Coe College · Iowa
Every first-year applicant is auto-considered for a Trustee Scholarship up to $42,000/yr, but a full-tuition Williston Jones or Merit Recognition award worth $42,000+ REPLACES all other Coe-funded aid rather than stacking on it.
The short answer
Coe is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 8 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.
Free Merit Check
These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.
All first-year applicants automatically considered; exact amount revealed on applying. To receive the FULL amount, students must live on campus.
Renewable; standard merit renewal. Full amount requires living on campus.
Stated ceiling is 'Up to $42,000 per year' — no published GPA/test grid; the per-student amount is holistic and disclosed in the admission/aid offer.
Competitive; requires a separate scholarship-day registration/application (links to apply.coe.edu). Williston Jones Leadership Scholarship is open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Renewable for an additional three years at the tuition rate of the student's entering year, plus a yearly increase of $1,000. Full amount requires living on campus.
CRITICAL ANTI-STACK RULE: a Williston Jones scholarship valued at $42,000 or more makes the student ineligible for ANY other Coe-funded aid, and the award REPLACES any institutional scholarships/grants already awarded. Four named tracks: Distinguished Trustee, Leadership, Sustainability, Marshall Music.
Full tuition for National Merit Scholarship Program FINALISTS; National Merit SEMIFINALISTS are awarded $47,000.
Renewable for an additional three years at entering-year tuition rate plus a yearly $1,000 increase, provided the student maintains Satisfactory Academic Progress. Full amount requires living on campus.
ANTI-STACK RULE: a Merit Recognition Award valued at $42,000 or more makes the student ineligible for any other Coe-funded aid and replaces any institutional scholarships/grants. This award is automatic on confirmed National Merit standing (finalist/semifinalist), hence automaticOnStats true.
By audition/interview with art, music and theatre faculty; open to majors and non-majors. All-State musicians automatically receive $5,000 (Feb. 1 admission deadline). Music Department also awards scholarships up to full tuition.
VPA awards valued up to $4,000; All-State Music at $5,000/yr.
Qualified applicants from Iowa high schools, automatically considered. Commuter students considered for $1,000/yr.
$8,000 over four years.
Home-state award.
Eligible admitted students notified of criteria at time of admission.
Admitted students awarded a Trustee Scholarship are automatically considered for this additional award.
Renewable for three years after the student's first year at Coe College.
Out-of-state geographic-diversity award.
First-year students from Illinois admitted to Coe and eligible for the Illinois MAP Grant after filing the FAFSA. Matches the Illinois MAP Grant amount.
Designed to match the Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grant.
Any such award valued at $42,000+ makes you ineligible for all other Coe-funded aid and REPLACES institutional scholarships/grants you were already offered — so winning the big award does not add to your other Coe money.
The page states that to receive the FULL scholarship amount students are expected to live on campus; commuters are directed to contact Admission and (for the Iowa Kohawk award) are considered for the lower $1,000/yr figure.
The educational-costs handbook states that when a student is approved to move off-campus, institutional financial aid (merit and need-based) may be adjusted.
Coe publishes only a ceiling ('Up to $42,000') and tells students to apply to learn the exact amount — there is no stat grid.
High-achieving students who want a large automatic discount (Trustee up to $42K) and competitive applicants chasing a full-tuition Williston Jones or National Merit award — who should know the biggest award caps out other Coe aid.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $71,890 for 2026-2027. Source
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Coe, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
| Family income | Average net price paid |
|---|---|
| $0–$30,000 | $11,479 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $11,523 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $14,475 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $20,223 |
| $110,001+ | $27,167 |
| All income levels (average) | $18,745 |
That works out to roughly a 72% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $67,372 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Outside scholarships may reduce a student's federal self-help aid (Direct Loans, work-study), but Coe affirmatively states it will not reduce institutional need-based gift aid because of outside scholarships.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): No. While outside scholarships may impact your federal need-based self-help aid (Direct loans, work study, etc.) they will not change the amount of institutional need-based gift aid you were awarded by Coe. In other words, Coe will not reduce the institutional aid we award you because of your outside scholarships. You benefit from receiving outside aid that does not need to be repaid or earned, even if it means your work study or federal loans are reduced.
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
Per year.
Coe states: 'To learn the exact amount that you may be eligible to receive, simply apply to Coe College.' All first-year applicants are automatically considered for the Trustee Scholarship.
All-State musicians automatically receive a $5,000 scholarship with a February 1 admission deadline.
No. A Merit Recognition Award (or Williston Jones award) valued at $42,000 or more makes you ineligible for any other Coe-funded aid and replaces any institutional scholarships/grants.
They renew for three additional years at the tuition rate of your entering year plus a yearly $1,000 increase; Merit Recognition Awards additionally require Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Coe is in the small minority (14 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
Coe 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.
Coe is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.
Every claim is checked against Coe’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
