Skip to content

Lewis & Clark scholarships and merit aid

The short answer

Lewis & Clark may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
2 school sources to explore

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

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. Academic Merit-Based Scholarships (Oregon Maple or Sequoia)Amount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Academic Merit-Based Scholarships (Oregon Maple or Sequoia)

    Amount not published

    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 Academic Merit-Based Scholarships (Oregon Maple or Sequoia)

    Who qualifies

    Entering first-year and transfer students; based on academic program and performance. No published amount or GPA/test grid.

    How to keep it

    Renewable each year provided the student maintains satisfactory academic progress (SAP); merit recipients must also meet any GPA/renewal standards on their specific award.

    Worth knowing

    Two named tracks (Oregon Maple, Sequoia). Scholarship amounts vary and are not published on the merit page.

  2. Barbara Hirschi Neely ScholarshipFull tuition (plus a $2,000 stipend usable after the 4th semester)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Barbara Hirschi Neely Scholarship

    Full tuition (plus a $2,000 stipend usable after the 4th semester)

    Published coverage or packageNot 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 Barbara Hirschi Neely Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    RESIDENCY-GATED: only students who attend high school in Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, or Yamhill counties (OR) or Clark County (WA) are eligible. MUST apply through the Common Application via Early Action or Early Decision. Selection by academic accomplishments, leadership, community impact, and a day-long on-campus program + group interview.

    How to keep it

    Renewable annually provided the student maintains satisfactory academic progress.

    Worth knowing

    Lewis & Clark's highest merit award. Five full-tuition scholarships awarded to entering first-year students. Funded by Barbara Hirschi Neely endowment.

  3. Tuition Exchange AwardPer Tuition Exchange, Inc. guidance (amount not published)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Tuition Exchange Award

    Per Tuition Exchange, Inc. guidance (amount not published)

    Published coverage or packageNot 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 Tuition Exchange Award

    Who qualifies

    Dependents of eligible employees at Tuition Exchange member institutions; recipients identified by the Office of Admissions; limited number each year

    How to keep it

    Must maintain SAP and continue to be certified as eligible by the participating institution.

    Worth knowing

    ANTI-STACK: recipients are NOT eligible to receive other institutional merit-based scholarships, and receipt may require reducing previously awarded institutional need-based aid.

  4. Music ScholarshipsAmount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Music Scholarships

    Amount not published

    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 Music Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    Outstanding talent in music; application includes an audition

    How to keep it

    Renew by participating in Music Department activities and maintaining SAP.

    Worth knowing

    Performance-based; audition required.

  5. Speech and Debate ScholarshipsAmount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Speech and Debate Scholarships

    Amount not published

    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 Speech and Debate Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    Outstanding record of achievement in debate and forensics

    How to keep it

    Must participate in speech & debate competition and maintain SAP.

    Worth knowing

    Performance-based.

Free Merit Check

Check the rules that could cut this.

The free Merit Check shows which Lewis & Clark award your student's numbers reach, and the rules that could change it. About 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at Lewis & Clark

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

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.

Get my playbook$79
  • Secure payment through Stripe
  • “it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa

What makes Lewis & Clark different

Lewis & Clark gives every applicant automatic (but undisclosed-amount) academic merit scholarships, while its top award — the full-tuition Neely Scholarship — is gated to students from a specific set of Oregon and Washington counties who apply Early Action or Early Decision.

Merit tiers5See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  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 Lewis & Clark'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 Neely is residency-gated: only students who attend high school in 12 named Oregon counties or Clark County, WA (the greater Portland metro) are eligible.

  2. Neely eligibility requires applying through the Common Application via Early Action or Early Decision — Regular Decision applicants are not considered.

  3. Students receiving Tuition Exchange are not eligible for other institutional merit-based scholarships, and it may reduce previously awarded institutional need-based aid.

  4. First-time freshmen get only 8 semesters of L&C institutional aid; the policy explicitly notes that meeting only the 67% minimum pace won't finish a degree within those 8 semesters.

  5. Students must be enrolled full-time (12+ credits) to receive College funds; dropping below triggers an aid review.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong applicants seeking automatic merit at a Portland liberal-arts college; the headline full-tuition Neely award is reserved for high-achieving students from the greater Portland metro region (12 Oregon + Clark County WA) who apply early.

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Lewis & Clark, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$15,962
$30,001–$48,000$18,362
$48,001–$75,000$22,712
$75,001–$110,000$25,917
$110,001+$44,990
All income levels (average)$36,013

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$79,987
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$64,828
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$36,013

That works out to an average 55% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
75%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
89%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,500 (~$207/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$62,205
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
22%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
80%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships reduce loans and/or work-study first; institutional grants are only reduced if required to prevent an over-award.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): External resources will be applied first to any remaining unmet financial need. If a student's demonstrated financial need has already been met with federal, state, and/or College resources, this additional funding will reduce your need-based federal financial aid. If a student's need-based federal financial aid must be reduced, the reductions occur in the following order: Federal Direct Subsidized Loan, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG). Lewis & Clark Grants will be reduced in a financial aid package only if the total amount of external resources combined with College grant and/or scholarship assistance exceed the student's cost of attendance budget.

Source

Other Lewis & Clark scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilitySelected through the Posse Foundation.

One of the most prestigious awards; full-tuition leadership scholarship via the Posse Foundation.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityAwarded by businesses, community groups, religious and fraternal organizations.

L&C students garnered ~$1.4M last year; must be reported and may affect other aid.

Source

Lewis & Clark merit aid FAQ

  • Do I need a separate application for merit scholarships?

    No for the automatic Academic Merit (Oregon Maple/Sequoia) scholarships — all applicants are considered. The Neely Scholarship requires applying Early Action or Early Decision and a selection day with a group interview; Music and Speech & Debate require an audition/competition record; Posse goes through the Posse Foundation.

  • What is the full-tuition Neely Scholarship and who can get it?

    It is L&C's highest merit award (5 full-tuition scholarships plus a $2,000 stipend), but only for students who attend high school in 12 named Oregon counties or Clark County, WA, and who apply Early Action or Early Decision.

  • How long does merit aid last?

    First-time freshmen receive up to 8 semesters of Lewis & Clark institutional aid (12 semesters of federal aid), renewable with satisfactory academic progress and any award-specific GPA standards.

See sources and other schools

How Lewis & Clark compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Lewis & Clark is in a recognizable cluster (145 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.

    Lewis & Clark 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 Lewis & Clark’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Lewis & Clark merit aid

The next chapter

Where does Lewis & Clark fit in your plan?

You have the school’s rules. Now put them in the context of your student and the rest of your list.

  1. Check your student’s numbers, free
  2. Explore another school
  3. See how the research becomes a plan

Ready to work through your whole list? Get my playbook

Inside the sample

Jordan’s playbook

Same student.
Four schools.
Four very different bills.

An illustrative student profile, with a school order, scholarship research and a to-do list. Open the sample to see how it works.

Open the sample playbook