Purdue University Summer Scholarships for Undergraduates: A Comprehensive Guide

Purdue University offers various summer scholarship opportunities for undergraduate students. These scholarships can help offset the cost of tuition, research, and other academic pursuits during the summer months. This article provides a detailed overview of available programs, eligibility requirements, and other important information for students planning to take summer courses or engage in research activities.

Summer Stay Scholars Program

The Summer Stay Scholars program combines research or internship experience with summer courses and offers up to $2,100 to current Purdue students. To be eligible for a research scholarship, a student must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Summer Double Major, Minors, Undergraduate Certificates, and Co-op Scholarships

Purdue also offers scholarships for students pursuing summer double majors, minors, undergraduate certificates, and co-op opportunities.

Summer Financial Aid

Students interested in receiving summer financial aid need to complete the Summer Aid Application, which is available under the "Financial Tab" in myPurdue. Completing this application is a vital step for students seeking financial assistance for summer studies.

Summer Housing

Summer housing is available for undergraduate students pursuing summer classes or research for an academic department at Purdue Indianapolis and West Lafayette.

Read also: Investigating the Death at Purdue

The Lilly Scholars at Purdue Program

The Lilly Scholars at Purdue program covers full tuition. Starting with the admitted class of Fall 2026 (Cohort 4), the program will also cover program differential fees.

Scholarship Coverage

Starting with Fall 2026 (Cohort 4), the scholarship will include tuition and program differential fees. The actual amount varies depending on your residency and the number of credits enrolled in each semester. To understand the estimated cost of attendance at Purdue, students can refer to provided resources. Program differential fees, housing and food, books and course materials, supplies and equipment, transportation, and other expected costs are not included in this scholarship.

Renewal Guidelines for Lilly Scholars

In order to renew their scholarships, students must adhere to specific guidelines:

Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP): Scholars must Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
Opt in to Purdue programming, including:

Read also: Purdue University Fees
- Complete ENGR 103: Pharma Careers for Lilly Scholars
- Participate in an internship during the first or second semester of sophomore year
- Take part in programming designed to increase familiarity with the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry
- Maintain touchpoints with Lilly Scholars at Purdue program staff
- Complete formal scholarship renewal and uphold academic standards per Purdue University and the Lilly Scholars agreement
Continuous Enrollment: Scholars must maintain continuous, full-time enrollment each semester (minimum of 12 or more credit hours), excluding summer and winter sessions.
Major Requirements: Scholars must remain in the disciplinary college or school to which they were originally admitted until the end of the third week of the fall semester.
GPA Requirement: Scholars must achieve a minimum GPA of 3.0. GPA is checked annually at the end of each spring semester.

Purdue University Global Scholars Program

Starting with the August term, Purdue Scholars are eligible to receive a $500 stipend per quarter when you register and attend classes, for up to a maximum of $1,500 in stipends per academic year. The Total Award Amount has been increased from $33,000 to $39,000. The stipend will be sent directly to Purdue University Global along with your scholarship award. Purdue will then process the stipend and send it to you. You will receive the funds either by check or direct deposit depending upon how your Heartland Account is set up.

Additional Summer Offerings

More than 850+ undergraduate courses, including 600+ online and 200+ on-campus options, will be offered in the summer. All undergraduate students pay a flat rate in summer when taking 6-9 credit hours.

Read also: Exploring Purdue Wrestling

Important Federal Loan Updates (Effective July 1, 2026)

Several significant changes to federal loan programs are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, due to the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). These changes will impact both current and future borrowers. The following information is tentative and pending final rules from the Department of Education, which are expected in early 2026.

Grad PLUS Loans

Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated for new borrowers.

Legacy Provision: If currently in a graduate program and have had an Unsubsidized or GRAD PLUS loan certified, borrowers may continue borrowing Grad PLUS loans at the current terms and limits. However, you may only borrow up to three additional years or until you complete your program, whichever comes first. This only applies to your current program. If you begin in a new program, you will not be eligible for the Grad PLUS loan.

Parent PLUS Loans

Parent PLUS loans will have new caps and rules for new borrowers.

Beginning July 1, 2026, parents will only be able to borrow a maximum of $20,000 per academic year, per student, and will have a lifetime limit of $65,500 per student.
Parent PLUS loans, along with other federal loans, will be prorated if the student is enrolled less than full time. Full time for undergraduate students is 12 credit hours or more.
Legacy Provision: Parents who borrowed a PLUS loan before July 1, 2026 or if a dependent student borrowed a federal subsidized or unsubsidized loan prior to July 1, 2026, will be grandfathered. Such students and their parents will be eligible to borrow under the current rules for three more academic years or until the student completes their program, whichever comes first.
For Parent PLUS legacy eligibility only, a student who changes majors within the same degree or certificate will be considered to be enrolled in the same program of study. The student must remain in their current program to remain grandfathered.

Aggregate Lifetime Limits

Aggregate lifetime limits will be adjusting beginning July 1, 2026.

Undergraduate loans will remain at their current limits. However, if you move on to a graduate degree or a professional degree at another school, you will now have separate aggregate limits for each program. The new limits are as follows:
- Undergraduate loans: $31,000 for dependent students; $57,500 for independent students
- Graduate degree loans: $100,000 (does not include undergraduate loans)
- Professional degree loans: $200,000 (includes other graduate loans)
- Lifetime caps on all federal loans: $257,500
If you are a current graduate student using unsubsidized loans, you will remain at the current aggregate lifetime limits ($138,500, including undergraduate loans) for an additional three years or until you complete your program, whichever comes first. However, if you change your major or withdraw (or otherwise cease attendance), any new loans will be held to the new lifetime limits. This means any prior loans will retroactively count towards the new limits.
- Example: If you are pursuing an Applied Physics MS and continue taking out unsubsidized loans until you complete your program, you will be held to the old rules. Let’s say you currently have $20,000 in undergraduate loans and $25,000 in graduate level loans. Your combined aggregate loans are $45,000. Under the old rules, you still have $93,500 before reaching the $138,500 lifetime limit.
- If you change your major to Secondary Education MSEd and take out an unsubsidized loan, you will be held to the new rules. Your lifetime limit will now be $100,000 for your graduate level loans, so you will now only have $75,000 before reaching your new graduate loan limit ($100,000 limit - 25,000 graduate loans already borrowed).
All federal loans (undergraduate, graduate and Parent PLUS loans) will be prorated if you are enrolled less than full time. Full time enrollment for undergraduate students is 12 or more credit hours. Full time for graduate students is 8 or more credit hours.
Loan amounts could be affected for Spring semester if a student withdraws from a class or classes during the Fall semester. Loan proration is based on 24 credit hours being completed in an academic year (Fall/Spring). If a student does not make up the hours in Spring to bring them to 24 credits being completed, the Spring loan amount will be prorated.

New Student Loan Repayment Plans (Effective July 1, 2028)

The income-contingent repayment plans (ICR, PAYE, SAVE) will be retired July 1, 2028. There will be 2 new repayment plans: the tiered Standard repayment plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).

Borrowers with any new loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 will only have the option of the tiered Standard and RAP.
Current borrowers with no new loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 can continue to enroll in and switch between the current 10-year Standard, Graduated, Extended, Income Contingent (ICR, PAYE, or REPAYE), and Income Based Repayment (IBR) plans until June 30, 2028. They can also remain in the 10-year Standard, Graduated, Extended, or IBR plan until their loans are paid in full.
However, if they are enrolled in ICR, PAYE, or SAVE as of June 30, 2028, they will need to switch to either the tiered Standard, RAP, or IBR plan. Borrowers who fail to make a selection will be automatically enrolled in the RAP.
Current borrowers in repayment can also opt in to the RAP at any point after July 1, 2026.

tags: #purdue #university #summer #scholarships #for #undergraduates