Are Belhaven's academic scholarships automatic?

Yes. The President's, Dean's, Achievement and Advantage awards are determined from your high school GPA and ACT/SAT scores when you're admitted — there is no separate scholarship application, and FAFSA is encouraged but not required for them.

How much can I get and what do I need?

$17,000-$17,500/yr with a 3.5 GPA and 26 ACT (President's); $15,000-$17,000/yr with 2.75 GPA and 20+ ACT (Dean's); $14,000-$15,500/yr with 2.75 GPA and 18-19 ACT (Achievement); or $14,000-$15,500/yr test-optional with a 2.75 GPA (Advantage). $5,000 of each is applied toward campus housing.

How long do the awards last?

The academic scholarships are renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) as long as you stay full-time and maintain satisfactory academic progress. The Visit Scholarship ($1,000) and Legacy Scholarship ($500) are one-time/first-year awards.

Belhaven· Renewal Rules

Keeping Belhaven’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year: minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified Jun 20268 days ago· CC

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 8 of 10
One-time tiers: 2
Tiers with published renewal terms: 8
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Belhaven'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.

President's Scholarship for First-Year Students: Full-time enrollment
Dean's Scholarship for First-Year Students: Full-time enrollment
Achievement Grant for First-Year Students: Full-time enrollment
Advantage Scholarship for First-Year Students: Full-time enrollment
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship for Transfer Students: Full-time enrollment
Transfer Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
Distinguished Arts Scholarship: See notes
Presbyterian Scholarship Program (PSP): Full-time enrollment

Renewal terms by tier

President's Scholarship for First-Year Students
$17,000-$17,500 per year
Entry requirements: 3.5 or above (high school cumulative) GPA · 26 or above ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Dean's Scholarship for First-Year Students
$15,000-$17,000 per year
Entry requirements: 2.75 or above (high school cumulative) GPA · 20+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Achievement Grant for First-Year Students
$14,000-$15,500 per year
Entry requirements: 2.75 or above (high school cumulative) GPA · 18-19 ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Advantage Scholarship for First-Year Students
$14,000-$15,500 per year
Entry requirements: 2.75 or above (high school cumulative) GPA
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship for Transfer Students
$17,500 per year
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Transfer Scholarship
$14,000-$16,500 per year
Entry requirements: 2.0 or greater (transfer institution GPA) GPA
To keep it: Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Distinguished Arts Scholarship
$1,000-$2,500 per year (Round 1 $1,500-$2,500; Round 2 $1,000-$2,000)
To keep it: Renewal terms not stated on the scholarships page.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html
Presbyterian Scholarship Program (PSP)
$1,000 per year ($4,000 over four years)
To keep it: Added each year; $4,000 over four years. Requires the student remain a traditional full-time student and the church continue its annual donation.
Source: https://www.belhaven.edu/admission/undergrad/aid/scholarships.html

How families lose this aid

Assuming the $14,000-$17,500 academic awards stack on each other.
President's, Dean's, Achievement and Advantage are four tiers of the SAME automatic academic scholarship — your GPA and ACT place you in exactly one of them. You do not collect multiple academic tiers; the higher your stats, the higher the single tier.

Renewal questions families ask

Are Belhaven's academic scholarships automatic?: Yes. The President's, Dean's, Achievement and Advantage awards are determined from your high school GPA and ACT/SAT scores when you're admitted — there is no separate scholarship application, and FAFSA is encouraged but not required for them.
How much can I get and what do I need?: $17,000-$17,500/yr with a 3.5 GPA and 26 ACT (President's); $15,000-$17,000/yr with 2.75 GPA and 20+ ACT (Dean's); $14,000-$15,500/yr with 2.75 GPA and 18-19 ACT (Achievement); or $14,000-$15,500/yr test-optional with a 2.75 GPA (Advantage). $5,000 of each is applied toward campus housing.
How long do the awards last?: The academic scholarships are renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) as long as you stay full-time and maintain satisfactory academic progress. The Visit Scholarship ($1,000) and Legacy Scholarship ($500) are one-time/first-year awards.

Rules that bite at Belhaven

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

renewalPresident's Scholarship for First-Year Students: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable up to 5 years (or 10 semesters) if the student is full-time and maintains satisfactory academic progress. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Belhaven compares across our verified dataset

669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Belhaven 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.

Sources used on this page

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

policyBelhaven stacking policy
coaBelhaven cost-of-attendance worksheet
scholarshipBelhaven Advantage — Double Major 5th Year Free Promise