What GPA does my student need to keep their Lehigh merit scholarship?

The Founder's/Trustees' and Dean's Scholarships require a minimum 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment. Performing arts and marching scholarships require a 2.8 GPA minimum. The Phi Theta Kappa transfer scholarship also requires 2.8. All academic merit awards are renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for five-year Arts/Engineering programs).

Lehigh· Renewal Rules

Keeping Lehigh’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year — minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified May 20269 days ago· PT

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 4 of 4
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 4
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Lehigh's renewal bar is achievable for steady students but isn't generous. Most awards require a cumulative GPA in the 3.0–3.4 band plus full-time enrollment. Audit the strictest tier on this school's list before assuming the four-year value is locked in.

Founder's and Trustees' Scholarships: 3.0 GPA
Dean's Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
Soaring Together Scholarship: See notes
National Merit Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Founder's and Trustees' Scholarships
Full tuition or half tuition per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for five-year Arts/Engineering programs). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment.
Source: https://www2.lehigh.edu/admissions/tuition-affording-college/merit-scholarships
Dean's Scholarship
$15,000 to $25,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for five-year programs). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment.
Source: https://www2.lehigh.edu/admissions/tuition-affording-college/merit-scholarships
Soaring Together Scholarship
Full tuition
To keep it: Renewal conditions not published on lehigh.edu.
Source: https://www2.lehigh.edu/admissions/tuition-affording-college/soaring-together-scholarship-program
National Merit Scholarship
$1,000 to $2,000 per year
To keep it: Renewal details not explicitly stated on the merit page.
Source: https://catalog.lehigh.edu/informationofgeneralinterest/financialaid/sourcesofuniversityaid/

How families lose this aid

Missing the performing arts scholarship deadlines in January and February.
Music and choral scholarships have a January 10 deadline, and theatre scholarships close February 10. These are available to students of any major and are stackable with academic merit awards. Many families focus only on the automatic merit consideration and miss thousands in arts funding their student could have earned.

Renewal questions families ask

What GPA does my student need to keep their Lehigh merit scholarship?: The Founder's/Trustees' and Dean's Scholarships require a minimum 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment. Performing arts and marching scholarships require a 2.8 GPA minimum. The Phi Theta Kappa transfer scholarship also requires 2.8. All academic merit awards are renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for five-year Arts/Engineering programs).

Rules that bite at Lehigh

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook — derived from Lehigh's own tier rules, not generic advice.

renewalFounder's and Trustees' Scholarships: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for five-year Arts/Engineering programs). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Lehigh compares across our verified dataset

70 of 78 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Lehigh is one of them. The cohort minority (8 schools) only awards one-year scholarships — meaning the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
38 of 78 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Lehigh 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 renewal claim is checked against Lehigh’s own published materials.