How long does my merit scholarship last?

Aid is automatically renewed up to 4 years/8 semesters if you meet all eligibility requirements: 12+ on-campus credits per semester and BJU's Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.

How much does BJU cost?

The tuition page retrieved during this extraction displayed a '2024-25' header ($11,140/semester tuition, $5,190/semester room & board, ~$1,000/semester typical program fee) even though the site links to it as 'Tuition/Room & Board 2026-27' — current-year figures could not be confirmed; verify with admissions.

BJU· Renewal Rules

Keeping BJU’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 20264 days ago· COWORK

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 4 of 4
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 4
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

BJU'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.

Academic Scholarship (BJU Merit Scholarships): See notes
SC Free Tuition Guarantee: See notes
BJU Fellows Scholarship: See notes
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship (SC state award, as listed by BJU): Full-time enrollment

Renewal terms by tier

Academic Scholarship (BJU Merit Scholarships)
$7,000-$14,000
Entry requirements: Unweighted 4-point HS GPA tiers: 4.0+ ($12,000), 3.9+ ($10,000), 3.6+ ($9,000), <3.6 ($7,000) GPA · 1390+ ($14,000); 1260+ ($12,000); 1160+ ($10,000); 1060+ ($9,000) SAT · 31+ ($14,000, regardless of GPA); 27+ ($12,000); 24+ ($10,000); 21+ ($9,000) ACT
To keep it: Aid is automatically renewed up to 4 years/8 semesters, if student meets all eligibility requirements (12+ credits per semester on campus; BJU Satisfactory Academic Progress; not online-only).
Source: https://www.bju.edu/admission/tuition-aid/grants-scholarships.php
SC Free Tuition Guarantee
$0 tuition and program fees (combined aid package)
To keep it: Requires FAFSA submission by August 1 EACH year; additional eligibility criteria apply (linked page not opened).
Source: https://www.bju.edu/admission/tuition-aid/grants-scholarships.php
BJU Fellows Scholarship
$0 tuition (combined aid package)
To keep it: Requires FAFSA by August 1 each year and continued Palmetto Fellows qualification. (A BJU news page referenced renewability up to eight semesters; the main page states the general 4-year/8-semester renewal rule.)
Source: https://www.bju.edu/admission/tuition-aid/grants-scholarships.php
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship (SC state award, as listed by BJU)
Up to $6,700 (freshman); up to $7,500 (sophomore+); up to $10,000 (math/science, sophomore+)
To keep it: Eligibility based on full-time enrollment in at least 12 degree-applicable credits; continuing eligibility requires BJU's SAP standards.
Source: https://www.bju.edu/admission/tuition-aid/grants-scholarships.php

How families lose this aid

Missing the June 15 test-score deadline and settling for the GPA-based tier.
Test scores 'must be submitted to BJU by June 15 to be eligible for the test-based award amounts.' A 3.5-GPA student with a 31 ACT is worth $14,000 with scores on file but only $7,000 without them — a $28,000 swing over four years.
Using a weighted GPA to predict your tier.
The grid is explicit: 'HS GPA is based on an unweighted 4-point scale.' A 4.3 weighted GPA may be a 3.7 unweighted — the $9,000 tier, not $12,000.
Dropping below 12 credits or going online-only.
'All undergraduate awards require enrollment in a minimum of 12 credits per semester of attendance on campus' (last semester excepted), and 'BJU aid does not apply to online only enrollment.' Renewal also requires meeting SAP, with an 8-semester cap.

Renewal questions families ask

How long does my merit scholarship last?: Aid is automatically renewed up to 4 years/8 semesters if you meet all eligibility requirements: 12+ on-campus credits per semester and BJU's Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.
How much does BJU cost?: The tuition page retrieved during this extraction displayed a '2024-25' header ($11,140/semester tuition, $5,190/semester room & board, ~$1,000/semester typical program fee) even though the site links to it as 'Tuition/Room & Board 2026-27' — current-year figures could not be confirmed; verify with admissions.

Rules that bite at BJU

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

renewalPalmetto Fellows Scholarship (SC state award, as listed by BJU): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Eligibility based on full-time enrollment in at least 12 degree-applicable credits; continuing eligibility requires BJU's SAP standards. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How BJU compares across our verified dataset

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

policyBJU stacking policy