Financial Aid

Together with the university-wide Student Financial Aid office, we are committed to helping you make your college education affordable. We offer a variety of services and programs designed specifically to help you find ways to meet your educational expenses. Our staff is dedicated to making sure you receive your aid in a timely and efficient manner. If after reading the information below, you still have questions regarding financial aid please contact the Buckeye Link office at buckeyelink@osu.edu or call 614-292-0300. For questions regarding Ohio State Marion specific aid, please email marionsfa@osu.edu or call 740-725-6242.

Your financial aid package may consist of a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and part-time work through the Federal Work Study program.

While you may apply for financial aid at any time, the priority deadline to apply in order to maximize all your possible financial aid options at The Ohio State University for 2027-2028 is February 1st, 2027.

FAFSA

The 2027-2028 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens October 1st!

You will need the following information to complete your FAFSA:

• Verified Federal Student Aid username and password. Note: students and contributors must each have their own account.
• Your Social Security Number
• Your 2025 federal income tax returns
• Records of assets, including any child support received; current balances of cash, savings and checking accounts, and net worth of investments and businesses.
• Your contributor’s email address

Regional Campus Commitment 

The Regional Campus Commitment will provide eligible new first-year students enrolling at the Lima, Mansfield, Marion or Newark campuses or Ohio State ATI in Wooster with the opportunity to attend Ohio State tuition-free.

The Regional Campus Commitment program covers tuition and mandatory fees for low-to-middle income, new first-year students. Specifically, after other federal, state, and institutional grants and scholarships are applied to a student’s financial aid package, the Regional Campus Commitment will cover any remaining tuition and mandatory fees up to financial need.

To qualify, new first-year students must:

• Be Ohio residents
• Enroll at an Ohio State regional campus or Ohio State ATI in Wooster
• File the FAFSA annually by the priority deadline of February 1st
• Maintain full-time enrollment at Ohio State
• Have a family Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $100,000 or less and financial need (verified through FAFSA)
• Not be Pell Grant eligible

This award will be available to students for up to eight semesters, whether they remain at a regional campus/Ohio State ATI or transition to the Columbus campus.

Buckeye Opportunity Program

The Buckeye Opportunity Program covers tuition and mandatory fees for Ohio residents on all campuses who are Pell-eligible and show significant need. (90% of Pell recipients have an annual household income of $50,000 or less.)

President’s Affordability Grant 

The President's Affordability Grant provides additional funding to middle- and lower-income in-state undergraduate students on all campuses.

2027-2028 Scholarships

The Ohio State University at Marion is pleased to provide eligible students with a variety of sources for college funding, including nearly $1.2 million annually in campus-based scholarships. Our scholarship program is funded by the generous support of many area residents and organizations.

Award Criteria

• All award amounts listed below are based on two full-time semesters of attendance (Autumn and Spring), and do not include any other Federal, State or external financial aid for which the student may qualify.
• Summer semester awards are not available to students graduating from high school in the spring of the same calendar year.
• The current, full-time, in-state tuition rate for new students is only $10,064 per year ($5,032 per semester).
• High school graduates who have never enrolled in college courses after graduation will be awarded based upon the following criteria, based upon academic data on file with the Ohio State Admission Office as of the date of admission to the university. Additional academic data received after the date of admission will not result in any change to the student’s award.
• New admission applicants for the spring semester will be awarded on a funds-available basis only, as it is the final term of the academic year.

First-Choice Incentive for New Freshmen

Students who apply directly to Ohio State Marion as their “first-choice” Ohio State campus by January 1, 2027 will receive a scholarship based on the chart below. 

George Alber Scholars

Application is closed

Freshman students who apply and complete their application* for admission to Ohio State Marion as a degree-seeking student for the fall semester by our April 1 deadline and have a competitive academic standing can be considered for our George Alber Scholars program. Please review the criteria below. 

• Freshman degree-seeking student with a completed Ohio State Marion application.
• Minimum of a 3.0 unweighted GPA is required (3.5 GPA is preferable).
• High School transcript is required and should be sent to ugdocs@osu.edu .

*All components of the application (online form, $60 application fee or approved fee waiver and official transcript/s) must be received by the deadline in order to be eligible.

**Available until funds are exhausted. Decisions are made on a rolling basis starting in January. "

New Transfer Students

New applicants who apply and complete their application* by May 1, 2027 will eligible for a $1,000 scholarship.

*All components of the application (online form, $60 application fee or approved fee waiver and official transcript/s) must be received by the deadline in order to qualify. Students with fewer than 30 transfer credit hours post high school will be awarded based on their high school class rank.

Please note, new admission applicants for the spring semester will be awarded on a funds-available basis only, as it is the final term of the academic year.

Returning and Incoming Students

Apply for 2027-2028 Ohio State Marion scholarships on ScholarshipUniverse starting in December, 2026. ScholarshipUniverse is a scholarship matching tool that simplified the process of finding and applying for scholarships from both internal and external sources.

1. Log in at osu.scholarshipuniverse.com using your Ohio State username and password
2. Answer as many matching questions as possible: as you answer ScholarshipUniverse will alert you to possible scholarship matches. Be sure to continue until you get the following question: “What Ohio State campus are you attending next academic year?” (answer: Marion). Completing this question will allow us to consider you for Marion specific scholarships so it is very important that you complete this question.
3. Also check the “applications” tab and submit any applications that become available as you answer the matching questions.
4. Deadline is February 1, 2027.