What merit award does my GPA earn for fall 2026?

Below 2.5 GPA: $10,000 (Achievement); 2.5: $12,000 (Faculty); 3.0: $14,000 (Dean's); 3.5: $16,000 (Presidential); 3.90: $18,000 (Presidential Excellence) — per year, renewable 8 semesters with full-time enrollment and satisfactory standing. Test scores are optional and can only increase the award.

Are there full-tuition or full-ride options?

Yes: the Jesse Baker Presidential Fellowship (one student; tuition, housing, meals, books, fees for 8 semesters), the Honors Premier Scholarship (top five Insignis students, full tuition, last-dollar), the Tarr Music full-tuition competition (last-dollar, music majors), and Army ROTC (100% tuition + stipend).

Do transfer students get automatic merit?

Yes — Pinnacle $14,000 (3.60+), Elite $12,000 (3.00-3.59), Excellence $10,000 (<3.00), automatically considered at acceptance and auto-renewed with GPA and degree progress; PTK members add $1,000.

Carson-Newman· Renewal Rules

Keeping Carson-Newman’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: 6 of 6
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 5
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

Carson-Newman'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 Merit Scholarships (Fall 2026-Spring 2027 grid): Full-time enrollment
Transfer Merit Scholarships (Fall 2026-Spring 2027 grid): See notes
Jesse Baker Presidential Fellowship: See notes
Compass Scholarship: See notes
Tarr Full-Tuition Scholarship (Music): See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Freshman Merit Scholarships (Fall 2026-Spring 2027 grid)
$10,000-$18,000
Entry requirements: Presidential Excellence $18,000 at 3.90+; Presidential $16,000 at 3.5+; Dean's $14,000 at 3.0+; Faculty $12,000 at 2.5+; Achievement $10,000 below 2.5 GPA · Optional SAT · Optional — a low score can never decrease the award ACT
To keep it: Students maintain eligibility by enrolling full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours) and obtaining Satisfactory academic standing each semester. Merit scholarships are renewable for a total of 8 semesters.
Source: https://www.cn.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/
Transfer Merit Scholarships (Fall 2026-Spring 2027 grid)
$10,000-$14,000
Entry requirements: Pinnacle $14,000 at 3.60+ transfer GPA; Elite $12,000 at 3.00-3.59; Excellence $10,000 below 3.00 GPA
To keep it: Automatically renewed for the applicable sophomore, junior, and/or senior year(s), provided that grade point average and progress toward degree requirements are met.
Source: https://www.cn.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/
Jesse Baker Presidential Fellowship
Full tuition, housing, meals, books, and fees (4 years / 8 semesters)
To keep it: Provides four academic years (eight semesters) of continuous study.
Source: https://www.cn.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/
Compass Scholarship
$4,500 per year
Entry requirements: 3.0 (or ACT 21+) GPA · 21 (or 3.0 GPA) ACT
To keep it: Renewable for 4 years.
Source: https://www.cn.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/
Tarr Full-Tuition Scholarship (Music)
Full tuition
To keep it: Awarded student must continue as a music major and meet the required academic GPA as specified by the School of Music for renewal.
Source: https://www.cn.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships/

How families lose this aid

Dropping below 12 credit hours or expecting merit in summer or a 9th semester.
Renewal requires full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic standing each semester; merit is 'renewable for a total of 8 semesters' and 'applicable towards a student's first bachelor's degree during fall and spring terms, not summer terms.'
Music (Tarr) winners switching majors.
'An awarded student must continue as a music major and meet the required academic GPA as specified by the School of Music for renewal.'

Renewal questions families ask

What merit award does my GPA earn for fall 2026?: Below 2.5 GPA: $10,000 (Achievement); 2.5: $12,000 (Faculty); 3.0: $14,000 (Dean's); 3.5: $16,000 (Presidential); 3.90: $18,000 (Presidential Excellence) — per year, renewable 8 semesters with full-time enrollment and satisfactory standing. Test scores are optional and can only increase the award.
Are there full-tuition or full-ride options?: Yes: the Jesse Baker Presidential Fellowship (one student; tuition, housing, meals, books, fees for 8 semesters), the Honors Premier Scholarship (top five Insignis students, full tuition, last-dollar), the Tarr Music full-tuition competition (last-dollar, music majors), and Army ROTC (100% tuition + stipend).
Do transfer students get automatic merit?: Yes — Pinnacle $14,000 (3.60+), Elite $12,000 (3.00-3.59), Excellence $10,000 (<3.00), automatically considered at acceptance and auto-renewed with GPA and degree progress; PTK members add $1,000.

Rules that bite at Carson-Newman

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

renewalFreshman Merit Scholarships (Fall 2026-Spring 2027 grid): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Students maintain eligibility by enrolling full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours) and obtaining Satisfactory academic standing each semester. Merit scholarships are renewable for a total of 8 semesters. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Carson-Newman compares across our verified dataset

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