Notre Dame Hesburgh Yusko 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
Top-stats students drawn to Notre Dame's Catholic intellectual tradition + service mission. Particularly good fit for kids active in religious community work, social justice organizing, or international service.
What they actually look for
Hesburgh-Yusko covers full cost of attendance + 4 summer enrichment programs (international service, leadership intensive, social entrepreneurship, etc.). ~25 winners/yr. Notre Dame leans heavily on the program's Catholic-social-teaching framing — applicants who can articulate service grounded in faith OR in a parallel humanistic ethical framework do well. Pure achievement stats don't carry the day; the service narrative does.
What you'll need
- Apply to Notre Dame Restrictive Early Action by November 1 (Hesburgh-Yusko REQUIRES REA)
- Top 2-5% of class + 1500+ SAT or 34+ ACT typical for semifinalists
- Hesburgh-Yusko-specific essays — separate from Common App + ND supplement
- Demonstrated SERVICE leadership (Hesburgh-Yusko weighs Catholic social teaching themes more than other ND merit scholarships)
- Two letters of recommendation; one must speak to character + service
- Finalist Weekend on ND campus (February) — interviews + service immersion exercises
When to start
Apply REA by November 1 — applications from Regular Decision applicants are NOT eligible for Hesburgh-Yusko. Semifinalist notification in January, Finalist Weekend in February.
Watch out for
You MUST apply Restrictive Early Action — Notre Dame's REA. RD applicants are not Hesburgh-Yusko-eligible at all, even with perfect stats. Also: ND has SEVERAL merit scholarships (Hesburgh-Yusko, Stamps, Glynn Family Honors). You can only win one — they review all applications together and assign. Don't bother applying to all three separately.