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.

Bellarmine· Renewal Rules

Keeping Bellarmine’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 2026today· COWORK

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 7 of 7
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 7
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Bellarmine'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.

Scarlet Scholarships: Full-time enrollment
Bellarmine Scholar Award: See notes
Bellarmine Fellow Award: See notes
Kentucky Governor Scholarships (GSP / GSE / GSA): 2.5 GPA
Public Price Promise: Full-time enrollment
HOPE Kentucky Scholars: Full-time enrollment
Trustee Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Scarlet Scholarships
Amount not published (varies by application strength)
Entry requirements: Strong academic profile (not a published cutoff) GPA
To keep it: Must maintain full-time enrollment status; covers tuition during fall and spring semesters only.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-funding/institutional.php
Bellarmine Scholar Award
Full ride (full tuition, fees, room & board) + study abroad stipend
To keep it: Four-year award; enrollment in the Honors Program.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/academics/honors/honors-scholarships.php
Bellarmine Fellow Award
Full tuition (4 years) + study abroad stipend
To keep it: Four-year award; enrollment in the Honors Program.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/academics/honors/honors-scholarships.php
Kentucky Governor Scholarships (GSP / GSE / GSA)
$32,000
To keep it: Available for full-time fall/spring enrollment; renewable with a 2.5 cumulative GPA.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-funding/institutional.php
Public Price Promise
Matches your state's flagship university direct cost
Entry requirements: Minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA GPA
To keep it: Full-time fall/spring; students must live on campus each year for continued eligibility.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-funding/institutional.php
HOPE Kentucky Scholars
100% of tuition and most fees (incl. textbooks)
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).
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-funding/institutional.php
Trustee Scholarship
$1,500
To keep it: Renewable for 4 years of undergraduate enrollment.
Source: https://www.bellarmine.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-funding/institutional.php

How families lose this aid

Expecting institutional scholarships to pay room, board, or fees
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.
Treating the Bellarmine Fellow Award as a full ride
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).
Letting a renewal GPA slip on a conditioned award
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.
Kentucky students overlooking HOPE Kentucky's eligibility gates
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.

Renewal questions families ask

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.

Rules that bite at Bellarmine

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

renewalScarlet 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.

How Bellarmine compares across our verified dataset

247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Bellarmine is one of them. The cohort minority (25 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 Bellarmine’s own published materials.