Coastal Carolina· Renewal Rules
Keeping Coastal Carolina’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.
At a glance
- Renewable tiers
- 10 of 10
- One-time tiers
- 0
- Tiers with published renewal terms
- 10
- Renewal risk profile
- moderate
Renewal risk profile
Coastal Carolina's renewal bar is achievable for steady students but isn't generous. Most awards require a cumulative GPA in the 3.0–3.4 band plus full-time enrollment. Audit the strictest tier on this school's list before assuming the four-year value is locked in.
- Presidential Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
- President's Scholar Award: Full-time enrollment
- Provost's Scholar Award: Full-time enrollment
- Coastal Scholar Award: Full-time enrollment
- Teal Scholar Award: Full-time enrollment
- South Carolina Scholar Award: Full-time enrollment
- Visual and Performing Arts Award: Full-time enrollment
- PGA Golf Management Trustee Award: Full-time enrollment
- PGA Golf Management University Award: Full-time enrollment
- PGA Golf Management Wall Award: Full-time enrollment
Renewal terms by tier
Presidential Scholarship
$6,000 per year (in-state) / $19,662 per year (out-of-state)Entry requirements: minimum 3.75 CORE GPA GPA · 1390+ SAT · 31+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years of enrollment (a total of eight semesters); recipients must meet annual renewal requirements defined as 30 credits and a 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA, enrolled full-time (12-18 credit hours) each fall and spring.
President's Scholar Award
$5,000 per year (in-state) / $13,000 per year (out-of-state)Entry requirements: minimum 3.5 CORE GPA GPA · 1300+ SAT · 28+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
Provost's Scholar Award
$4,000 per year (in-state) / $10,000 per year (out-of-state)Entry requirements: minimum 3.5 CORE GPA GPA · 1230+ SAT · 26+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
Coastal Scholar Award
$3,000 per year (in-state) / $7,500 per year (out-of-state)Entry requirements: minimum 3.5+ CORE GPA GPA · 1160+ SAT · 24+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
Teal Scholar Award
$2,000 per year (in-state) / $4,500 per year (out-of-state)Entry requirements: minimum 3.3+ CORE GPA GPA · 1060+ SAT · 21+ ACT
To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
South Carolina Scholar Award
$1,000 per year (in-state only)To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
Visual and Performing Arts Award
$3,000 per year (in-state) / $7,500 per year (out-of-state)To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
PGA Golf Management Trustee Award
$5,000 per year (in-state) / $13,000 per year (out-of-state)To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
PGA Golf Management University Award
$4,000 per year (in-state) / $10,000 per year (out-of-state)To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
PGA Golf Management Wall Award
$3,000 per year (in-state) / $7,500 per year (out-of-state)To keep it: Renewable up to four continuous years (eight semesters); 30 credits and 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA per year, full-time enrollment required.
How families lose this aid
- Treating the merit profile thresholds (GPA/SAT/ACT) as a strict automatic formula.
CCU uses a holistic review of weighted and unweighted HS GPA plus an institutionally calculated 'core' GPA and a Rigor Score. The published profiles (e.g., 3.75 CORE GPA / 1390 SAT for Presidential) are guidelines; your exact tier is set by that review, not a single number.
Renewal questions families ask
- How do I keep my merit award each year?
- Meet the annual renewal requirements — 30 credits and a 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA — while enrolled full-time (12-18 credit hours) each fall and spring. Freshman awards renew for up to four continuous years (eight semesters).
Rules that bite at Coastal Carolina
The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook, derived from Coastal Carolina's own tier rules and not generic advice.
- renewalPresidential Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable up to four continuous years of enrollment (a total of eight semesters); recipients must meet annual renewal requirements defined as 30 credits and a 3.0 CCU cumulative GPA, enrolled full-time (12-18 credit hours) each fall and spring. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
How Coastal Carolina compares across our verified dataset
- 669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Coastal Carolina 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 Coastal Carolina’s own published materials.
More on Coastal Carolina merit aid
- Coastal Carolina merit aid overviewFull tier ladder, named scholarships, departmental awards, and how families decide.
- Coastal Carolina scholarship stackingWhether outside awards land as upside or quietly displace institutional aid.
- Does Coastal Carolina displace outside scholarships?The dollar math on a $5,000 outside award, plus peer schools that handle it differently.