This is an amzing scholarship that offers more than financial support—it provides a transformative education, a vibrant community, and a lifelong connection to one of the world’s leading universities located in the heart of Boston.

What is a Merit-Based Scholarship anyway?

A merit-based scholarship is awarded based on a student's achievements, talents, or abilities, regardless of financial need. In contrast, need-based scholarships focus on a student’s financial circumstances to eliminate barriers to accessing education. Merit-based scholarships like the Trustee Scholarship recognize exceptional academic performance, leadership, and unique talents.

About Boston University (BU)

Boston University (BU) is a private institution that was founded in 1839. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston's Fenway–Kenmore and Allston neighborhoods. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 18,656 (fall 2023), its setting is urban, and the campus size is 140 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. In 1876, BU professor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a BU Lab.

Boston University's ranking in the 2025 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, #41. It also ranked BU 25th in "Best Value Schools", tied for 20th in "Most Innovative Schools", and tied for 46th in "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs" at schools whose highest degree is a doctorate and 12th in Biomedical Engineering.

Its tuition and fees are approx. $67,000 per year (This does not include room and board and other expenses).

Ten Most Popular Majors for 2023 Graduates at BU

In this edition, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about this scholarship—from eligibility and application steps to the unique benefits it offers.

Do note the deadline for this scholarship is Dec 1, 2024 which is earlier than the BU First-Year Regular Decision for International Undergraduate Applicants of Jan 6, 2025.

Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] with any questions.

1. What is the Trustee Scholarship?

The Boston University (BU) Trustee Scholarship is one of the most prestigious merit-based scholarships available to undergraduate students. This scholarship covers full tuition and mandatory undergraduate fees and is renewable for up to four years. It attracts the best and brightest students globally, offering them not just financial support but the chance to join an intellectually vibrant and culturally rich community.

Trustee Scholarship

Every year, BU welcomes approximately 20 outstanding students to the Trustee Scholars Program. Many of our current Scholars had perfect 4.0 grade point averages in high school and ranked in the top of their class.

In addition to exceptional academic credentials, Trustee Scholars are intellectually and creatively adventurous and demonstrate viewpoints, experiences, or achievements beyond the usual. They are, in other words, not just top students, but extraordinarily well-rounded individuals. At BU, Trustee Scholars become part of a unique campus community that offers many intellectual, cultural, and social opportunities.

A Trustee Scholarship covers full undergraduate tuition plus mandatory undergraduate student fees, and is renewable for four years if certain criteria are met.

The Trustee Scholarship is Boston University’s most distinguished merit scholarship available to incoming students. The goal of the Trustee Scholarship is to enable our students to pursue their passions, no matter where they lead.

To that end, the Trustee Scholars are not required to follow any set curriculum or take any specific classes. And while many of our students do enroll in BU’s Kilachand Honors College, they need not do so.

Additionally, Trustee Scholars have the option of living in a historic brownstone at the heart of BU’s campus with other recipients of the scholarship, but may choose to live anywhere on campus that they like.

Who We Are

Trustee Scholars comprise a group of just over 70 undergraduate students from across the country and around the world. Current scholars attended high school in places as far afield as Ankara, Turkey and Singapore, or as close to Boston as North Andover and Worcester.

Scholars are enrolled in colleges across the BU campus and work in an incredible array of disciplines, including: television and film writing, neuroscience, acting, Chinese language and literature, biomedical engineering, and linguistics. Trustee scholars are actors, activists, and entrepreneurs. They are volunteers, emerging scholars, and campus leaders. With the Trustee Scholarship, you can do anything and everything at BU.

 The Trustee Scholar Experience

During the academic year, Trustee Scholars have the opportunity to participate in a variety of social, cultural, and intellectual programs. Every semester features a faculty reception, during which Scholars and invited professors gather to hear a speaker and socialize over drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Trustee Scholars also have the option to participate in multiple outings each semester that allow students to explore Boston’s cultural offerings. These might include a night at the theater or symphony, a foreign film showing, or a special exhibit at one of Boston’s museums. These nights out are always accompanied by a dinner, which gives Scholars a chance to meet or catch up with each other.

1. What Makes the Trustee Scholarship Unique?

i. Submit Your Application: Complete the Common Application by December 1, 2024 including all required materials for admission. For more details, visit BU’s Trustee Scholarship Page

ii. Write the Trustee Scholarship Essay: Respond to one of two prompts in 600 words or less.

iii. No Financial Forms Required: The Trustee Scholarship does not require the CSS Profile™ or FAFSA.

Applicants must choose one of the following prompts:

i.Nobel laureate and BU professor Elie Wiesel once said:
“There is divine beauty in learning… To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests.”
Discuss a book, film, podcast, or life experience that has made you feel more connected to your personal history/identity. What is the most important thing you learned from it?

ii. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:
“Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Describe a time you stepped out of your comfort zone and forged your own path. What motivated you, how did it change your perspective, and what lessons did you learn?