engineering
• Full Athletic Scholarship: $ 2.25 million 
  • Funds a full-cost-of-attendance athletic merit scholarship for one student every year, in perpetuity. 
• Flagship Merit Scholarship: $1.25 million
  • Funds a college-based merit scholarship in perpetuity, plus an experiential grant
• Partial Merit Scholarship: $250,000
  • Funds a partial-merit scholarship award in perpetuity; can include a preference for retention or the arts
• Flexible Scholarship: $100,000 endowment + $25,000 current use
  • Funds a flexible scholarship for a student immediately while creating an endowment for students like them in the future
• Immediate Merit Scholarships: Funds a scholarship for a student today
  • Athletic: $400,000 over four years
  • Flexible: $60,000 over four years
  • Continuing: $45,000 over three years

Talent has choices. Merit scholarships make Bucknell the choice the most promising students make and ensure the excellence they discover here is recognized here. By endowing merit scholarships, you help Bucknell compete for exceptional students, invest in what they will accomplish and shape a stronger Bucknell for generations.

Be the reason the most promising students choose Bucknell.