Cooper Union Full Tuition Scholarship
Before you spend hours on this
Will this scholarship actually lower your cost?
Not always. Many colleges reduce your financial-aid package when you win an outside scholarship — sometimes dollar-for-dollar — so the money can end up saving the school instead of you. It's called scholarship displacement. Two free tools tell you where you actually stand:
General guidance, not financial advice — your school's financial aid office is the only authority on how they treat outside awards. Always confirm with them before deciding.
Best fit for
Students with strong portfolios in architecture / fine arts, OR with elite STEM credentials for engineering, who want to attend a small selective conservatory-style school in Manhattan's East Village. NOT for kids who'd rather have a comprehensive university experience.
What they actually look for
Cooper Union historically was 100% tuition-free for all students (Andrew Carnegie's original model) — but as of 2014 charges half-tuition for undergrads, with the FULL-TUITION scholarship available to top performers in each school. ~750 undergrads total; admit rate ~13% (highly selective). The competition is fiercest in architecture and fine arts where the portfolios are reviewed by working artists/architects, NOT just admissions staff.
What you'll need
- Apply to Cooper Union — specifically to engineering, architecture, OR fine arts (they only offer those 3 schools)
- Engineering applicants: strong STEM record + math/science prowess
- Architecture applicants: portfolio (drawings, models, design work) + hometest
- Art applicants: portfolio (paintings, sculptures, design work) + hometest
- All applicants: SAT/ACT + transcript + essays
- Need to compete for the FULL-tuition merit pool (half-tuition is the default for admits)
When to start
Apply by January 1 (Regular Decision). Portfolio submission (arch + art) and hometest are critical — start portfolio in junior year if not earlier. Architecture and art applicants also complete a Cooper-Union-specific hometest as part of the application.
Watch out for
Cooper Union ONLY has 3 schools — engineering, architecture, art. If you'd want to study anything else (business, humanities, sciences), this isn't your school. Also: the full-tuition merit pool is selective even within Cooper's already-selective admits — many admits are at half-tuition and pay ~$20,000/yr tuition.