Beginning in 2007, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has selected a small cohort of successful applicants to participate in our Presidential Scholars program.

The Presidential Scholarship is awarded to students applying for freshman admission who demonstrate outstanding talent through academic success and extracurricular achievement.

The Presidential Scholars program was created to recognize the exceptional academic and extracurricular achievement of young men and women, giving students of extraordinarily high caliber an opportunity to realize their full potential, and to further enhance our campus community.

There is no application for the Presidential Scholars program.  All Presidential Scholars are selected individually by the admissions committee and, like all merit-based financial aid awards, each student’s application for admission makes them eligible for consideration for the Presidential Scholars program. 

Students who are selected receive a generous aid package that clearly demonstrates Rensselaer’s commitment to their academic success. It includes:

• guaranteed admission into the Rensselaer doctoral program of their choice (after having maintained a minimum undergraduate GPA of a 3.5)
  
  
• a $2,000 annual research stipend to participate in our Undergraduate Research Program
  
  
• a state-of-the-art LenovoThinkPad® laptop computer

The Presidential Scholars are also guaranteed to receive their financial aid award through graduate school, in order to facilitate students’ entrance into our top-tier graduate programs.