Research · Scholarships · October 2026
Scholarships in Virginia: the 4 state programs and what each asks for
As of October 2026: Virginia has 4 state scholarship programs for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table says what each one pays, who qualifies, and when it closes, in the state's own words.
The table holds every state-funded award we could confirm for a Virginia high school graduate going to college. It does not hold federal aid, or a scholarship that comes from one college rather than from the state.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
Virginia runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores. Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (VTAG) is one of them. 0 of the 2 programs we could read name a GPA, and 0 name a test score. A need-based award asks about family income instead, through the FAFSA.
The state's own pages are the only place these rules live. Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.
What this table does not tell you. 2 of the 4 programs come back blank: Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP), Virginia Commonwealth Award. The state's own site would not let us read the page, so we print no figure rather than a guess.
Every state scholarship in Virginia
Read the row, then open the state's own page before you count on a figure.
| Program | Merit or need | What it pays | GPA it asks for | Test score it asks for | Who qualifies | Deadline | Renewable | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP) | Merit and need | — | — | — | — | — | — | Source |
| Virginia Commonwealth Award | Need-based | — | — | — | — | — | — | Source |
| Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) | State award | Last-dollar award covering remaining tuition and fees after federal and state aid is applied; full-time Pell grant recipients are eligible for an additional $2,250 | — | — | Virginia resident; complete the FAFSA or VASA application; enroll at least half-time (6 credit hours) in a degree program at one of Virginia's public two-year colleges in a high-demand field (education, healthcare, hospitality/culinary arts, information technology, public safety, or skilled trades/manufacturing/construction) | — | — | Source |
| Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (VTAG) | Merit and need | Maximum 2026-27 undergraduate award of $5,250 | — | — | Virginia resident; full-time enrollment at a participating Virginia private nonprofit institution; submit the completed TAG application to the institution | — | — | Source |
Every row is a state-funded or state-administered award for a Virginia high school graduate going to an undergraduate program, as of October 2026. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out. A blank cell means the state's own page does not state it. Dollar figures and GPA floors change every year.
How to read a state scholarship
State awards come in two shapes. A merit award asks about grades, a course list, or a test score, and it does not care what a family earns. A need-based award asks about income and assets through the FAFSA, and it does not care about grades. Some awards ask about both, and the table calls those merit and need.
The deadline column is the one families miss. For most need-based state aid the deadline is really the FAFSA deadline, and it falls months before a college asks for a decision. A merit award more often has no application at all: the state or the high school nominates the student from records it already holds.
What a family should do with this
Open the official page in the last column for the one or two programs your student plausibly qualifies for, and write down two dates: the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline. Those are the two that close. The Virginia pages on this table post no date, so file the FAFSA as early as you can and check the program page again in the spring.
Then look past the state. A state award is usually the smaller half of an offer. The college's own merit grid and its net price for your family income move more money than any state program on this page, and both are published.
Questions parents ask
What scholarships does Virginia offer?
Virginia has 4 state scholarship programs for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table says what each one pays, who qualifies, and when it closes, in the state's own words.
Does Virginia have a merit scholarship?
Virginia runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores, and Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (VTAG) is one of them.
How do I find the rules for a Virginia scholarship?
Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.
Method & sources: Programs come from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the agency's own program pages, read in October 2026. The population is a student who graduates from a Virginia high school and enrolls as an undergraduate. A scholarship offered by one college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all out of scope. A value the agency's own page does not state is left blank rather than filled from elsewhere, and a page that could not be read drops every figure.
- State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)
- Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP)
- Virginia Commonwealth Award
- Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3)
- Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program (VTAG)
This brief as data: /research/scholarships-in-virginia.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Merit scholarships by college · State scholarships in every state · High schools in Virginia · Scholarship deadlines