Skip to content

Bellarmine University · Kentucky

Bellarmine scholarships and merit aid

Bellarmine (KY, Catholic) gives all incoming first-years institutional gift aid (holistic Scarlet Scholarships up to competitive full-ride Scholar/Fellow awards), but its institutional scholarships are tuition-only and can be REDUCED by tuition-specific outside awards. (DRAFT)

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is Bellarmine worth a closer look?

Bellarmine is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 7 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

Merit tiers71 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards15%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Free Merit Check

See what Bellarmine's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at Bellarmine

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Amount not published…Amount not published (varies by application strength)

Scarlet Scholarships

Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
Strong academic profile (not a published cutoff)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Based on the admissions application; minimum credentials include a strong academic profile and extracurricular involvement; priority deadline February 1; no separate application

How to keep it

Must maintain full-time enrollment status; covers tuition during fall and spring semesters only.

Notes

Holistic, no published GPA/test grid (use the scholarship estimator). Tuition-only and fall/spring only. This is the base institutional merit award for most admitted first-years.

Source

Full ride…Full ride (full tuition, fees, room & board) + study abroad stipend

Bellarmine Scholar Award

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Complete admission application + Honors Program scholarship application by December 1; selected via the Feb 6-7, 2026 competition (faculty interview, writing sample, mock class)

How to keep it

Four-year award; enrollment in the Honors Program.

Notes

Bellarmine's most prestigious award — a four-year full-ride plus study abroad stipend and Honors Program enrollment. Competitive; separate application required.

Source

Full tuition…Full tuition (4 years) + study abroad stipend

Bellarmine Fellow Award

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Honors Program application by December 1; Feb 6-7, 2026 competition

How to keep it

Four-year award; enrollment in the Honors Program.

Notes

Four years of full tuition (not full COA) plus study abroad stipend and Honors Program enrollment. Competitive; separate application.

Source

$32,000

Kentucky Governor Scholarships (GSP / GSE / GSA)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Completed the Governor's Scholars Program (GSP), Governor's School for Entrepreneurs (GSE), or Governor's School for the Arts (GSA) — Kentucky programs; no separate application

How to keep it

Available for full-time fall/spring enrollment; renewable with a 2.5 cumulative GPA.

Notes

$32,000 award for Kentucky Governor's program completers; residency/program-gated. Automatic on indicated participation.

Source

Matches your state's flagship unive…Matches your state's flagship university direct cost

Public Price Promise

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
Minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Matches the current direct cost of your state's flagship university

How to keep it

Full-time fall/spring; students must live on campus each year for continued eligibility.

Notes

Bellarmine matches your state flagship's direct cost for qualifying 3.5+ GPA students; requires living on campus annually. Tuition-only/institutional treatment applies.

Source

100% of tuition and most fees…100% of tuition and most fees (incl. textbooks)

HOPE Kentucky Scholars

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Kentucky first-year or transfer students; last-dollar after Pell/KEES/CAP/KTG/FSEOG; Pell and KY state aid eligibility required

How to keep it

Renewable for eight semesters; stay enrolled full-time, file FAFSA each year by April 1, remain Pell-eligible and eligible for KY state aid (CAP and KTG).

Notes

Last-dollar program covering tuition + comprehensive fees + textbooks (course fees, matriculation fee, meal plans, and housing remain). Income/eligibility-gated (Pell + KY state aid).

Source

$1,500

Trustee Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Incoming first-year; complete an official campus visit AND file FAFSA before May 1

How to keep it

Renewable for 4 years of undergraduate enrollment.

Notes

$1,500/year visit-and-FAFSA award; reflected upon FAFSA receipt.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Bellarmine's published information.

  • Renewal ruleScarlet Scholarships: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Must maintain full-time enrollment status; covers tuition during fall and spring semesters only. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • Aid capHard $60,840 cost-of-attendance ceiling

    Institutional aid at Bellarmine cannot push the package past $60,840. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What families often miss

  1. Bellarmine states its scholarships 'may be reduced if you receive tuition-specific awards from outside sources' — an outside tuition scholarship can displace, not stack with, your Bellarmine institutional aid.

  2. Institutional scholarships and grants may be used to pay Bellarmine TUITION ONLY (unless otherwise specified) and only for fall and spring semesters — they won't cover housing, food, or most fees.

  3. The Fellow Award is four years of full TUITION plus a study abroad stipend; only the Bellarmine Scholar Award is a full ride (tuition, fees, room & board).

  4. Scholar/Fellow consideration requires the Honors Program application by December 1; later applications are still considered for the program but NOT for the scholarship (unless the deadline is officially extended).

  5. The Governor ($32,000) and Alumni Legacy awards require a 2.5 cumulative GPA, and the Public Price Promise requires a 3.5 entering GPA plus living on campus every year — falling short can cut the award.

  6. HOPE Kentucky Scholars covers tuition+fees+textbooks but is a last-dollar award requiring continued Pell eligibility, KY state aid (CAP/KTG) eligibility, full-time enrollment, and a FAFSA filed by April 1 each year.

  7. The $1,500 Trustee Scholarship requires an official campus visit AND filing the FAFSA before May 1; without both it won't appear in your award.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Every admitted first-year gets institutional aid via the holistic Scarlet Scholarship; top students compete for the full-ride Bellarmine Scholar or full-tuition Fellow award, and Kentucky students can layer Governor ($32,000) or HOPE Kentucky (full tuition+fees) funding. (DRAFT)

Published yearly cost: Approximately $60,840 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Bellarmine, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Bellarmine, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$18,430
$30,001–$48,000$19,358
$48,001–$75,000$17,391
$75,001–$110,000$21,987
$110,001+$29,194
All income levels (average)$21,499

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$48,770
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$21,499

That works out to roughly a 65% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $61,691 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
64%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
75%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,000 (~$265/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$62,069
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
48%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
50%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships only trigger an aid adjustment if total aid would exceed the cost of attendance (or the student's aid eligibility cap); below that ceiling, awards are not displaced.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Will scholarships from agencies other than Bellarmine affect my aid offer? This depends on the amount of the outside scholarships and on whether we have been able to meet your need with other aid. Please notify us when you find out you have received an outside scholarship, and we will notify you of any changes to your existing aid by sending you a revised aid offer. Outside scholarships do not replace the Student Aid Index. Instead, they must be counted as financial aid and deducted from the amount of aid eligibility. Bellarmine encourages students to pursue scholarships from other agencies.

Source

More school data

From the Bellarmine Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated figures):

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Bellarmine’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
15%of admitsget merit
Average award$34,167Covers ~56% of $60,840 cost of attendance

At Bellarmine, roughly 1 in 7 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $34,167 — about 56% of total cost.

As filed in Bellarmine's CDS Section H2A: of 658 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 96 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $34,167. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 471 of 2,211, averaging $6,964. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

The 2025-2026 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.

Receive institutional merit15%First-year students, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Average merit award$34,167Across recipients, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)

Source: Common Data Set 2025-2026 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other Bellarmine scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

Amount$1,000/year ($4,000 total)EligibilityIncoming legacy students (self-identify; status confirmed)

Automatic; not retroactive. Recipients also invited to apply for the competitive Alumni Legacy Scholarship.

Source

AmountMinimum $4,000 ($1,000/year)EligibilityEntering first-year legacy (child/grandchild/stepchild of a Bellarmine or Ursuline graduate); based on application + financial need; Feb 1 deadline; 2.5 GPA + full-time

Competitive; 2.5 GPA renewal.

Source

AmountFull Bellarmine tuition (with Pell/SEOG/CAP/KTG/KEES; excludes room/board/fees)EligibilitySubmit application by Jan 15 priority deadline; max 8 semesters; minimum 2.0 GPA

Last-dollar tuition coverage combining fed/state aid.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityStudents from eight named Louisville-area high schools; priority deadline Jan 15; max 8 semesters

Pathway program.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityFirst-year students who graduated from a Catholic high school with a 3.0+ GPA

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityTalent/major/team-based (portfolio, audition, or coach evaluation)

Co-curricular awards.

Source

Bellarmine merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    Scarlet and Alumni Legacy priority: February 1. Bellarmine Scholars/Fellows (Honors): December 1. Century Scholars and Whitney M. Young: January 15. Trustee: campus visit + FAFSA before May 1.

  • Can outside scholarships reduce my Bellarmine aid?

    Yes. Bellarmine scholarships may be reduced if you receive tuition-specific awards from outside sources, and institutional scholarships are tuition-only (fall/spring).

  • What's the difference between the Scholar and Fellow awards?

    The Bellarmine Scholar Award is a four-year full ride (tuition, fees, room & board) plus a study abroad stipend; the Bellarmine Fellow Award is four years of full tuition plus a study abroad stipend. Both require the Honors application by December 1 and the Feb 6-7, 2026 competition.

  • What is the cost of attendance?

    For 2025-26, tuition and fees are $50,490, with first-year housing $5,050 and food $5,300 (plus a one-time $400 matriculation fee). Direct tuition+fees+housing+food totals $60,840; full COA with indirect costs is in the linked direct-cost worksheet / COA rationale PDFs.

See sources and other schools

How Bellarmine compares

  • 235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    Bellarmine is in a recognizable cluster (235 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Bellarmine is one of them. The cohort minority (84 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 claim is checked against Bellarmine’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Bellarmine merit aid