What are Centre's premier full-ride-equivalent scholarships?

Lincoln Scholars and Grissom Scholars. Each recognizes 10 incoming students per year. Lincoln Scholars covers full tuition, fees, room and board, plus three funded summer enrichment experiences and mentoring (3.2 GPA renewal). Grissom Scholars covers full tuition, fees, room and board, plus $5,000 enrichment funds, restricted to first-generation students with limited financial resources. A single applicant may apply to both, but will only be selected as a finalist for one.

How easy is it to keep my merit scholarship?

Renewal requires meeting a minimum GPA that is graduated by the level of your award — higher tiers have higher GPA floors. Importantly, Centre says 'Loss of a merit scholarship for failing to meet the minimum grade point average is not automatic; students are permitted to petition the Academic Standards Committee for an exception.'

Centre· Renewal Rules

Keeping Centre’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 May 20268 days ago· CA-1

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 5 of 5
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 5
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

Centre'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.

Lincoln Scholars Program: 3.2 GPA
Grissom Scholars Program: See notes
Centre Fellows Scholarship: 2.5 GPA
General Merit Scholarships (automatic): See notes
Front and Centre Scholarship (Early Decision incentive): See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Lincoln Scholars Program
Full tuition, fees, room and board, plus mentoring, special seminars, and three fully funded summer enrichment experiences
To keep it: Renewable based on GPA and program participation. 3.2 GPA renewal floor.
Source: https://www.centre.edu/admission-aid/scholarships-fellowships/lincoln-scholars-program
Grissom Scholars Program
Four-year full scholarship (tuition, fees, room and board), plus $5,000 in educational enrichment funds and up to $1,500 first-year travel reimbursement
To keep it: Renewable based on GPA and program participation.
Source: https://www.centre.edu/admission-aid/scholarships-fellowships/grissom-scholars-program
Centre Fellows Scholarship
$28,000 minimum per year for four years
Entry requirements: Minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA GPA
To keep it: Renewable with minimum 2.5 GPA.
Source: https://centre.edu/scholarships/
General Merit Scholarships (automatic)
Tiered awards; specific dollar bands not publicly published by Centre
To keep it: Renewal requires meeting a minimum GPA that is graduated by award level (higher tiers carry higher GPA floors). Loss is not automatic — students may petition the Academic Standards Committee for an exception.
Source: https://centre.edu/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid
Front and Centre Scholarship (Early Decision incentive)
$20,000 total ($5,000 per year)
To keep it: Renewable across four years contingent on continued enrollment.
Source: https://centre.edu/apply/faqs/

How families lose this aid

Missing the December 1 Lincoln Scholars deadline (or January 15 Grissom deadline) for the premier programs.
Centre's two premier full-tuition-plus programs have separate applications and earlier deadlines than the general admission cycle. Lincoln applications close December 1; Grissom applications close January 15. The general merit pool runs on the regular admission timeline, but premier finalists are decided well before then.

Renewal questions families ask

What are Centre's premier full-ride-equivalent scholarships?: Lincoln Scholars and Grissom Scholars. Each recognizes 10 incoming students per year. Lincoln Scholars covers full tuition, fees, room and board, plus three funded summer enrichment experiences and mentoring (3.2 GPA renewal). Grissom Scholars covers full tuition, fees, room and board, plus $5,000 enrichment funds, restricted to first-generation students with limited financial resources. A single applicant may apply to both, but will only be selected as a finalist for one.
How easy is it to keep my merit scholarship?: Renewal requires meeting a minimum GPA that is graduated by the level of your award — higher tiers have higher GPA floors. Importantly, Centre says 'Loss of a merit scholarship for failing to meet the minimum grade point average is not automatic; students are permitted to petition the Academic Standards Committee for an exception.'

How Centre compares across our verified dataset

133 of 150 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Centre is one of them. The cohort minority (17 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 Centre’s own published materials.