Hampden-Sydney auto-considers all male applicants for a named academic scholarship ladder ($45,000 down to $15,000) but publishes no GPA/test criteria, and its leadership awards (Eagle Scout, Boys State Citizen-Leader) replace rather than stack with the academic award.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Hampden-Sydney worth a closer look?
Hampden-Sydney is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.
Merit tiers51 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Free Merit Check
See what Hampden-Sydney's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.
Published scholarships
These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.
$15,000-$45,000
Academic Scholarships (named ladder)
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
See who qualifies+
Who qualifies
All applicants for admission are automatically considered; no special forms required. Awarded to candidates with the highest levels of academic achievement. No GPA/test grid published.
How to keep it
Renewal terms not stated on this page; confirm with the Office of Financial Aid.
Notes
Named tiers for students entering as freshmen 2026-2027: Birthplace $45,000; Cushing $35,000; Venable $30,000; Middlecourt $28,000; Penshurst $25,000; Garnet & Grey $15,000-$20,000. The College does NOT publish the GPA/test thresholds that map to each tier.
Accepted applicant who has earned (or will earn before matriculation) the rank of Eagle Scout and attends H-SC.
How to keep it
Granted as $30,000 per year over four years.
Notes
Awarded IN PLACE OF any primary academic scholarship (does not stack with the academic ladder). Page states it is for 'new students beginning in the fall of 2025' — confirm the current-cycle amount.
Boys State Participant (Citizen-Leader) Scholarship
Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies+
Who qualifies
Accepted applicant who has participated in Boys State and attends H-SC.
How to keep it
Granted as $25,000 per year over four years.
Notes
If the student's merit-based scholarship is BELOW $25,000/yr, the Citizen-Leader award takes its place. If the merit award is $25,000/yr or above, the student keeps the merit award and receives an additional $1,000/yr for Boys State participation.
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Hampden-Sydney's published information.
Aid capHard $82,128 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Hampden-Sydney cannot push the package past $82,128. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
What families often miss
The Eagle Scout Scholarship is granted 'in place of any primary academic scholarship' — it substitutes for, rather than supplements, the named academic award.
If your academic merit award is below $25,000/yr, the Citizen-Leader award replaces it (so the net gain is only the difference). You keep both — plus just $1,000/yr extra — only if your academic award is already $25,000/yr or more.
The Davis Fellowship is full TUITION only; the Madison Scholarship covers tuition, fees, room, AND board. With on-campus COA at $82,128 and tuition at $55,981, that room/board gap is roughly $26,000/year.
H-SC lists the dollar amounts (Birthplace $45,000 down to Garnet & Grey $15,000) but does not publish the GPA/test thresholds that map to each tier — the award is determined holistically after acceptance.
The Tuition & Fees page shows direct billed charges only (tuition $55,981 + comprehensive fee $3,169 + housing/meals). The full federal cost of attendance for an on-campus student is $82,128, which includes books, transportation, and personal expenses.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
A strong male applicant — especially an Eagle Scout, Boys State participant, or pre-med — who is comfortable that H-SC discloses no GPA/test cutoffs and that leadership awards substitute for, rather than add to, the academic scholarship.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $82,128 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Hampden-Sydney, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Hampden-Sydney, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$13,422
$30,001–$48,000
$12,458
$48,001–$75,000
$17,547
$75,001–$110,000
$22,600
$110,001+
$32,133
All income levels (average)
$22,400
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$54,550
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$22,400
That works out to roughly a 68% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $70,325 (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
62%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
84%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$26,000 (~$276/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$67,640
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
25%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
42%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Outside awards reduce College aid only when combined grant aid would exceed billed costs (tuition, required fees, room, and board); reductions then come from the need-based grant first, then the academic scholarship, then the citizen/leader award.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): If outside scholarships and grants are received which, in combination with College scholarships and grants, exceeds billed costs (tuition, required fees, room, and board) in any semester, College aid is reduced in this order-need-based grant, academic scholarship, then citizen/leader award-until billed costs and total grant aid are equal. There are no refunds of Hampden-Sydney grant aid above billed costs.
Do I need to fill out a separate application for merit scholarships?
No. All applicants for admission are automatically considered, and no special forms are required. Students awarded a scholarship are notified after acceptance.
What are the named academic scholarship amounts for 2026-2027?
Birthplace $45,000, Cushing $35,000, Venable $30,000, Middlecourt $28,000, Penshurst $25,000, and Garnet & Grey $15,000-$20,000 per year.
If I'm an Eagle Scout, do I get $30,000 on top of my academic scholarship?
No. The Eagle Scout award ($30,000/yr) is granted in place of any primary academic scholarship, not in addition to it.
What's the difference between the Davis Fellowship and the Madison Scholarship?
The Davis Fellowship covers full tuition only; the Madison Scholarship covers tuition, fees, room, and board for up to four years.
See sources and other schools+
How Hampden-Sydney compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Hampden-Sydney 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.
Hampden-Sydney 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.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Hampden-Sydney’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
