DRAFT: Holy Family publishes an automatic, GPA-only merit grid for Fall 2026/Spring 2027 entrants ($16,000–$25,000 for freshmen; $14,000–$19,000 for transfers) — but the eligibility line unusually includes 'with financial need'.
Verified Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK
Merit tiers22 automatic on stats
Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst COWORK
Rules that bite at Holy Family
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Holy Family's own published policy, not generic advice.
displacementNo published displacement order
Holy Family's policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Holy Family
The eligibility column reads 'U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens with financial need enrolled full-time in a first undergraduate degree program.' As written, financial need is part of eligibility — ask the aid office whether a student with no demonstrated need still receives the grid amount.
Policy: 'Students who receive outside scholarships are required to inform the Financial Aid Office of the name and amount of the scholarship.' The effect on your package is unstated — ask before assuming it stacks.
Policy: 'Except for some Holy Family University scholarships, you must reapply for financial aid each academic year,' and aid can be lost for failing satisfactory academic progress per the University catalog.
The grid requires full-time enrollment, and policy states students must notify the Financial Aid Office of enrollment-status changes because 'this may affect the student's aid.'
Eligibility is limited to students 'enrolled full-time in a first undergraduate degree program.'
Who this school is for
DRAFT: GPA-driven students (no test scores in the grid) who want automatic merit money at a Philadelphia Catholic university — even a 2.00 GPA earns $16,000/yr; note the published eligibility includes financial need and full-time enrollment in a first bachelor's degree.
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.
$16,000-$25,000
Merit Scholarships — First Time Freshmen (Fall 2026/Spring 2027)
AutomaticRenewable
GPA
Tiered by high school GPA: 3.90-above = $25,000; 3.60-3.89 = $24,000; 3.30-3.59 = $23,000; 2.90-3.29 = $22,000; 2.50-2.89 = $19,000; 2.00-2.49 = $16,000
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens with financial need enrolled full-time in a first undergraduate degree program; no additional application required
Renewal terms
Policies page: 'Except for some Holy Family University scholarships, you must reapply for financial aid each academic year' and aid may be lost without satisfactory academic progress per the University catalog. No explicit merit-renewal GPA published.
Notes
Page is explicit these are 2026/27 awards. NOTE: the eligibility column says 'with financial need' — unusual for a merit grid; families should confirm whether a FAFSA/need showing is actually required.
Merit Scholarships — Transfer Students (Fall 2026/Spring 2027)
AutomaticRenewable
GPA
Tiered by transfer GPA: 3.60-above = $19,000; 3.30-3.59 = $18,000; 3.00-3.29 = $16,000; 2.00-2.99 = $14,000
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens with financial need enrolled full-time in a first undergraduate degree program; no additional application required
Renewal terms
Same policies-page caveats as the freshman grid; no explicit merit-renewal GPA published.
Notes
Separate automatic transfer grid published in the same table as the freshman grid.
Holy Family does not publish a displacement formula, but its policies page requires students to report all outside scholarships to the Financial Aid Office — implying packages may be adjusted. How outside awards affect institutional aid is not stated.
Policies page lists a reporting duty only; no statement of whether outside scholarships reduce loans, grants, or merit aid.
No — 'All applicants are automatically considered for Holy Family University's merit scholarships - no additional application required.'
What is the scholarship deadline?
No merit-scholarship deadline is published; awards are automatic with admission. No date appears on the merit scholarships or policies pages.
What GPA gets the top award?
A 3.90+ high school GPA earns $25,000/year for first-time freshmen entering Fall 2026/Spring 2027. The lowest published tier, 2.00-2.49, still earns $16,000.
Are SAT/ACT scores required for merit money?
The published grid is based on GPA only; no test-score cutoffs appear on the merit scholarships page.
How Holy Family compares across our verified dataset
199 of 751 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.
Holy Family is in a recognizable cluster (199 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
199 of 751 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.
Holy Family is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Holy Family 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 claim is checked against Holy Family’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
