Get merit aid38%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
Last verifiedJul 2026Analyst CC
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The merit-aid verdict at Bentley
Bentley awards automatic academic merit scholarships ranging from $10,000 to full tuition to every first-year applicant with no separate application; the exact amount and renewal GPA are set at admission and stated in the award letter.
Rules that bite at Bentley
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Bentley's own published policy, not generic advice.
renewalBentley Academic (Merit) Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewed each year provided the student earns the cumulative GPA specified on the admission/award letter and remains enrolled full time (12 credits per semester). Available for a maximum of eight semesters. The specific renewal GPA is not published; it is stated only on the individual award letter. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Bentley
Bentley considers every first-year applicant automatically with no separate application, and the exact award amount and renewal GPA are NOT published — they are set at admission and stated only on your individual award letter. The only public figure is the range, '$10,000 to full tuition.'
The PTK scholarship is a TRANSFER award for active Phi Theta Kappa members; it is renewable for six semesters at a 3.0 GPA, not the eight semesters that apply to first-year merit awards.
BentleyFirst is restricted to first-generation Massachusetts residents with combined parent income of $135,000 or less who live on campus; it is a tuition-gap match (Bentley minus UMass Isenberg tuition), not a merit scholarship, and is partly need-conditioned.
The 2026-2027 total cost of attendance is $91,390 (tuition & fees $65,860 + housing & food $22,010 + books $1,200 + personal $1,550 + new-student fee $250 + activity fee $520). International students add a $2,650 health insurance fee for a $94,270 total; the health insurance fee is separate from the $91,390 figure for domestic students unless waived.
An outside scholarship first replaces your Work-Study and Subsidized Direct Loan ('self-help') before touching Bentley Grant funds — so in most cases it reduces your loans rather than lowering your out-of-pocket cost beyond your self-help.
Who this school is for
Strong business-focused applicants who want an automatic, admission-time academic scholarship at a private business university; first-generation Massachusetts residents (BentleyFirst) and selected incoming women (Women's Leadership Program) can layer additional named awards.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $91,390 for 2026-2027. Source
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Bentley, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Bentley, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$21,196
$30,001–$48,000
$18,587
$48,001–$75,000
$26,164
$75,001–$110,000
$33,653
$110,001+
$49,190
All income levels (average)
$37,930
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$61,000
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$37,930
That works out to roughly a 52% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $79,548 (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
87%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
93%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,023 (~$265/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$120,959
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
18%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
44%
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
$10,000 to full tuition per year
Bentley Academic (Merit) Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
First Year (fall semester) applicants for admission; all applicants are considered automatically based on academic achievement with no separate application. Awarded only at time of admission; not available to currently matriculated students.
Renewal terms
Renewed each year provided the student earns the cumulative GPA specified on the admission/award letter and remains enrolled full time (12 credits per semester). Available for a maximum of eight semesters. The specific renewal GPA is not published; it is stated only on the individual award letter.
Notes
Amount is determined at admission and communicated in the admission letter. The published range is the only dollar figure Bentley states; individual award size and renewal GPA are not published and vary by applicant. Merit scholarships are only available during fall and spring semesters in which the student is enrolled.
$10,000 per year…$10,000 per year (totaling $40,000 over four years)
Center for Women and Business — Women's Leadership Award (CWB Leaders)
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Open to first-year applicants only; selective four-year co-curricular program for undergraduate women. Selection based on leadership experience and potential demonstrated in the Bentley application, recommendation letters, extracurriculars and/or job positions. Requires two supplemental questions on the Common or Coalition Application.
Renewal terms
Award is $10,000 per year applied toward tuition, totaling $40,000 during the four-year undergraduate experience. Specific renewal GPA not stated on the program page.
Notes
Requires a separate supplemental application (two supplemental questions). NOT available to currently matriculated or transfer students. Supplemental responses are due ED1 Nov 15; ED2 and Regular Decision Jan 15.
TRANSFER applicants who submit their application and supporting materials by the application deadline and who are active members of PTK. Guaranteed if admitted.
Renewal terms
Renewable for a total of six semesters provided recipients maintain a 3.0 GPA and attend Bentley full-time.
Notes
Transfer-only, guaranteed for active PTK members admitted to Bentley. Eligible to be combined with other merit scholarships through the Office of Undergraduate Admission.
Up to $20,000…Up to $20,000, spread equally over 4 years
SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Requires membership/enrollment in the SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards program; the discount equals accumulated Tuition Rewards Points up to the $20,000 maximum.
Renewal terms
A discount of up to $20,000 spread equally over four years of full-time undergraduate education; each Tuition Rewards Point equals one dollar of guaranteed minimum scholarship (discount).
Notes
This is a tuition discount tied to externally accumulated SAGE Tuition Rewards Points, capped at $20,000. The actual amount depends on points accumulated, not a flat award.
Be a Massachusetts resident graduating (or graduated) from a Massachusetts high school; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident; apply as a first-generation college student; submit a complete financial aid application by the published deadline; combined parent income of $135,000 or less for 2024; plan to live on campus.
Renewal terms
Students must continuously live in on-campus housing and reapply for aid annually (FAFSA plus supporting tax documents). Combined parent income may exceed the $135,000 threshold by up to 20% without losing eligibility. Academic scholarships are added to the BentleyFirst award.
Notes
No separate application — eligible students who complete admission and financial aid applications on time qualify. The $43,600 figure is the published Bentley–UMass Isenberg 2025-26 tuition difference for fall 2026 entrants; it is tuition-gap based, not a fixed merit award, and partly need-conditioned (income cap).
Bentley protects grant aid against outside scholarships: an outside resource first replaces Work-Study and the Subsidized Direct Loan (the 'self-help' portion) before reducing Bentley Grant funds — a loan/self-help-first displacement order. Bentley's own PTK transfer awards are explicitly 'eligible to be combined with other merit scholarships,' and BentleyFirst states academic scholarships are added on top of the BentleyFirst award.
Per the financial-aid FAQ, outside resources replace Work-Study then Subsidized Direct Loan (in that order) before any Bentley Grant reduction, so most students keep their full grant award and only their self-help is reduced. Internally, named/merit awards combine: PTK awards are stated to be combinable with other merit scholarships, and BentleyFirst awards are stacked with academic scholarships.
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Bentley’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
38%of admitsget merit
Average award$21,176Covers ~23% of $91,390 cost of attendance
At Bentley, roughly 1 in 3 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $21,176 — about 23% of total cost.
As filed in Bentley's CDS Section H2A: of 1,120 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 429 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $21,176. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,491 of 4,242, averaging $19,980. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.
AmountUp to $20,000 over 4 yearsEligibilityMembers of the SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards program; discount equals accumulated Tuition Rewards Points up to the cap.
Externally-earned tuition-discount program honored by Bentley; not a flat award.
Amount$43,600 (fall 2026 Bentley–UMass tuition gap)EligibilityFirst-generation Massachusetts residents, income $135,000 or less, living on campus, U.S. citizen/permanent resident.
Tuition-gap match with an income cap (partly need-conditioned); stacks with academic scholarships; no separate application.
Do I have to apply separately for a Bentley academic scholarship?
No. All first-year (fall) applicants are considered automatically based on academic achievement; there is no separate application, and you are notified of eligibility at the time of admission. The Women's Leadership Award is the exception — it requires two supplemental application questions.
What GPA do I need to renew my merit scholarship?
Bentley does not publish a single renewal GPA. You must earn the cumulative GPA stated on the award letter you receive from the Office of Undergraduate Admission, remain enrolled full time (12 credits/semester), and you can hold the scholarship for a maximum of eight semesters.
Do outside scholarships reduce my Bentley aid?
An outside resource first replaces your Work-Study and Subsidized Direct Loan (in that order) before reducing Bentley Grant funds, so in most cases you keep your full grant award and only your 'self-help' is reduced.
Can scholarships be combined?
Bentley's PTK transfer awards are stated to be 'eligible to be combined with other merit scholarships,' and BentleyFirst awards are stacked with academic scholarships. A general institutional rule on combining every named award was not published; confirm specifics with the aid office.
How Bentley compares across our verified dataset
147 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
Bentley is in a recognizable cluster (147 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Bentley 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 claim is checked against Bentley’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
