Students are encouraged to apply early for scholarships at DCAD as well as to many outside scholarships to decrease the amount of loan monies needed to fill financial gaps after federal, state and institutional aid options have been exhausted. Students are encouraged to review the DCAD Financial Aid Office’s “Scholarship Leads,” contact local businesses, employers and civic organizations about the availability of private scholarships. In addition, DCAD has the following scholarships available:

DCAD Merit-Based Scholarships
Scholarships are awarded based on an applicants’ academic and artistic skill at the time of acceptance to the college. The maximum Merit Scholarship given is $8,000.
 
Merit scholarships are renewable for the second year for students who maintain full-time status and satisfactory academic standing. The deadline to be considered for a merit scholarship is March 15 for the fall semester and December 1 for the spring semester.

DCAD Art Award Scholarship
Offered to Delaware high school seniors who intend to enroll at the Delaware College of Art and Design, this award offers one $5,000 tuition scholarship, distributed as $2,500 per semester, renewable for the second year of study at DCAD. Eligible students include Delaware residents enrolled as a high school senior or home-school equivalent with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA or greater on a 4.0 scale. The deadline to apply for the DCAD Art Award Scholarship is April 1. Interested applicants may request a scholarship application from the DCAD Admissions Office or from their high school art teacher. Download more information (PDF).

James P. Lecky Presidential Scholarship
The James P. Lecky Presidential Scholarship is awarded to an accepted full-time student who demonstrates outstanding academic and artistic ability and financial need. The scholarship is automatically renewed for a second year of full-time enrollment as long as the student maintains a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7 and demonstrates continued financial need.

High School Art Exhibition Scholarship
Each spring, the DCAD Admissions Office hosts an annual exhibition of juried high school student art work selected by each students’ art teachers. Successful scholarship recipients receive a partial DCAD tuition scholarship or are selected to receive the DCAD Art Kit ($650 value).