Is the freshman academic scholarship automatic?

Yes. Biola's Freshman Academic Scholarship is an automatic merit award upon acceptance with no separate application, placing students in one of five tiers from $14,500 (Founder's Grant) up to $24,500 (President's) per year. Update your GPA/test scores by May 1 for best placement.

What does the Trustee Scholarship cover and how do I get it?

It covers full tuition for the normal length of your program and is awarded to 10 first-time full-time incoming undergraduates. It requires a separate application (deadline January 15, 2026), a minimum 3.8 unweighted GPA, and SAT 1500 / ACT 34 / CLT 110. Note it replaces your academic scholarship rather than stacking on it.

Can I keep my scholarship every year?

Yes — the academic scholarship is renewable annually as long as you maintain the minimum GPA and meet eligibility in Biola's Academic Scholarship Renewal Policy. The exact renewal GPA should be confirmed with the Office of Financial Aid (it was not available verbatim on the public pages we reviewed).

Biola· Renewal Rules

Keeping Biola’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: 7 of 7
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 7
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

Biola's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

Freshman Academic Scholarship (President's tier): See notes
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Provost's tier): See notes
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Dean's tier): See notes
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Eagle's tier): See notes
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Founder's Grant tier): See notes
Trustee Scholarship: See notes
Transfer Heritage Academic Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Freshman Academic Scholarship (President's tier)
$24,500 per year
Entry requirements: Calculated via Biola's GPA calculator; top tier GPA
To keep it: Page states the scholarship is 'renewable annually (when a minimum GPA is maintained).' The specific renewal GPA is governed by the Academic Scholarship Renewal Policy PDF, which did not parse; the exact minimum GPA number is not confirmed from an official page (see Section C).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Provost's tier)
$23,500 per year
Entry requirements: Calculated via Biola's GPA calculator GPA
To keep it: Renewable annually when a minimum GPA is maintained (specific GPA not confirmed from an official page).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Dean's tier)
$22,500 per year
Entry requirements: Calculated via Biola's GPA calculator GPA
To keep it: Renewable annually when a minimum GPA is maintained (specific GPA not confirmed from an official page).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Eagle's tier)
$19,500 per year
Entry requirements: Calculated via Biola's GPA calculator GPA
To keep it: Renewable annually when a minimum GPA is maintained (specific GPA not confirmed from an official page).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships
Freshman Academic Scholarship (Founder's Grant tier)
$14,500 per year
Entry requirements: Calculated via Biola's GPA calculator; entry tier GPA
To keep it: Renewable annually when a minimum GPA is maintained (specific GPA not confirmed from an official page).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships
Trustee Scholarship
Full Tuition Coverage
Entry requirements: 3.8 cumulative unweighted on a 4.0 scale (minimum) GPA · 1500+ SAT · 34+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable for the normal length of the academic program. A specific renewal GPA was not present in the official Trustee page content fetched (see Section C).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/trustee-scholarship
Transfer Heritage Academic Scholarship
$14,000-$23,500 per year
Entry requirements: College GPA grid: 4.00+ = $23,500 (William Blackstone); 3.75-3.99 = $22,500 (Anna Horton); 3.50-3.74 = $21,500 (Lyman Stewart); 3.00-3.49 = $18,500 (6th & Hope); 2.99 and below = $14,000 (Margaret Hart Transfer Grant) GPA
To keep it: Renewable annually when a minimum GPA is maintained (specific GPA not confirmed from an official page).
Source: https://www.biola.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-aid/undergrad/biola-scholarships

How families lose this aid

Missing the May 1 date to update your GPA and test scores.
Updated GPA and SAT/ACT scores are due by May 1; an improved transcript or score submitted by then can move you into a higher academic tier.
Confusing freshman tiers with transfer tiers.
Transfers are placed on the separate Transfer Heritage grid ($14,000-$23,500) based on college GPA and need 15+ transferred credits; the five named freshman tiers (President's through Founder's Grant) do not apply to them.

Renewal questions families ask

Is the freshman academic scholarship automatic?: Yes. Biola's Freshman Academic Scholarship is an automatic merit award upon acceptance with no separate application, placing students in one of five tiers from $14,500 (Founder's Grant) up to $24,500 (President's) per year. Update your GPA/test scores by May 1 for best placement.
What does the Trustee Scholarship cover and how do I get it?: It covers full tuition for the normal length of your program and is awarded to 10 first-time full-time incoming undergraduates. It requires a separate application (deadline January 15, 2026), a minimum 3.8 unweighted GPA, and SAT 1500 / ACT 34 / CLT 110. Note it replaces your academic scholarship rather than stacking on it.
Can I keep my scholarship every year?: Yes — the academic scholarship is renewable annually as long as you maintain the minimum GPA and meet eligibility in Biola's Academic Scholarship Renewal Policy. The exact renewal GPA should be confirmed with the Office of Financial Aid (it was not available verbatim on the public pages we reviewed).

How Biola compares across our verified dataset

669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Biola 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 Biola’s own published materials.