Eckerd's automatic academic merit ($18,000-$27,000) is generous but explicitly TUITION-ONLY, so it can't touch the ~$26K of housing/food/fees that make up the rest of the bill.
Verified Jun 2026today· COWORK
Merit tiers63 automatic on stats
Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst COWORK
Rules that bite at Eckerd
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Eckerd's own published policy, not generic advice.
capHard $75,198 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Eckerd cannot push the package past $75,198. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Eckerd
Eckerd states the Academic Achievement Scholarship 'may be applied to tuition charges only' — it cannot offset housing, food, or fees (~$26K of the cost), so the net price is higher than subtracting merit from total cost.
The COA table embedded on the financial-aid page lists tuition of $49,668 — a prior-year figure. The current 2026-27 full-time tuition is $54,270 per the Bursar's '2026-27 Tuition & Fees (Effective July 1, 2026)' page; use the Bursar page for current numbers.
Eckerd College merit awards and grants are 'Renewable for up to four years. Students must maintain a 2.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average,' and falling below 2.0 also makes you ineligible for institutional and state aid.
It is limited to students graduating from a Pinellas County high school in 2026, requires living on campus, and has hard March 1 admission/application deadlines plus a Feb 1 FAFSA-results target.
'Total awards cannot exceed your cost of attendance' — a COA cap. Additionally a named donor scholarship can replace part or all of your Eckerd College Grant, and a Yellow Ribbon grant replaces previously awarded Eckerd scholarships/grants.
Who this school is for
Solid-GPA first-year students who can use a tuition-directed award (and will still budget for housing/food), transfer students who slot into the published GPA grid, and Pinellas County residents who can compete for the near-full-cost Sunshine City Scholarship.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $75,198 for 2026-2027. Source
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
$18,000-$27,000 per year
Academic Achievement Scholarship (First-Year)
AutomaticRenewable
GPA
Based on internally calculated high-school GPA
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
Students admitted without conditions are automatically considered; for non-visa (domestic) students; awarded regardless of financial need
Renewal terms
Renewable for up to four years; students must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA (and 67% completion ratio for federal SAP).
Notes
TUITION-ONLY: 'These scholarships may be applied to tuition charges only.' Range stated for Fall 2026 entrants.
Tuition + mandatory fees + standard double housing + meal charges (in combination with institutional, federal and state aid), up to four years
Sunshine City Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Graduate from a Pinellas County high school in 2026; new first-year entering Autumn 2026; live on campus; admitted by March 1, 2026; submit Sunshine City application by March 1, 2026; FAFSA (code 001487) results received by Feb 1, 2026; selected on academics, activities, and demonstrated financial need
Renewal terms
Up to four years.
Notes
Pinellas-County local exclusivity. Covers tuition+fees plus standard double housing and meals when combined with other aid — close to full cost for the standard package, but assembled from multiple sources.
International first-year applicants who require a visa and have not taken college coursework are automatically considered; international students are not eligible for need-based aid
Notes
Parallel automatic award for visa-requiring international students.
Total awards cannot exceed the cost of attendance (a COA cap). The need-based Eckerd College Grant may at any point be replaced in whole or part by a named (donor) scholarship. Veterans' Yellow Ribbon institutional grant explicitly REPLACES any previously awarded Eckerd scholarship or grant.
Financial-aid page: 'Total awards cannot exceed your cost of attendance.' Types page: 'The Eckerd College Grant program is partially funded by the college's endowment therefore, at any point, a student may see a named scholarship replace all or a portion of the previously awarded Eckerd College Grant.' Yellow Ribbon: 'The institution's portion of Yellow Ribbon Grant will replace any previously awarded Eckerd College scholarship or grant.' The pages do not spell out the displacement order for private third-party outside scholarships beyond the overall COA cap.
AmountNeed-based (amount not published)EligibilityPresbyterian Church members; church/community involvement + financial need; pastor recommendation; apply by Feb 1
Eckerd College merit awards and grants are renewable for up to four years as long as you maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA (and meet the 67% completion ratio for federal aid).
What is the Sunshine City Scholarship deadline?
Be admitted and submit the Sunshine City application by March 1, 2026, and file the FAFSA (Eckerd code 001487) so results arrive by February 1, 2026. It is limited to Pinellas County high-school graduates who live on campus.
Can my academic scholarship pay for housing or food?
No. The Academic Achievement Scholarship may be applied to tuition charges only; housing, food, and fees must be covered by other funds.
How Eckerd compares across our verified dataset
62 of 272 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Eckerd is in a recognizable cluster (62 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Eckerd is one of them. The cohort minority (25 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 claim is checked against Eckerd’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
