These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.
Where does your student land?
Bell Tower ScholarshipVariable, awarded across a tier ladder based on academic achievement and potentialAutomaticRenewable
Published awardAcademic thresholds
Bell Tower Scholarship
Variable, awarded across a tier ladder based on academic achievement and potential
Variable or qualified amountAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Bell Tower Scholarship
Who qualifies
No separate application or interview. Recipients are selected based on the admission application, recognizing students who show strong academic performance and meaningful engagement in their communities. Furman publishes the named tier but not stat-banded cutoffs.
How to keep it
Renewable for up to four years or eight semesters subject to maintaining academic standing.
John D. Hollingsworth Scholarship$36,000 per year, renewable for four yearsNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
John D. Hollingsworth Scholarship
$36,000 per year, renewable for four years
Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for John D. Hollingsworth Scholarship
Who qualifies
South Carolina residents only. Selected based on admission application with no separate interview required. Furman looks for passion for community service, strong leadership skills, and commitment to continued civic engagement at Furman.
How to keep it
Renewable four years; recipients participate in the Public Leadership Seminars and the Riley Institute's Advantage Scholars program.
Worth knowing
One of the most-named merit awards at any small Southern college. Restricted to SC residents — out-of-state applicants are not eligible regardless of stats.
National Merit Scholarship$2,000 per year (university-sponsored, renewable)AutomaticRenewable
Published awardAcademic thresholds
National Merit Scholarship
$2,000 per year (university-sponsored, renewable)
Published award termsAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for National Merit Scholarship
Who qualifies
Awarded to National Merit / National Achievement Finalists who indicate Furman as their first-choice college with NMSC. Stacks on top of other Furman merit aid. A finalist can receive only ONE monetary NMSC award (including this one).
Lights up against Furman's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.
Free Merit Check
Check the rules that could cut this.
The free Merit Check shows which Furman award your student's numbers reach, and the rules that could change it. About 30 seconds.
This page covers one school.
Your playbook does this for every school on your list, sorted by what you’d pay.
Ready in under 10 minutes. 30-day money-back guarantee.
“it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa
The fine print
Aid capHard $84,926 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Furman cannot push the package past $84,926. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Bell Tower Lake at Furman University
What makes Furman different
South Carolina liberal arts college with a publicly-named top scholarship — the Hollingsworth at $36,000/year — restricted to SC residents, plus a broad Bell Tower tier awarded automatically with admission to high-achieving applicants nationwide.
Merit tiers32 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards47%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Research checkedMay 2026By our research team
More than one award path
Separate the two paths.
Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.
Match the published criteria
Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.
Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
Know what happens next year
Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.
The fine print / Three questions to carry forward
Before you count on it.
Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.
Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.
Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award+
What families often miss
Hollingsworth is restricted to South Carolina residents only. Out-of-state students with strong leadership profiles are evaluated under the Bell Tower ladder, which is real money but does not include the Hollingsworth's $36,000-per-year top line, nor the Public Leadership Seminars cohort access.
Furman publishes a hard cap: gift aid from all sources cannot exceed total cost of attendance. Above that ceiling Furman cuts its own institutional aid — so a $5,000 outside award won't add cash to your refund, it'll reduce Furman's contribution by the same amount.
Furman explicitly says freshmen are not eligible for the STEM Enhancement. Eligibility starts sophomore year for students with the underlying state scholarship who declare an approved math or science major. Do not model the Enhancement into year-one budgets.
See award cutoffs and special programs+
John D. Hollingsworth Scholarship — $36,000/year, SC residents only
Hollingsworth is Furman's headline named scholarship: $36,000 per year, renewable for four years, layered on top of Furman's academic admission decision. The catch is that it's restricted to South Carolina residents. Furman selects Hollingsworth recipients from the regular admission pool — no separate interview required — and looks for SC students who combine academic achievement with demonstrated commitment to community service and civic engagement. Recipients also gain access to the Public Leadership Seminars (face time with government and civic leaders) and the Riley Institute's Advantage Scholars program. For out-of-state applicants, this award is not in play and the headline merit ladder is the Bell Tower scholarship.
Strong students looking for a small-college residential experience in the Southeast where the headline merit award is automatic on the admission application — no separate essay or interview. South Carolina residents with leadership and service profiles get a clear additional layer through the Hollingsworth program.
Cost of attendance$84,926 for 2026-2027Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Furman, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Furman, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$16,401
$30,001–$48,000
$17,290
$48,001–$75,000
$21,041
$75,001–$110,000
$27,736
$110,001+
$39,310
All income levels (average)
$30,308
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$59,770
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$30,308
That works out to roughly a 61% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $76,798 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
79%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
91%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$23,250 (~$246/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$68,635
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
15%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
30%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Furman caps gift aid at total cost of attendance. Outside scholarships stack on top of Furman aid up to that ceiling; when total gift aid (Furman + federal + state + private) exceeds COA, Furman reduces its own grants/scholarships to bring the total back under the cap.
Furman's published policy is explicit: a student cannot receive gift aid from all sources in excess of total cost of attendance. When the combined total exceeds COA, the institutional aid (Furman grants and scholarships) is reduced — not the outside scholarship. All outside aid must be reported to the Office of Financial Aid. Furman reserves the right to adjust the package when other resources are reported.
From the Furman Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated figures):
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Furman’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
47%of admitsget merit
Average award$30,845Covers ~36% of $84,926 cost of attendance
At Furman, roughly 1 in 2 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $30,845 — about 36% of total cost.
As filed in Furman's CDS Section H2A: of 550 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 260 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $30,845. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,162 of 2,274, averaging $33,660. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
The 2025-2026 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.
Receive institutional merit47%First-year students, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Average merit award$30,845Across recipients, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
AmountTwo-year full-tuition scholarshipEligibilityTransfer applicants only. Award based on academic achievement and potential success. Transfer applicants must apply for admission by January 15 to be considered.
Requires only the admission application — no separate scholarship application. Transfer students who apply after February 15 will still be reviewed for Bell Tower scholarships based on the strength of their admission file.
AmountEnhancement awards added to South Carolina state LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships beginning sophomore year for approved math/science majorsEligibilitySouth Carolina residents who hold the underlying LIFE or Palmetto Fellows scholarship and declare an approved STEM major.
Freshmen are not eligible. The Enhancement is added each fall after the restricted add/drop deadline. Treated as the LAST gift aid on an award offer — reduced first if total aid exceeds COA after self-help is cancelled.
Do I need a separate application for Furman merit aid?
No. Furman states explicitly: 'Your application for admission automatically serves as your application for merit-based scholarships – no separate application required.' That applies to both Bell Tower and Hollingsworth scholarships.
Is the Hollingsworth Scholarship open to out-of-state students?
No. Hollingsworth is restricted to South Carolina residents. Out-of-state students are evaluated for Bell Tower scholarships instead — Furman publishes only that these are 'variable scholarship amounts based on academic achievement and potential,' not a specific stat-banded ladder.
Will an outside scholarship reduce my Furman aid?
It can. Furman's published rule is 'A student may not receive gift aid (grants and/ or scholarships) from all sources (Furman, federal, state, private) in excess of the total cost of attendance at Furman.' When total gift aid exceeds COA, Furman reduces its own grants/scholarships first. Outside awards must be reported.
How much does Furman cost?
For 2026-27, Furman publishes tuition of $62,878 and a direct-cost total of $81,276 (tuition + SGA fee + housing + unlimited meal plan). Adding the $3,650 indirect-cost estimate for books, transportation, and personal expenses brings the published cost of attendance to $84,926.
Can I keep National Merit money on top of Furman aid?
Yes. Furman's $2,000 university-sponsored National Merit scholarship is 'awarded in addition to any other Furman scholarship or grant.' But NMSC only allows a finalist to receive ONE monetary award through the NMSC program — students should coordinate with NMSC before designating Furman as the first choice.
See sources and other schools+
How Furman compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Furman is in a recognizable cluster (235 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Furman 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.
132 of 749 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Furman 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.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Furman’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
