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Excelsior Scholarship

This program covers tuition expenses for eligible CUNY students as a last dollar scholarship. Any federal or NYS grants or scholarships, including PELL and TAP, are applied to tuition first and the Excelsior Scholarship covers any remaining tuition expenses.
 
To be eligible for Excelsior, a student must: 

  • Have a combined federal adjusted gross household income of $125,000 or less;

  • Be a legal resident of New York State and have resided in New York State for 12 continuous months;

  • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen

  • Have graduated from a High School in the U.S.; earned a high school equivalency diploma (GED) or passed a federally approved Ability to Benefit test;

  • Be pursuing an undergraduate degree at a CUNY or SUNY college;

  • Be enrolled full-time in at least 12 credits per term and complete at least 30 credits each year (successively), applicable toward your degree program.  If you attended college prior to the 2024-25 academic year, you must have earned at least 30 credits each year (successively), applicable toward your degree program prior to applying for an Excelsior Scholarship;

  • Be continuously enrolled without any pauses in enrollment;

  • Be in a non-default status on a student loan made under any NYS or federal education loan program or on the repayment of any NYS award;

  • Follow the terms of the service condition(s) imposed by a NYS award that you have previously received; and execute a Contract agreeing to reside in NYS for the length of time the award was received, and, if employed during such time, be employed in NYS.

For additional information on Excelsior Scholarship criteria, visit HESC.