Do I need test scores for Carthage merit aid?

The automatic Academic Scholarship grid is based only on cumulative non-weighted high school GPA ($22,000 for 3.75-4.0 down to $19,000 for 2.5-2.99); no ACT/SAT is mentioned.

Can my Carthage scholarships cover room and board?

No. Combined non-need scholarships/grants cannot exceed tuition unless otherwise noted, and scholarships plus federal/state grants may not exceed full tuition. 2026-27 tuition is $21,625 per semester; standard housing ($4,575/semester) and meals ($2,650/semester) are extra.

What does Carthage cost for 2026-27?

Full-time tuition is $21,625 per semester, standard housing $4,575 per semester, and the standard meal plan $2,650 per semester (tuition is the same in-state and out-of-state). No single full cost-of-attendance total is published on the tuition page.

Carthage award rules

Will the scholarship last four years at Carthage?

We pulled the school’s grade, credit, and time limits into one place so you can see what it takes to keep the award.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

16 of 16 published awards are listed as renewable.

The exact rule can change by award. Check the award your student may receive before you count on the same amount every year.

What to do

Find the award name in the full research below. Save its grade, credit, and deadline rules with your college plan.

See every award rule, common mistake, and source

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 16 of 16
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 4
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

Carthage'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 Scholarships: Full-time enrollment
French/Japanese/Spanish Scholarships: See notes
Spring Scholarships: See notes
Fall Transfer Scholarship Competition: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Academic Scholarships
$19,000-$22,000
Entry requirements: 2.5-4.0 (non-weighted cumulative HS GPA) GPA
To keep it: Renewal requires an annual minimum cumulative GPA and full-time enrollment status (specific GPA not stated on this page).
Source: https://www.carthage.edu/admissions/undergraduate-students/undergraduate-scholarships/
French/Japanese/Spanish Scholarships
$33,000
To keep it: Renewable for four years.
Source: https://www.carthage.edu/admissions/undergraduate-students/undergraduate-scholarships/
Spring Scholarships
$31,000-Full tuition
To keep it: Renewable for up to three years.
Source: https://www.carthage.edu/admissions/undergraduate-students/undergraduate-scholarships/
Fall Transfer Scholarship Competition
$33,000-Full tuition
To keep it: Renewable for up to three years.
Source: https://www.carthage.edu/admissions/undergraduate-students/undergraduate-scholarships/

How families lose this aid

Missing the early competitive deadlines because the automatic award required no application.
The big-money competitions close early: November 1 (Communication/PR, Modern Languages, History/English/Creative Writing, Nursing) and December 3 (Presidential, Business, Math/Science, Kenosha/Racine, Teacher Education, Engineering/CS/Game Dev, Tarble California, Police/Fire, Alumni).
Losing renewable grants by dipping below the GPA floor or dropping to part-time.
'Renewal requires an annual minimum cumulative GPA and full-time enrollment status' for non-need awards; the smaller grants (Visit, Lutheran, Legacy, Ministerial) each require a 2.0 cumulative GPA to renew, and the Early FAFSA Filers Award is lost if the FAFSA isn't refiled by January 1 each year.

Renewal questions families ask

Do I need test scores for Carthage merit aid?: The automatic Academic Scholarship grid is based only on cumulative non-weighted high school GPA ($22,000 for 3.75-4.0 down to $19,000 for 2.5-2.99); no ACT/SAT is mentioned.
Can my Carthage scholarships cover room and board?: No. Combined non-need scholarships/grants cannot exceed tuition unless otherwise noted, and scholarships plus federal/state grants may not exceed full tuition. 2026-27 tuition is $21,625 per semester; standard housing ($4,575/semester) and meals ($2,650/semester) are extra.
What does Carthage cost for 2026-27?: Full-time tuition is $21,625 per semester, standard housing $4,575 per semester, and the standard meal plan $2,650 per semester (tuition is the same in-state and out-of-state). No single full cost-of-attendance total is published on the tuition page.

Rules that bite at Carthage

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

Renewal ruleAcademic Scholarships: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewal requires an annual minimum cumulative GPA and full-time enrollment status (specific GPA not stated on this page). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Carthage compares across our verified dataset

665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Carthage is one of them. The cohort minority (84 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 Carthage’s own published materials.

Policy pageCarthage stacking policy