What GPA do I need to renew a Spirit of Auburn or Academic tier?

A 3.0 cumulative Auburn GPA and 24 earned Auburn credit hours per academic year. Falling below either condition triggers a renewal review.

Auburn award rules

Will the scholarship last four years at Auburn?

We pulled the school’s grade, credit, and time limits into one place so you can see what it takes to keep the award.

Verified Jul 20261 month ago· PT

The short answer

10 of 10 published awards are listed as renewable.

The exact rule can change by award. Check the award your student may receive before you count on the same amount every year.

What to do

Find the award name in the full research below. Save its grade, credit, and deadline rules with your college plan.

See every award rule, common mistake, and source

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 10 of 10
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 10
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Auburn's renewal bar is achievable for steady students but isn't generous. Most awards require a cumulative GPA in the 3.0–3.4 band plus full-time enrollment. Audit the strictest tier on this school's list before assuming the four-year value is locked in.

Spirit of Auburn Presidential Excellence Award: See notes
Spirit of Auburn Presidential Scholarship: See notes
Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship: See notes
Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship: See notes
Academic Presidential Scholarship (non-resident top tier): See notes
Academic Presidential Scholarship (non-resident 33-34 ACT band): See notes
Academic Heritage Scholarship: See notes
Academic Charter Scholarship: See notes
National Scholars Presidential Scholarship (Alabama residents): See notes
National Merit Finalist Stipend: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Spirit of Auburn Presidential Excellence Award
Full tuition and fees (approximately $13,572/year for 2026-2027)
Entry requirements: 4.0 GPA · 1530–1600 SAT · 35–36 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Spirit of Auburn Presidential Scholarship
$11,000/year ($44,000 over 4 years)
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1450–1600 SAT · 33–36 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship
$9,000/year ($36,000 over 4 years)
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1360–1440 SAT · 30–32 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship
$5,000/year ($20,000 over 4 years)
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1300–1350 SAT · 28–29 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Academic Presidential Scholarship (non-resident top tier)
$17,000/year ($68,000 over 4 years)
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1530–1600 SAT · 35–36 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Academic Presidential Scholarship (non-resident 33-34 ACT band)
$15,000/year ($60,000 over 4 years)
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1450–1520 SAT · 33–34 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Academic Heritage Scholarship
$11,000/year
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1390–1440 SAT · 31–32 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
Academic Charter Scholarship
$7,000/year
Entry requirements: 3.5+ GPA · 1330–1380 SAT · 29–30 ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a minimum cumulative, unadjusted 3.0 Auburn GPA and 24 Auburn credit hours earned per academic year
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/apply/first-year-students.php
National Scholars Presidential Scholarship (Alabama residents)
Approximately $46,000 over 4 years; coverage breakdown (tuition vs housing vs stipend) is not currently published on Auburn's site
To keep it: Renewable for 4 years. Replaces any previously awarded Spirit of Auburn tier.
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/scholarship/
National Merit Finalist Stipend
$4,000 over 4 years ($1,000/year)
To keep it: 4 years
Source: https://www.auburn.edu/administration/finaid/scholarship/

How families lose this aid

Not listing Auburn as first choice with NMSC by May 1 for National Merit Finalists.
The National Scholars Presidential Scholarship (Alabama residents, roughly $46,000 over 4 years) is contingent on naming Auburn first choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation by the May 1 deadline. Admission to Auburn alone does not trigger the package; the NMSC step is separate and families regularly forget it, forfeiting the largest resident merit award Auburn offers.
Going test-optional and assuming merit is still intact.
Auburn evaluates the automatic tier ladder on GPA and test score together. Test-optional applicants can be admitted but typically will not receive the full automatic merit award a test score would have triggered. For a strong-stats student, submitting scores is a one-way ratchet; it can only help merit consideration.

Renewal questions families ask

What GPA do I need to renew a Spirit of Auburn or Academic tier?: A 3.0 cumulative Auburn GPA and 24 earned Auburn credit hours per academic year. Falling below either condition triggers a renewal review.

Rules that bite at Auburn

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook, derived from Auburn's own tier rules and not generic advice.

cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$4,000/yr ($9,000 Founders − $5,000 University)
Auburn publishes a tier ladder where crossing In-state 3.5 GPA · 28-29 → 30-32 ACT changes the marginal value by +$4,000/yr ($9,000 Founders − $5,000 University). Largest single step on the Alabama-resident ladder; a near-doubling of the entry award.

How Auburn compares across our verified dataset

667 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Auburn is one of them. The cohort minority (82 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.
Auburn is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.
132 of 749 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Auburn is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Auburn’s own published materials.