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John Brown University scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$44,748per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

John Brown University is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 8 published awards, and 3 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jun 2026
2 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

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Checking merit aid at John Brown University

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The award collection

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.

Where does your student land?

  1. Assured Merit Award (first-time students)$6,000-$13,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Assured Merit Award (first-time students)

    $6,000-$13,000 per year

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.0+ HS GPA grid (3.0-3.19 = $6,000 up to 3.8-3.89 = $13,000); 3.9+ is instead invited to the Scholarship Competition
    SAT
    1020-1320 (superscored)
    ACT
    20-28 (superscored); higher of GPA/test used
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Assured Merit Award (first-time students)

    Who qualifies

    CLT 63-94; JBU uses whichever of GPA/ACT/SAT/CLT gives the highest scholarship; writing portion of ACT/SAT not evaluated

    How to keep it

    Academic scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA.

    Worth knowing

    Fully automatic. You may receive only one Assured Merit Award and JBU automatically awards the highest amount for which you qualify. The published grid: 3.8-3.89 GPA / 28 ACT / 1300-1320 SAT / 93-94 CLT = $13,000; 3.7-3.79 / 27 / 1260-1290 / 89-91 = $12,000; 3.6-3.69 / 26 / 1230-1250 / 86-88 = $10,000; 3.4-3.59 / 24-25 / 1160-1220 / 79-85 = $8,000; 3.2-3.39 / 21-23 / 1090-1150 / 67-78 = $7,000; 3.0-3.19 / 20 / 1020-1080 / 63-66 = $6,000. The 3.9+ / 29+ / 1330+ / 95+ row is 'Invited to Scholarship Competition' rather than a dollar amount (see Chancellor's/Presidential tiers).

  2. Assured Merit Award (transfer students)$6,000-$13,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Assured Merit Award (transfer students)

    $6,000-$13,000 per year

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    Cumulative college GPA: 3.0-3.19 = $6,000; 3.2-3.29 = $7,000; 3.3-3.39 = $8,000; 3.4-3.49 = $10,000; 3.5-3.59 = $12,000; 3.6+ = $13,000
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Assured Merit Award (transfer students)

    Who qualifies

    Transfer student with 24 hours of credit

    How to keep it

    Academic scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic on transfer cumulative college GPA. Awarded using the transfer chart, not the first-time-student chart.

  3. JBU National Merit Award$17,000AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    JBU National Merit Award

    $17,000

    Published 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 JBU National Merit Award

    Who qualifies

    First-time college student who is a National Merit Finalist or Semi-Finalist

    How to keep it

    Renewal not separately stated for this award; JBU academic scholarships generally renew for up to eight semesters at a 3.0 GPA. National Merit Finalists/Semi-Finalists retain this award unless they receive the Presidential Scholarship.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic for qualifying National Merit Finalists/Semi-Finalists. National Merit Finalists and Semi-Finalists retain the JBU National Merit Award unless they are selected to receive the Presidential Scholarship, in which case they receive both the Chancellor's and Presidential Scholarships instead.

  4. Chancellor's Scholarship$15,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Chancellor's Scholarship

    $15,000

    Published amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    Top academic criteria (automatic invitation at 3.9 GPA) OR demonstrated exceptional leadership
    SAT
    1330 SAT superscore (automatic invitation)
    ACT
    29 ACT superscore (automatic invitation)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Chancellor's Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Must be a high school senior applying for the fall semester; invited to and interviews at the Scholarship Competition; CLT 89 superscore also triggers an automatic invitation

    How to keep it

    JBU academic scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA. The Chancellor's Scholarship replaces any previously awarded Assured Merit Award.

    Worth knowing

    Competitive, not automatic-by-stats: requires an invitation to the Scholarship Competition and an interview. If you are awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship, it will replace any previously awarded Assured Merit Award. Automatic invitations to compete are extended to students with at least a 3.9 GPA or a 29 ACT, 1330 SAT or 89 CLT superscore.

  5. Presidential Scholarshipup to $15,000 (stackable)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Presidential Scholarship

    up to $15,000 (stackable)

    Variable or qualified amountNot 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 Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Awarded only to students who first receive the Chancellor's Scholarship at the Scholarship Competition; JBU's most prestigious scholarship

    How to keep it

    JBU academic scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA.

    Worth knowing

    Stacks on top of the Chancellor's Scholarship (page labels it 'up to $15,000 (stackable)' and 'worth up to an additional $15,000'). Students who receive the Chancellor's Scholarship are also considered for the Presidential. A student selected for the Presidential receives both the Chancellor's and Presidential, for up to $30,000 combined.

  6. JBU Visual Art Scholarshipup to $12,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    JBU Visual Art Scholarship

    up to $12,000

    Variable or qualified amountNot 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 JBU Visual Art Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    New first-year student majoring in Art & Illustration, Digital Cinema, Graphic Design, Photography or Visual FX; awarded on portfolio review, faculty recommendation, academic standing and personal character

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to four years provided you remain an art major.

    Worth knowing

    Departmental award decided by portfolio review. Requires staying an art major to renew.

  7. JBU Music & Theatre Scholarship (majors)starting at $3,000 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    JBU Music & Theatre Scholarship (majors)

    starting at $3,000 per year

    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 JBU Music & Theatre Scholarship (majors)

    Who qualifies

    New student majoring in music education, integrated music studies or performing arts; enrolled full-time (at least 12 hours); awarded on a completed audition

    How to keep it

    Scholarships are renewable up to four years; major scholarships increase by $1,000/year for every year the student stays in the degree program.

    Worth knowing

    Awarded on audition; amount based on demonstrated talent. Max award for incoming students is typically $7,000/year. Increases $1,000/year while the student stays in the degree program. Music and theatre scholarships do not stack with each other (you cannot receive both a major scholarship and an ensemble scholarship in the same semester). Minors start at $1,000/year (fixed); non-major ensemble performers get $500/semester (max $500).

  8. JBU Legacy Award$500Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    JBU Legacy Award

    $500

    Published amountNot 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 JBU Legacy Award

    Who qualifies

    Be a dependent of a JBU graduate, OR be the sibling of a current JBU student; enrolled full-time (at least 12 hours)

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to four years.

    Worth knowing

    Indicate your legacy status in your application for admission. Small, but stacks with academic merit.

Lights up against John Brown University'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.

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The fine print

Aid capHard $44,748 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at John Brown University cannot push the package past $44,748. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes John Brown University different

JBU posts a fully automatic Assured Merit Award grid ($6,000-$13,000/yr on GPA + superscored ACT/SAT/CLT) that renews for up to eight semesters at a 3.0 GPA; top stats (3.9 GPA / 29 ACT / 1330 SAT / 95 CLT) instead earn an invitation to a Scholarship Competition for the $15,000 Chancellor's and up to $15,000 more in Presidential money.

Merit tiers83 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJun 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.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. 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.

Take John Brown University's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. The top row of the grid is NOT a dollar amount — it is 'Invited to Scholarship Competition.' Those students must actually attend and interview at the on-campus Scholarship Competition to earn the $15,000 Chancellor's (and only then are considered for the Presidential). Strong stats earn an invitation, not a guaranteed check.

  2. If you are awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship, it REPLACES any previously awarded Assured Merit Award — it does not add to it. The Presidential, by contrast, is the award that stacks (on top of the Chancellor's).

  3. JBU academic scholarships renew for up to eight semesters only so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA. Drop below it and the merit award is at risk — a different cliff than the (lower) state Academic Challenge 2.5 GPA renewal.

  4. To be invited to compete you must be admitted by the cutoff: Fall admission deadline October 24 (competition Nov 2-3); Spring admission deadline January 16 (competition Jan 25-26). The competition is the only path to the Chancellor's/Presidential.

  5. That 2026-2027 figure is full-time tuition + general fee ($33,692) + residence-hall room ($5,212) + average board ($5,844). Books (Regal Ready ~$27/credit hour), personal expenses, and any health insurance are on top; exact board varies by meal plan.

  6. The JBU Family Christian Service Award (up to $1,000) is NEED-BASED — it requires the FAFSA and a parent in full-time Christian service, and you must reapply every year.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Christian-college applicants with a 3.0+ GPA who want a published, automatic merit award they can predict from a chart; very strong students (3.9+/29 ACT) who will compete in the on-campus Scholarship Competition for the stackable Chancellor's + Presidential; National Merit Finalists/Semi-Finalists; arts, music/theatre, and athletics talent; and JBU legacies.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $44,748 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at John Brown University, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at John Brown University, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$17,484
$30,001–$48,000$17,210
$48,001–$75,000$16,655
$75,001–$110,000$21,433
$110,001+$24,627
All income levels (average)$20,397

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$31,756
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$20,397

That works out to roughly a 54% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $44,710 (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
72%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
81%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,250 (~$225/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$53,907
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
34%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
41%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

JBU's published stacking/displacement rules differ by award. For ATHLETES, total aid from ALL sources (including academic scholarships, need-based aid, federal/state grants, loans, work-study and any outside scholarships) is capped at full-time tuition + room and board + general fee + up to $600 in course fees, and the athletic scholarship is reduced dollar-for-dollar by other sources — a COA-cap. For non-athletes, no general outside-scholarship displacement rule is published on the scholarships page; recipients of an outside scholarship are only told to complete the Outside Scholarship Notification Form. Within named awards, the Presidential explicitly stacks on the Chancellor's, but Music & Theatre awards do NOT stack with each other and the Chancellor's REPLACES any prior Assured Merit Award.

Athletic Policy 1 is an explicit total-aid cap with outside-scholarship displacement (athletic scholarship 'may be reduced by the amount received from any other source'). The general (non-athlete) page does not state how an outside scholarship reduces JBU institutional merit aid; it only requires notification. displacementType is set to 'coa-cap' to reflect the one published cap (athletics); confirm the non-athlete treatment with the aid office (see Section C).

Source

Other John Brown University scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountUp to $1,000EligibilityDependent of parent(s) employed in full-time Christian service; demonstrate financial need via FAFSA; enrolled full-time.

NEED-BASED (FAFSA required). Must reapply every year by completing the FAFSA. Distinctive to JBU's Christian mission.

Source

AmountUp to $500EligibilitySee JBU Church Matching Grant details on the scholarships page.

Matching-type grant tied to a student's home church gift; amount up to $500.

Source

Amount$5,000EligibilityJunior or senior JBU student admitted to the Upper Division Nursing Program; recipients chosen by Northwest Healthcare System.

Outside award (selected by the health system, not JBU). Renewable for up to two years with acceptable application.

Source

AmountOne-time award of $2,000EligibilityIncoming freshmen who receive the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship.

Bridges the Year-1 ($1,000) vs Year-2 ($4,000) gap in the state Academic Challenge award. Not renewable. State-linked, not pure JBU merit.

Source

John Brown University merit aid FAQ

  • Is the JBU academic scholarship automatic?

    Yes for the Assured Merit Award. JBU considers your high school GPA and superscored ACT/SAT/CLT and automatically awards the highest amount you qualify for ($6,000-$13,000/yr). The Chancellor's ($15,000) and Presidential (up to $15,000 more) are NOT automatic — they require an invitation to and interview at the on-campus Scholarship Competition.

  • What GPA do I need to keep my scholarship?

    Academic scholarships are renewable for up to eight semesters so long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA.

  • When is the scholarship deadline?

    To be invited to the Scholarship Competition you must be admitted by the deadline: Fall admission October 24 (competition November 2-3); Spring admission January 16 (competition January 25-26).

  • Can I combine JBU scholarships?

    Some, not all. The Presidential stacks on top of the Chancellor's. But the Chancellor's REPLACES any prior Assured Merit Award, and Music & Theatre awards do not stack with each other. Athletes face an overall cap: total aid from all sources can't exceed tuition + room and board + general fee + up to $600 in course fees, and the athletic scholarship is reduced by other awards (including outside scholarships).

  • Do I get money for being a National Merit Finalist?

    Yes. First-time students who are National Merit Finalists or Semi-Finalists receive the JBU National Merit Award ($17,000), retained unless you're selected for the Presidential (in which case you receive both the Chancellor's and Presidential instead).

See sources and other schools

How John Brown University compares

  • 235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    John Brown University 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.

    John Brown University 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.

    John Brown University 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 John Brown University’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring John Brown University merit aid

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