Elon is a private university of about 7,400 students in the North Carolina piedmont, and it is one of the few schools in the country that will tell you outright not to apply Early Decision if you need to see the scholarship first. That single fact shapes everything else on this page.
Roughly 19,000 students apply for about 1,600 first-year seats. There is no automatic merit grid here, no chart where a certain GPA and test score guarantees a certain dollar amount. Elon reads the whole file and awards accordingly. That makes Elon harder to predict than a big public flagship, but it also means a student with a strong transcript and a thin test score is not automatically shut out of the money.
🚨 Easy-to-Miss “Gotchas” at Elon (Read This First)
Elon tells you not to apply Early Decision if you need the scholarship number. Honors and Fellows decisions are not released until after January 10, which is the Early Decision commitment date. In Elon’s own words, students who need scholarship information before committing should not apply Early Decision. The Odyssey Program carries the same warning.
There are two deadlines nine days apart, and families miss the second one. November 1 is the admission application. November 10 is the Honors and Fellows application. Skipping the second one costs $32,000 over four years.
Test-optional really does apply to the money here, with two exceptions. Elon states that all students are considered for merit scholarships whether or not they send scores. But the direct-admit nursing program requires an SAT of 1100 or an ACT of 22, and homeschooled applicants must submit scores for both admission and scholarship consideration.
Presidential and Engagement are either-or. You get one or the other, never both. Everything else stacks on top of whichever one you receive.
The accelerated pathways cost you the scholarship money. Students pursuing dual-degree or accelerated programs, including the PA and DPT pathways, are ineligible for Honors and Fellows. That is a real trade-off worth pricing out before your student picks a track.
There is a whole second scholarship season in the spring. The Scholars Programs application does not even open until February 1 and closes April 15. If November came and went, that door is still open.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — Elon University is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 23-28; SAT: 1130-1280.
Average net price? About $41,555/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity?
No — private school; same rate for all.
📅 2027–2028 Planning Note: The costs below reflect the most recently published figures (2026–2027). Universities typically finalize the next year’s rates in the spring, and we’ll update this page once official 2027–2028 numbers are released.
Planning tip: At large public universities, tuition, fees, and housing usually increase modestly each year (often in the 2–5% range). For early budgeting, families may want to plan for roughly $1,000–$1,500 more in-state or $2,000–$3,000 more out-of-state in total direct costs once new rates are published.
Category (2026–2027)
In-State
Out-of-State
Tuition & Mandatory Fees (2 semesters)
$51,368
$51,368
Housing & Meals (typical)
$17,535
$17,535
Total (Direct Costs)
$68,903
$68,903
Average Federal Net Price: $41,555 — this is what families actually paid after grants and scholarships (no loans), based on the most recent federal data. Your specific cost could be significantly lower or higher depending on your financial aid eligibility and merit scholarships. New to Net Price & SAI? Read our guide.
✅ These are Elon’s published 2026-2027 figures, not last year’s.
Elon has already released next year’s rates, so the table above reflects actual 2026-2027 numbers rather than an estimate. Because Elon is private, in-state and out-of-state families pay exactly the same. There is no residency discount to chase and no reciprocity program to apply for.
What the sticker price leaves out
The direct cost above is what Elon bills you. For financial aid purposes Elon adds $1,000 for books and supplies, $1,500 for transportation, and $2,000 for personal expenses, bringing the official cost of attendance to $73,403. That larger number is what your aid package is measured against, and no combination of awards is allowed to exceed it. It is worth knowing, because a family looking only at the billed amount will be surprised when the aid letter references a bigger figure.
FAQ – Cost of Attendance at Elon University
Why is the in-state and out-of-state cost identical?
Elon is a private university, so there is no state subsidy for North Carolina residents and no higher rate for everyone else. A family in Raleigh and a family in Denver see the same tuition line. The flip side is that out-of-state families are not paying a penalty here the way they would at a public flagship, which is part of why roughly four out of five Elon students come from outside North Carolina.
Is the average net price really around $41,555?
Yes, that is the federal average after grants and scholarships across all aided students. It is a high number, and it deserves a straight answer: Elon discounts less deeply than many private schools its size. Elon’s own marketing notes that its total cost runs more than $13,000 below most peer private universities, which is true of the sticker price. But a sticker price advantage is not the same as a generous aid package. Families with real need should run the net price calculator before falling in love with the campus.
Does Elon require the CSS Profile?
Yes, and this catches families off guard. The FAFSA alone determines federal aid eligibility. Elon uses the CSS Profile to decide institutional need-based grant money, which is the larger pot. If you skip the Profile, you can be denied Elon grant aid even with genuine need. Elon’s FAFSA code is 002927 and its Profile code is 5183.
When do the aid forms need to be in?
Elon says all applications and forms should be complete no later than mid-January, and it begins reviewing FAFSA and Profile data in early January for first-year students. Practically speaking, submit both forms as soon as they open. Elon’s aid resources are limited, and the priority dates exist because money runs out.
Are housing and meal costs the same for everyone?
No. The figures above use the first-year average room cost and the basic All Access meal plan. Upgraded housing or a larger meal plan raises the bill. One thing to plan for: Odyssey Program scholars are required to live on campus for the life of the award, with no exceptions, so the housing line is not optional for that group.
Does the cost rise each year?
Expect modest annual increases. Elon’s continuing-student cost of attendance is already slightly higher than the first-year figure, mostly due to housing. Scholarship amounts, on the other hand, are published as flat dollar figures and generally stay level. That means the gap between your award and your bill widens a little each year, which is worth building into a four-year plan rather than discovering as a sophomore.
November 1: Admission application. This is the gate for everything automatic.
November 10: Honors and Fellows application. Separate form, nine days later.
January 15: Odyssey Program application for high-need students.
Mid-January: FAFSA and CSS Profile should be complete.
February 1 to April 15: Scholars Programs application window.
Parent rule of thumb: put November 10 on the calendar in red. November 1 gets your student admitted. November 10 is where the $8,000-per-year money lives.
Automatic Merit Scholarships – Elon University
These awards require no separate application. Submit the admission application by November 1 and Elon considers you automatically. Fair warning: Elon does not publish GPA or test-score cutoffs for these. Selection is a holistic read of your transcript, so there is no chart that tells you in advance what you will get.
Find your student's tier
Enter the numbers you have. We'll highlight the automatic award your student would actually get and tuck the rest out of the way. Leave it blank to browse everything.
Residency
Based on published cutoffs for entering freshmen. Always verify with the college before finalizing plans.
One award, not a pile. Colleges apply your student's single best automatic award. Automatic scholarships almost never stack with each other, though some stack with housing, departmental, or outside money. The stacking notes on each card tell you which.
Automatic
Presidential Scholarship
📅 Deadline: November 1 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000–$12,000/yr
✘ Not stackable
Holistic / Status Based
✚
Stacking & Combining
Students receive either a Presidential Scholarship or an Elon Engagement Scholarship, never both. Presidential recipients can still layer on Fellows and Scholars awards and need-based aid, all subject to cost-of-attendance limits. Honors students receive the Presidential as part of their $27,000 stacked package.
💡
Strategic Detail
Automatically awarded to approximately 25 percent of entering first-year students. Renewable for up to four years pending satisfactory academic standing. No separate scholarship application is required, because the admission application is the only form needed.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Roughly the top 25 percent of admitted first-year students, selected on academic strength alone: course rigor, grades, and test scores if you choose to send them. There is no separate application, no essay, no interview. The admission file is the scholarship application.
Automatic
Elon Engagement Scholarship
📅 Deadline: November 1 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$5,000/yr
✔ Stackable
Holistic / Status Based
✚
Stacking & Combining
Students receive either a Presidential Scholarship or an Elon Engagement Scholarship, never both. The Engagement Scholarship stacks with Fellows, Scholars, and most need-based aid within cost-of-attendance limits, and it can be retained alongside a Teaching Fellows award.
💡
Strategic Detail
Every first-year applicant is a candidate for the $5,000 annual Elon Engagement Scholarship. Recipients also receive a one-time $2,000 Elon Experiences Grant for approved study abroad, internships, undergraduate research, service-learning, or leadership projects.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Admitted students with strong academics and a real fit with Elon's experiential learning culture who land just below the Presidential threshold. Think solid GPA, good rigor, meaningful activities, and a clear sense of how they would spend the $2,000 Elon Experiences Grant.
Automatic
Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Scholarship
📅 Deadline: November 1 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$5,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 4.0+ GPAFirst-year applicants pursuing engineering or computer science who have a 4.0 GPA or higher and have completed at least two Project Lead the Way courses, earning a B or better in every PLTW course.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Stacks with an Engineering and Computing Fellows award and with need-based aid, subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
💡
Strategic Detail
Project Lead the Way is a nonprofit that runs hands-on, project-based STEM curricula in schools across the country. Elon rewards students who came through that pipeline with a flat $5,000 per year.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Engineering or computer science applicants who took the PLTW track in high school and kept a perfect GPA. This is one of the few Elon awards with a hard published cutoff, so it is easy to tell in advance whether you qualify.
Automatic
International Scholar Award
📅 Deadline: November 1 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$5,000–$10,000/yr
✔ Stackable
Holistic / Status Based
✚
Stacking & Combining
May be combined with other institutional and external aid so long as total awards do not exceed Elon's cost of attendance.
💡
Strategic Detail
Elon's merit-based scholarships page describes a $5,000–$10,000 annual renewable award for international first-year students, determined automatically during admission review.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Non-U.S. citizens with outstanding academic achievement, strong extracurricular involvement, meaningful leadership, and solid English proficiency. The stronger the overall profile, the higher within the $5,000 to $10,000 range the award tends to land.
Data last verified May 28, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
🧠 Parent Strategy: The Either-Or Rule
The two awards most students are competing for are the Presidential at $8,000 to $12,000 a year and the Elon Engagement Scholarship at $5,000 a year. You get one, not both. Presidential goes to roughly the top 25 percent of entering students on academic strength alone. Engagement goes to strong students who land just below that line, and it comes with a one-time $2,000 grant for an internship, research project, or study abroad experience.
Here is why this matters: whichever one you receive becomes the base. Every Fellows award, every departmental scholarship, every need-based grant stacks on top of it. A student with a $12,000 Presidential who also lands a Fellows spot is at $20,000 a year before need-based aid enters the picture.
Automatic Merit – FAQs (Elon University)
What GPA or test score do I need for the Presidential Scholarship?
Elon does not publish one, and that is the honest answer. The award goes to approximately 25 percent of entering first-year students based on a holistic read of course rigor, grades, and test scores if submitted. For context, the middle 50 percent of enrolled students who chose to send scores landed between 1130 and 1280 on the SAT and 23 and 28 on the ACT, and Elon describes the middle 50 percent high school GPA as 3.5 to 4.0 or higher on a weighted scale. Those are descriptions of last year’s class, not cutoffs.
Do I need to submit test scores to be considered for merit money?
No. Elon states plainly that all students are considered for its merit-based scholarships regardless of whether they submit a score. This is the opposite of how many large public universities operate, and it is genuinely good news for strong students who test poorly. Two exceptions: the direct-admit nursing program requires an SAT of 1100 or ACT of 22, and homeschooled applicants must submit scores for both admission and scholarship consideration.
Can I get both the Presidential and the Engagement Scholarship?
No. Students receive one or the other. Both are renewable for four years with satisfactory academic standing, and both stack with Fellows awards, departmental scholarships, and need-based aid.
Is there any Elon award with an actual published cutoff?
One. The Project Lead the Way Scholarship pays $5,000 a year to engineering and computer science applicants who have a 4.0 GPA and completed at least two PLTW courses with a B or better in every one. If your student came through a PLTW high school program, this is the rare Elon award you can verify eligibility for in advance.
What about international students?
The International Scholar Award pays $5,000 to $10,000 annually to non-U.S. citizens with strong academics and extracurricular achievement. No separate application, determined during admission review.
Are these renewable?
Yes, all four renew for up to four years with satisfactory academic standing. Note that the dollar amounts are flat and do not rise with tuition.
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Fellows and Scholars Programs)
This is where Elon separates itself. The university runs seven Fellows programs, each attached to a school or discipline, each paying $8,000 a year renewable for four years, and each stacking on top of whatever automatic award the student already has. Elon states the stacking rule explicitly on its own pages. There is no ambiguity to read around.
Every Fellows program follows the same rhythm. Apply to Elon by November 1. Submit the separate Fellows application through your Acorn Account by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15. Finalists hear by December 20. Interviews happen at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026, which includes an interview, academic simulations, and campus sessions. Every Fellow also receives a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant.
✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at Elon?
Aid Type
Stacks with Merit?
Elon Parent Translation
Presidential vs. Engagement
Either-or
One or the other, never both. Whichever you get becomes your base.
Fellows Programs
Yes, confirmed
$8,000 lands on top of your Presidential or Engagement award. Elon says so in writing.
Leadership Fellows + a school Fellows
Yes
Leadership Fellows is not school-based, so it can be combined with one school-based program. This is the double-dip.
Two school-based Fellows
No
Pick one. You cannot apply to both Business Fellows and Communications Fellows.
Kenan Honors Fellow
Replaces
The one exception. Full tuition supersedes institutional merit rather than adding to it.
Need-based grants
Yes
Fill the gap after merit. Requires FAFSA and CSS Profile.
App Required
Business Fellows Program
📅 Deadline: November 10 · 📢 Results: December 20 (finalists notified via Acorn Account) ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.8+ GPA👥 ~60 Business Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrElon advises applicants to have a GPA of at least 3.8. Open to students planning to major in accounting, business analytics and AI, business economics and consulting economics, economics, entrepreneurship and innovation, finance, financial technology, human resource management, international business, marketing, project management, or supply chain management.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 Business Fellows scholarship is awarded in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship the student already holds. Elon states this explicitly. All 60 Fellows also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant. A Presidential-tier Business Fellow can therefore reach $20,000 per year before any need-based aid.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the separate Fellows application through your Acorn Account by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15. Finalists are notified by December 20 and invited to Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026 for an interview, academic simulations, and campus sessions. Students may apply to only one school-based Fellows program, though Business Fellows may be combined with the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows application.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of academic preparation in business-related areas, essays, and interview performance.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Sixty Business Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable for four years as long as the student remains a Fellow in good standing. All 60 also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant for a university-approved study abroad or Study USA experience.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
High achievers headed into one of Elon's designated business fields who bring both strong quantitative preparation and real leadership or entrepreneurial instincts. With 60 seats and a deep applicant pool, the students who win have usually already done something concrete in business or innovation rather than just expressed interest.
App Required
Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows Program
📅 Deadline: November 10 · 📢 Results: December 20 (finalists notified via Acorn Account) ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~20 Leadership Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 Leadership Fellows scholarship is awarded in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship. Fellows also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant. Because this program is not school-based, it can also be combined with a school-based Fellows award, which makes it the most stackable merit vehicle Elon offers.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the separate Fellows application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15. Finalists are notified by December 20 and invited to Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026. Because this program is not school-based, students may apply to Leadership Fellows alongside one school-based Fellows program.
Selection criteria: Evaluation of demonstrated leadership experiences, impact, essays, and interview performance.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Twenty first-year Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable for four years. All 20 also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students with a documented track record of leadership, not just a club president title but real evidence of initiative, impact, and community. Twenty Fellows are selected per class from a very large pool, so the bar is high.
App Required
Elon College Fellows
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~60 Elon College Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrOpen to students majoring in the arts and humanities, the social sciences, or the natural and mathematical sciences.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 award is in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship. Elon College Fellows headed to medical school may also apply for the $4,000 Baird Pre-medical Scholarship on top of that.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the Fellows application through your Acorn Account by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15, finalists are notified by December 20, and interviews take place at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of academic record, essays, and interview performance.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
All 60 Elon College Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable for four years in good standing, plus a one-time $1,000 study abroad grant. Fellows may apply for additional research funding and are eligible for a dedicated living-learning community.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students drawn to the liberal arts and sciences who want a two-year faculty mentorship and an original research project. The program suits students who can articulate a real intellectual question, not just a strong transcript.
App Required
Communications Fellows
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~45 Communications Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrOpen to students majoring in cinema and television arts, digital content management, journalism, media analytics, sport management, strategic communications, or visual communication.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 award is in addition to any Presidential Scholarship received. All 45 Fellows also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the Fellows application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15, finalists are notified by December 20, and interviews take place at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of academic record, demonstrated interest and work in communications, essays, and interview.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Forty-five Communications Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable in good standing. Fellows lead Live Oak Communications, Elon's student-run PR agency, and Elon News Network, and complete a capstone research or performance project.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students who already make things: a podcast, a school paper, a film, a social account with real reach. The School of Communications is one of Elon's signature programs, so the pool here is deep and the portfolio matters as much as the transcript.
App Required
Engineering and Computing Fellows
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.8+ GPA👥 ~40 Engineering and Computing Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrFor students pursuing Elon's four-year engineering or computer science degrees. Elon advises applicants to have a GPA of 3.8 or higher.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 award is in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship. It can also stack with the $5,000 PLTW Scholarship for students who came through that pipeline, which is one of the better combinations at Elon.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the Fellows application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15, finalists are notified by December 20, and interviews take place at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026.
Selection criteria: Review of high school academic performance, the scholarship essay, and a faculty interview.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Forty Engineering and Computing Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable based on academic performance and program participation. Fellows may apply for additional research funding and join a peer mentoring community across engineering and computer science.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students who want to build things and can show it: a robotics team, a personal project, a PLTW sequence. Selection weighs high school academic performance, the scholarship essay on the first-year application, and a faculty interview.
App Required
Teaching Fellows
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~30 Teaching Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrFor students planning to pursue teaching. World language majors study a semester in a country appropriate to their language.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 award is in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship. It can also be combined with a North Carolina Teaching Fellows award, which is a separate state program.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the Fellows application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15, finalists are notified by December 20, and interviews take place at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of academic record, commitment to teaching, essays, and interview.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Thirty Teaching Fellows receive $8,000 annually, renewable in good standing. Sophomore Fellows study abroad at Elon's School of Education center at the University of Otago in New Zealand, completing two education courses including a five-week full-time teaching placement in a local school. Elon provides airfare support and Fellows pay the associated study abroad fees.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students who already know they want to teach and can show it through tutoring, camp counseling, or classroom volunteering. The New Zealand placement is the draw, and the panel wants students who will use it.
App Required
Nursing Fellows
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (3.2 GPA, 4 yrs)
$8,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.8+ GPA✎ ~22 ACT✎ ~1100 SAT👥 ~25 Nursing Fellows selected per entering class. winners/yrFor students in Elon's direct-admit Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Elon advises a GPA of 3.8 or higher. Because the BSN program requires test scores, Nursing Fellows candidates must submit an SAT of at least 1100 or an ACT of at least 22, even though Elon is otherwise test-optional. The award is renewable with a 3.2 GPA and attendance at 75 percent of program offerings.
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $8,000 award is in addition to any Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship. Fellows also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1 with an SAT or ACT score submitted, then submit the Fellows application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15, finalists are notified by December 20, and interviews take place at Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026.
Selection criteria: Review of high school academic performance, the scholarship essay on the first-year application, and a faculty interview.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Twenty-five Nursing Fellows work with faculty mentors across four years exploring the field and examining health disparities in local and global communities. Renewal requires a 3.2 GPA and attendance at 75 percent of semester offerings.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students committed to nursing who have both the grades and the test scores. This is the one Elon program where a test score is genuinely required, so students who planned to go test-optional need to know early.
App Required
Scholars Programs
📅 Deadline: April 15 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$5,000/yr
✔ Stackable
Students with substantial and broad leadership experience in high school or their community are the most competitive candidates. Students must apply and be admitted to a Scholars program to receive the scholarship.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Stacks with a Presidential or Elon Engagement Scholarship and with need-based aid, subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Submit a first-year application, then complete the Scholars application between February 1 and April 15, 2026.
Selection criteria: Review of leadership experience, academic record, and program fit.
✎ Essays
💡
Strategic Detail
Elon's Scholars Programs are four-year cohort experiences built around shared interests, with faculty mentors, grants, and peer support. The scholarship is $5,000 annually and renewable. This program runs on an entirely different calendar from Honors and Fellows.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Strong, well-rounded students who missed the November Fellows window or who were not selected. Because the application does not open until February, this is the one meaningful Elon merit door still standing after decision letters go out.
Data last verified May 28, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
❓ Fellows and Scholars FAQs
When is the Fellows deadline? November 10. The admission application is due November 1 and the Fellows application is due nine days later. Both matter. The Fellows form lives in your Acorn Account and only appears after the first-year application is submitted, which is exactly why students who apply at the last minute on November 1 sometimes never see it.
How many Fellows are selected?
Business Fellows takes 60, Elon College Fellows 60, Communications Fellows 45, Engineering and Computing Fellows 40, Teaching Fellows 30, Nursing Fellows 25, and Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows 20. That is 280 seats, which is a meaningful share of a 1,600-student class.
Can my student apply to more than one Fellows program?
Only one school-based program, but Leadership Fellows is the exception. Because it is not tied to a school, it can be combined with one school-based application. A student applying to Business Fellows and Leadership Fellows is playing this correctly.
Do Fellows awards really stack on the Presidential?
Yes, and Elon states it explicitly on each program page. A student with a $12,000 Presidential who wins a Fellows spot is at $20,000 per year before need-based aid. Over four years that is $80,000.
Is there a GPA requirement?
Business Fellows, Engineering and Computing Fellows, and Nursing Fellows all advise a 3.8 or higher. That is guidance rather than a hard floor, but it tells you the neighborhood. Nursing Fellows additionally requires a test score because the BSN program does.
What if we miss November 10?
The Scholars Programs are your fallback. The application opens February 1, 2026 and closes April 15, 2026, and the award is $5,000 a year renewable. It is smaller than a Fellows award, but it is a real second chance and almost nobody knows it exists.
Should we apply Early Decision to improve our Fellows odds?
Elon says no, in as many words. Honors and Fellows decisions are not available until after January 10, which is the Early Decision commitment date. Elon’s own guidance is that students who need scholarship information before committing should not apply Early Decision. Early Action gets you an early answer without the binding commitment.
Is Elon a National Merit or Stamps partner?
No to both. Elon does not participate in either program.
The awards in this section mostly do not run through the admissions office. They run through academic departments and through the Center for Access and Success, and they have their own forms, their own auditions, and their own calendars.
If your student plays an instrument, sings, acts, or dances, call the department directly. Do not wait for admissions to mention it.
If your family has real financial need, the Odyssey Program application is due January 15 and is separate from the FAFSA.
If you are a North Carolina resident headed into STEM or special education teaching, apply to NC Teaching Fellows at the state site.
Save confirmation emails for every departmental form you submit.
Parent translation: admissions will hand you the Presidential or the Engagement award without being asked. Everything below, you have to go get.
💎 Hidden Gem Scholarships
These are the awards that make an expensive school workable. Most of them stack on top of automatic merit, several are open to students who are not majoring in the subject, and a few carry strings worth understanding before you sign.
App Required
Odyssey Program
📅 Deadline: January 15 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$5,000–$25,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~Approximately 45 awards per year. Note that Elon's financial aid home page cites approximately 60, so the exact count varies by source. winners/yrOpen to all first-year applicants regardless of citizenship status. Odyssey scholars are required to live on campus, with no exceptions.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Odyssey scholars receive a package that meets full demonstrated financial need plus a one-time $4,000 Global Study grant; other grants and scholarships may still be included as part of the package but total aid will not exceed need.
📄
How to Apply
Submit a first-year application, then complete the Odyssey application through the Scholarship Opportunities tab in your Acorn Account by January 15. Submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile as early as possible. Elon advises that Odyssey candidates should not apply Early Decision.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of financial need, academic promise, leadership, service, and personal background.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview
💡
Strategic Detail
Approximately 45 awards ranging from about $5,000 to $25,000 annually. All Odyssey scholars receive a package that meets full demonstrated financial need plus a one-time $4,000 Global Study grant. Scholars must live on campus.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
First-generation and limited-income students with high financial need, strong academic performance, and evidence of resilience, leadership, or service.
⚠ This is a forgivable loan, not a grant. It converts to a scholarship only if the teaching service commitment is completed; otherwise it must be repaid with interest.
👥 ~Elon is one of only five partner institutions statewide. winners/yrFor North Carolina residents committed to teaching special education or a STEM field in a North Carolina public school. Application and selection are run by the state, separate from Elon's Teaching Fellows program.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Can be combined with an Elon Honors, Elon College, Leadership, or Teaching Fellows award.
📄
How to Apply
Apply directly through ncteachingfellows.com. Selection is separate from Elon admission and from Elon's own Teaching Fellows program.
Selection criteria: Competitive, merit-based selection by the state program.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview
💡
Strategic Detail
Up to $8,250 per year for up to four years, $33,000 total. Note that Elon's page headlines this as up to $10,000 annually while the body text states $8,250, so confirm the current figure with the state program.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
North Carolina students who are certain they want to teach STEM or special education in a North Carolina public school and are comfortable with a service obligation attached to the money.
👥 ~Roughly 20 students per year. winners/yrOpen to musically strong students with a demonstrated interest in instrumental music. You do not have to major in music.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Stacks with Presidential or Elon Engagement merit and with need-based aid, subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Submit the first-year application, then submit an unedited video recording demonstrating musical ability. Contact the Department of Music at (336) 278-6263.
Selection criteria: Audition-based evaluation of musical ability.
💡
Strategic Detail
A $6,000 annual scholarship for instrumental musicians, awarded by audition. Elon's merit-based page headlines $6,000 but its body text says $5,000 to 20 students, so confirm the current amount with the Department of Music.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students who played in a serious high school band program and want to keep playing in college, regardless of major. Because you do not need to be a music major, this is one of the most overlooked awards on campus.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Music Scholarships
📅 Deadline: Contact the Department of Music ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
$250–$9,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🎓 All UndergradFirst-year awards of $2,000 to $9,000 annually for majors in music education, music performance, music in the liberal arts, or music production and recording arts. Athletic band and choral awards of $250 to $1,000 annually are open to music and non-music majors by audition in the fall of the first year. Sophomore awards of $1,000 to $5,000 are based on demonstrated excellence as a music major.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Stacks with institutional merit and need-based aid, subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Contact the Department of Music at (336) 278-6263 or visit elon.edu/music to schedule an audition or interview. Music production and recording arts applicants also submit a portfolio.
Selection criteria: Audition, interview, and portfolio review.
🎤 Interview
💡
Strategic Detail
Merit and need-based awards by audition, interview, and portfolio for production and recording arts applicants. The Department of Music also awards one Odyssey Program scholarship every four years, and offers paid student employment in its labs and studios.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Music majors with a strong audition, and non-majors who keep playing or singing. The $250 to $1,000 band and choral awards are small but genuinely open to anyone who auditions, which almost nobody realizes.
App Required
Performing Arts Scholarships
📅 Deadline: Contact the Department of Performing Arts ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
Varies
✔ Stackable
⚠ Some of these awards are one-time rather than renewable, so confirm the terms before counting on four years of funding.
For students majoring in acting, dance, music theatre, or theatrical design and technology.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Stacks with institutional merit and need-based aid, subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Contact the Department of Performing Arts at (336) 278-5600 or visit elon.edu/perarts to schedule an audition or interview.
Selection criteria: Audition or interview plus application review.
🎤 Interview
💡
Strategic Detail
Talent-based awards that range from one-time scholarships to awards renewable for an additional three years. Amounts vary and are based on the application and an audition or interview.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students with real training and a strong audition. Elon's music theatre program in particular recruits nationally, so the standard is high.
App Requiredpipeline
Commitment to Democracy Awards
📅 Deadline: January 15 ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
Varies
✔ Stackable
⚠ Two awards only, tied to the Odyssey Program pipeline.
👥 ~Two awards per entering class. winners/yrFor students inside or outside the United States who have been displaced by conflict or natural disaster, including but not limited to Afghanistan, Syria, and Haiti.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Awarded as part of an Odyssey Program financial aid package.
📄
How to Apply
Submit a first-year application, then complete the Odyssey Program application through the Acorn Account by January 15. Do not apply Early Decision.
Selection criteria: Holistic review through the Odyssey Program scholarship committee.
✎ Essays
💡
Strategic Detail
Established in 2021 and offered through the Odyssey Program. Two scholarships support students displaced by conflict or natural disaster.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students whose education was interrupted by displacement and who can document both the circumstance and continued academic promise.
Automatic⚠ All Undergrad Only
Elon University Grants
📅 Deadline: December 1 for FAFSA ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
Varies
✔ Stackable
🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Need-based grants stack with merit and external aid but may be adjusted annually as need and other awards change.
💡
Strategic Detail
Award amounts depend on a combination of family income, assets, number in college, and other aid such as federal grants and scholarships.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Middle- and lower-income families who demonstrate financial need after federal and state aid are applied.
Full TuitionApp Requiredgeographicpipeline
Tuition Exchange Program
📅 Deadline: November 1 ✓ Renews (8 yrs)
Full Tuition
full tuition scholarship via Tuition Exchange consortium
✘ Not stackable
⚠ Highly limited full-tuition scholarships at Elon for dependents of qualifying employees at Tuition Exchange member institutions.
👥 ~Approximately three new TE scholarships per entering class. winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
Covers tuition up to Elon's published rate for up to eight semesters. It does not cover fees, housing, food, or books. Institutional merit is usually replaced, though other aid can contribute to non-tuition costs.
📄
How to Apply
Dependents of eligible full-time faculty and staff at participating Tuition Exchange colleges apply through the Tuition Exchange portal and must also apply and be admitted to Elon.
Selection criteria: Selection based on academic profile and distinguishing characteristics among eligible TE applicants.
💡
Strategic Detail
Elon typically receives around 250 Tuition Exchange applications and awards only a handful of TE scholarships to incoming first-year students; awards are renewable for a maximum of eight semesters with continued eligibility and good standing.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Children of eligible employees at Tuition Exchange member institutions with strong academic records; competition is high relative to the number of available slots.
Full TuitionApp Required
Army and Air Force ROTC
📅 Deadline: Check goarmy.com/rotc or afrotc.com ✓ Renews (4 yrs)
Full Tuition
ROTC tuition scholarship plus Elon housing and board benefit
✔ Stackable
⚠ Carries a military service obligation after graduation.
Two, three, and four-year ROTC scholarships are awarded by the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force and carry a military service commitment.
✚
Stacking & Combining
Elon adds free on-campus housing and board for the years the ROTC scholarship pays tuition, equivalent to a regular double room and up to the cost of the All Access plus 7 meal plan. That housing benefit is unusually generous and is the part families miss.
📄
How to Apply
Apply through goarmy.com/rotc or afrotc.com. Elon's housing benefit applies automatically once the ROTC scholarship is in place.
Selection criteria: Selection by the U.S. Army or U.S. Air Force.
🎤 Interview
💡
Strategic Detail
ROTC scholarships cover tuition and books. Elon layers its own housing and board benefit on top for the duration of the ROTC award.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students willing to take on a service commitment. At Elon specifically, the combination of a federal tuition scholarship and Elon-funded housing and board can bring the total bill close to zero.
Data last verified Nov 29, 2025.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
The two most overlooked awards on this list
Athletic band and choral scholarships, $250 to $1,000 a year. Small money, but they are open to non-music majors by audition in the fall of the first year. A business major who played trumpet in high school can audition and get paid for it.
ROTC plus Elon’s housing benefit. Army and Air Force ROTC scholarships cover tuition and books. Elon then adds free on-campus housing and board for the years the ROTC award pays tuition. Most schools do not do that second part.
❓ Hidden Gems FAQ
What exactly is the Odyssey Program?
It is Elon’s program for students with high financial need who are also strong students and active in their communities. Roughly 45 awards are available ranging from about $5,000 to $25,000 a year, and every Odyssey scholar receives an aid package that meets full demonstrated financial need plus a one-time $4,000 Global Study grant. For a family with real need, this is the single most valuable thing on this page. Elon’s financial aid home page cites about 60 awards while its scholarships page cites about 45, so treat the count as approximate.
What are the strings on Odyssey?
Two that matter. Scholars are required to live on campus, with no exceptions, for the life of the award. And Elon advises Odyssey candidates not to apply Early Decision, because the aid picture will not be clear before the commitment date. The application is due January 15 with notification February 10, and it is separate from the admission application. Submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile alongside it.
Is the North Carolina Teaching Fellows award a scholarship?
Not exactly, and this is important. It is a forgivable loan, up to $8,250 a year for four years, $33,000 total. It converts to a grant only if the student completes the teaching service commitment in a North Carolina public school in STEM or special education. Otherwise it has to be repaid with interest. Elon is one of only five partner institutions statewide, and the award can be combined with Elon’s own Honors, Elon College, Leadership, or Teaching Fellows scholarships. Just go in knowing what you are agreeing to. Note that Elon’s page headlines this as up to $10,000 while the body text says $8,250, so verify the current figure at ncteachingfellows.com.
Do music and performing arts awards require a major?
The larger ones do. First-year music awards of $2,000 to $9,000 go to music majors, and performing arts awards go to students in acting, dance, music theatre, or theatrical design and technology. But the athletic band and choral awards of $250 to $1,000 are open to any major by audition. Be aware that some performing arts awards are one-time rather than renewable, so confirm the terms.
Can current Elon students get any of these?
Some. The music department awards sophomore scholarships of $1,000 to $5,000 based on demonstrated excellence as a major, and Elon University Grants are recalculated annually for all undergraduates who demonstrate need. Most of the rest are first-year entry points only.
What is the Tuition Exchange Program?
A full-tuition award for dependents of employees at Tuition Exchange member colleges. Elon receives roughly 250 applications and awards only a handful to incoming first-year students. It covers tuition up to Elon’s published rate for up to eight semesters and does not cover fees, housing, food, or books. If your family does not work at a member institution, this one is not available to you.
Elon runs an Honors Program, not an honors college, and it is open to students in any major. Admission is not automatic. Students apply separately, and roughly 60 are selected per entering class from a competitive pool through an application, essays, a recommendation letter, and an interview.
The financial piece is unusually transparent for a private university. Elon publishes the package as $15,000 a year in Honors scholarship plus a $12,000 Presidential Scholarship, totaling $27,000 annually or $108,000 over four years, along with a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant and a one-time $1,000 thesis research grant. Most schools make you assemble that math yourself. Elon prints it.
Application opens: after the first-year application is submitted, through the Acorn Account
Admission application due: November 1
Honors application due: November 10
Faculty review begins: November 15
Finalists notified: by December 20
Interview weekend: February 6 and 7, 2026
Honors Scholarships and Fellowships
Full TuitionAutomaticpipelinehonors
William R. Kenan, Jr. Honors Fellow
📅 Deadline: November 1 (Elon admission application for Honors consideration) · 📢 Results: December 20 (finalists notified via Acorn Account) ✓ Renews (3.3 GPA, 4 yrs)
Full Tuition
full tuition honors fellowship with additional enrichment
✘ Not stackable
⚠ Full-tuition scholarship for one outstanding Honors Fellow each year, with extra funding for study abroad and thesis research but not room or board.
The full-tuition Kenan award replaces any institutional merit scholarship already awarded, so it supersedes a Presidential rather than adding to it. Kenan Fellows still receive the standard Honors enrichment benefits, including a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant and a one-time $1,000 thesis research grant.
💡
Strategic Detail
Each year, one Honors Program student is selected as the William R. Kenan, Jr. Honors Fellow and receives a renewable full-tuition scholarship. Fellows also receive a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant and a one-time $1,000 thesis research grant as part of the standard Honors enrichment package. This is a single-seat award per entering class.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
This is Elon's most exclusive award, one student per entering class. The panel is looking for the single most exceptional Honors applicant: outstanding academics, a genuine research or creative vision, and real intellectual presence in an interview.
App Required
Honors Program Scholarship
📅 Deadline: November 10 · 📢 Results: December 20 (finalists notified via Acorn Account) ✓ Renews (3.3 GPA, 4 yrs)
$15,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~Approximately 60 Honors Program students per entering class. winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
The $15,000 Honors Scholarship stacks with a $12,000 Presidential Scholarship for a combined $27,000 per year, which Elon publishes as $108,000 over four years. Add a one-time $1,000 Global Study grant and a one-time $1,000 thesis research grant. All awards are subject to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Apply to Elon by November 1, then submit the separate Honors Program application by November 10. Faculty review begins November 15. Finalists are notified by December 20 and invited to Honors and Fellows Weekend on February 6 and 7, 2026. A recommendation letter must be submitted on the finalist's behalf before the interview weekend.
Selection criteria: Holistic review of academic rigor, GPA, essays, recommendations, and interview performance.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview💌 Letters of Rec🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Elon's Honors Program is merit-based and open to any major. Selected students receive $15,000 per year, stacked with a $12,000 Presidential Scholarship, plus one-time global study and thesis research grants. Roughly 60 students are admitted per entering class through a competitive application, essay, recommendation, and interview process.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Highly motivated students with a rigorous high school curriculum, outstanding grades, compelling writing, and a real appetite for research or creative inquiry. With roughly 60 seats per class this is competitive, but it is within reach for students who genuinely love to learn and can show it.
App Required
Jane Macon Baird Pre-medical Scholarship (Honors/Elon College Fellows)
📅 Deadline: November 10 ✓ Renews (3.5 GPA, 4 yrs)
$4,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.5+ GPA👥 ~Two awards per year. winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
The Baird award adds $4,000 per year on top of an Honors or Elon College Fellows scholarship, and those packages already stack with the Presidential. Renewal requires a 3.5 overall and science GPA, steady progress in pre-med coursework, and continued medically related service. Total annual funding for a qualifying Honors pre-med student can exceed $31,000.
📄
How to Apply
Students must first complete an eligible Fellows application (Honors or Elon College Fellows), including the interview during Fellows Weekend (February 6–7, 2026). A separate Baird scholarship essay demonstrating a clear passion for medicine and a record of medically related service is also required. The Baird essay deadline follows the Health Professions timeline posted on the Elon Health Professions scholarships page.
Selection criteria: Selection based on academic metrics, Baird essay quality, demonstrated passion for medicine, and record of medically related service.
✎ Essays🎤 Interview🌟 Finalist Event
💡
Strategic Detail
Two $4,000 Baird Scholarships are awarded annually to Honors or Elon College Fellows who intend to attend medical school. Awards are renewable provided students maintain a 3.5 GPA, make progress in pre-med coursework, and continue medically related service.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Honors or Elon College Fellows who are seriously pre-med, with excellent science preparation, a documented service history in medical settings, and an essay that convinces the panel this student will become a physician. Only two awards are given each year.
Data last verified May 28, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
Award amounts and selection profiles reflect recent cohorts. Actual availability varies by year based on the applicant pool and funding.
Deadline Note: The Honors application closes November 10, nine days after the admission deadline. There is no late window. A student admitted in the regular round in January cannot circle back for Honors.
The Early Decision trap: Honors and Fellows decisions are not released until after January 10, which is the Early Decision enrollment commitment date. Elon states directly that students who need scholarship information before committing should not apply Early Decision. If the $27,000 Honors package is what makes Elon affordable for your family, applying Early Decision means committing without knowing whether you have it.
Stacking beyond the base Honors package
Pre-med: Honors students headed to medical school can add the Jane Macon Baird Pre-medical Scholarship at $4,000 a year. Only two are awarded annually, and renewal requires a 3.5 overall and science GPA plus continued medically related service. A qualifying Honors pre-med student can clear $31,000 a year.
Kenan Honors Fellow: one student per entering class receives a renewable full-tuition scholarship. Important detail: it replaces institutional merit rather than adding to it, and it does not cover room or board.
Elon College Fellows: pre-med students in that program are also eligible for the Baird award, so Honors is not the only path to it.
Honors Program – FAQs (Elon University)
Is Honors admission automatic?
No. Students submit a separate application with essays and academic credentials, a recommendation letter is required before the interview weekend, and selection is competitive with roughly 60 seats.
Can a student apply to both Honors and a Fellows program?
Yes, and many do. Both applications run on the same November 10 deadline and the same interview weekend.
Does Honors guarantee the full $27,000?
The $15,000 Honors scholarship comes with admission to the program. The $12,000 Presidential is determined separately in the general merit review. Elon publishes the two together as the standard Honors package, which tells you that the students selected for Honors are essentially always in the Presidential tier as well.
Is the Kenan Fellow award worth chasing?
It is one seat per class, so no one should plan around it. But it is worth understanding that it replaces rather than stacks. A student weighing Kenan against an Honors plus Fellows combination should do the arithmetic rather than assume full tuition always wins, especially since Kenan does not cover room and board.
What do Honors students actually do?
Small seminar courses focused on writing and critical thinking, a four-year sequence, a faculty-mentored thesis using original research in the junior and senior years, two Honors living-learning communities, and a subsidized Winter Term study abroad option in the first year.
Are Honors courses harder?
They go deeper rather than assigning more. Smaller classes, more discussion, more writing, and more direct faculty contact.
Elon’s reputation is not built on research output or selectivity. It is built on what the university calls engaged learning, which in practice means the school organizes itself around getting undergraduates into internships, research, study abroad, and leadership roles rather than around graduate programs. That shows up in the scholarship structure: nearly every major award at Elon comes bundled with a $1,000 or $4,000 travel grant attached to it.
Nationally Known Program: School of Communications – one of the largest and most visible communications programs at any private university in the country. Students run Live Oak Communications, a full student-led PR agency, and Elon News Network, a daily multimedia news operation that includes a newspaper and a television show. The school publishes one of the only undergraduate communications research journals in the nation and brings in high-profile speakers that students get direct access to.
Love School of Business: AACSB-accredited with a deep experiential track. Business Fellows travel to major U.S. cities, study a semester in Australia, complete an internship in Singapore, and finance majors help manage a $300,000 student investment fund. Finance graduates post the highest median earnings of any Elon undergraduate program.
Nursing: a direct-admit BSN program that is competitive enough to require test scores when the rest of the university does not. It has its own 25-seat Fellows cohort.
Engineering and Computer Science: a four-year degree track with a 40-seat Fellows program built around designing, prototyping, and testing solutions. Smaller than a big state engineering school, which is the point for students who want faculty attention.
Education: Teaching Fellows spend a sophomore semester at Elon’s own School of Education center at the University of Otago in New Zealand, including a five-week full-time placement in a local school. Elon is also one of five North Carolina Teaching Fellows partner institutions.
Performing Arts: acting, dance, music theatre, and theatrical design and technology, all with talent-based scholarships by audition.
Health Professions pathways: Elon offers accelerated routes into its own Physician Assistant Studies and Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate programs, with a 3.5-year undergraduate curriculum. Pre-med students in Honors or Elon College Fellows can add the Baird scholarship.
Arts, Sciences and Political Science: Elon College Fellows is the 60-seat program covering the humanities, social sciences, and natural and mathematical sciences, built around a two-year faculty mentorship and an original research project.
One practical takeaway for families: at Elon the strongest programs each have a named Fellows cohort attached, and that cohort is where the $8,000 lives. If your student already knows their direction, the Fellows application for that specific school is the highest-value form they will fill out all fall.
🔗 Official Elon University Links
Every link below was checked directly against Elon’s site. Use these to verify deadlines, award terms, and costs before you act on anything. Elon updates its dates each cycle, and a few of its own pages disagree with each other, so the official page always wins.
Note: Elon has a second, older CDS page under institutional-research that stops at 2024-2025. This is the current one.
✅ Wrapping It Up
Here is the honest read on Elon. It is an expensive school with a real average net price around $41,555, and it does not discount as deeply as some private universities its size. If your family needs a school to come down to public-flagship pricing, Elon probably will not get there unless your student lands Honors, a Fellows spot, or Odyssey.
But what Elon does have is an unusually deep and unusually honest merit structure. Seven Fellows programs, 280 seats, $8,000 a year each, and the university says in plain language that those awards stack on top of whatever automatic scholarship your student already has. It tells you the Honors package is $108,000 over four years instead of making you work it out. It tells you that test-optional applies to the scholarship money too. And it tells you not to apply Early Decision if you need to see the number first, which is a genuinely unusual thing for a university to say about its own binding option.
So the strategy is simple to state and easy to fumble. Get the admission application in by November 1. Get the Honors or Fellows application in by November 10, because that nine-day gap is where most of the money at this school actually lives. File the FAFSA and the CSS Profile by mid-January, and do not skip the Profile, because that is the form Elon uses to award its own grant money. If there is real financial need, the Odyssey application is due January 15. And if November slipped past you, the Scholars Programs window opens February 1 and does not close until April 15.
Elon rewards the family that reads the calendar carefully. That is the whole game here.
Your kid did everything right. That does not mean the money follows.
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Written by Leo Dimilo
I started CollegeReadyParent while working through college costs for my own kid, and quickly figured out that the number a school advertises and the number a family actually pays are two very different things. Since then I’ve gone school by school pulling apart award letters, scholarship pages, and cost sheets to find what families are supposed to just know. This site is the version of that research I wish someone had handed me. More about Leo →
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