The Honors College offers about 90 scholarships per year. While the selection criteria and amounts of these scholarships vary, most are given on the basis of academic merit and community engagement; some also take into account financial need. All are highly competitive.
How can I be competitive for an Honors scholarship?
Incoming Students
The Honors College offers a limited number of one-year awards to incoming students. These awards are typically merit-based and range from $1000-$5000. Additionally, some scholarships consider financial need.
Scholarship Application Deadline
Incoming first-year and transfer students, as well as continuing Boise State students who are seeking new admission to the College, must apply to the Honors College by February 15Â to be considered for general Honors scholarships. Scholarships administered by Boise State or other organizations will have other application processes and may have other deadlines.
Nonresident Students
To be considered for the Honors Nonresident Scholarship, nonresident students must apply by December 15. Nonresident students who apply after that date are still eligible for general Honors College scholarships if their materials are received by February 15.
Resident Students
All resident students must apply by February 15 to be considered for general Honors scholarships.
Recipient Profile
Students applying to Honors from high school are evaluated for scholarships based on our admission criteria: GPA, test scores, resume, and essay. The average profile for an incoming, first-year scholarship recipient is:
- GPA: 3.85 (unweighted) or higher
- Resume: Robust list of involvement from the past four years that shows depth (longstanding commitments) and/or breadth (a wide variety of commitments), leadership experience, and volunteer service. Each entry is detailed and gives a sense of the time committed to that activity. Students who have had extensive work histories instead of extra-curricular activities may indicate job history and the hours worked per week. Similarly, students with significant familial responsibilities may include them on their resume.
- Essay: Thoughtful consideration of the prompt, clear organization of ideas and transitions between thoughts, proofread, fulfills word count expectations.
Scholarship Application Process
- Submit an Honors College application. All applicants who apply by the Honors scholarship deadline (February 15th) and are admitted to the Honors College are automatically considered for Honors scholarships based on their application materials. Read more about our application process.
- Complete a Boise State Scholarship Application profile. You cannot be considered for Honors College scholarships until you have completed a profile. This will also allow you to apply for other Boise State scholarships.
- Wait for decisions. We typically announce our scholarship decisions for incoming students in late March. Students may view their financial aid offers (including any scholarships from the Honors College) by checking their Student Center.