Students entering the honors college at Old Dominion receive consideration for the programs scholarships. Students have the option of renewing the scholarship for three years; however, they must remain enrolled in the honors college and maintain the academic requirements, including earning a minimum of a 3.25 grade point average by their second year and beyond. The award amount reflects the financial need of the student. The honors college seriously considers incoming freshmen who graduated from high school in the top 10 percent of their class and earned a minimum grade point average of 3.5. The program notes that most of its enrolled students scored at least a 1200 on their SAT tests
More than 100 scholarships for both graduate and undergraduate students offered through the university come from funds donated by corporations, organizations, and individuals. These scholarships base their requirements on a variety of criteria, such as intended major, financial need, city of residence, and outside activities. The university states in its "Scholarship Guide" that students must graduate high school or maintain a 3.4 grade point average to be seriously considered for any of these scholarships. Among the many choices available to students are the Joseph M. Marchello Dominion Scholars Endowment, specfically for incoming freshmen and the Claire Cucchiari-Loring Memorial Scholarship, which is open to undergraduate voice or music majors. The awarded amount varies depending on the financial need of the student, but many scholarships offer full-paid tuition.
All incoming students, whether transfer or freshmen, automatically have the opportunity to earn admissions scholarships. These merit-based awards do not take a student's financial need into account. For incoming freshmen to receive serious consideration, they must graduate with at least a 3.4 grade point average and score at least 26 on the ACT exam or at least a 1200 on the SAT exam. The school expects incoming transfer students to have completed an associates degree with a grade point average of at least 3.5 to be seriously considered.