Skip to content

Mars Hill University · North Carolina

Mars Hill scholarships and merit aid

Mars Hill pairs unpublished named academic scholarships (referenced on its Blackwell page as running $17,000–$19,000 a year) with a guaranteed 50%-of-tuition Local Lion Promise for students from nine western North Carolina counties.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is Mars Hill worth a closer look?

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

Merit tiers5See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Free Merit Check

See what Mars Hill's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at Mars Hill

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.

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.

Amount not published

Academic/Merit-Based Scholarships (Bailey, Blue and Gold, Presidential Academic, Presidential Music)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Based on high school performance; specific academic standards not published on the page.

How to keep it

Students awarded an academic scholarship are required to maintain a designated minimum college grade point average (GPA) to continue receiving the scholarship each semester. The specific GPA is not published.

Notes

The scholarships page lists four named academic scholarships but publishes no amounts or stat cutoffs. The Blackwell page separately references 'academic merit scholarships ranging from $17,000-$19,000 annually.' No automatic-award language appears, so automaticOnStats is set false.

Source

Up to $3,000…Up to $3,000 (on top of academic merit scholarship)

Judge Robert Blackwell Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
Minimum 3.5 High School GPA
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Interview required; 1 recommendation required; must be a North Carolina resident; separate competitive application.

How to keep it

Described as 'annually' alongside the academic merit scholarships; specific renewal terms not published.

Notes

Competitive add-on award for NC students with leadership/citizenship involvement; applied for via the shared competitive-scholarship application.

Source

Minimum 50% of tuition

Local Lion Promise

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Traditional undergraduate students who live or attend high school in Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Mitchell, McDowell, Transylvania, or Yancey county (NC).

How to keep it

Renewal terms not published on the page.

Notes

Geographic guarantee, not a stat-based award. Page says it 'guarantees' the discount for qualifying students; no application process or renewal terms are described, so it is not marked automaticOnStats (which is reserved for GPA/test-based automatic grids).

Source

Amount not published

Honors Program and Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
GPA requirement (value not stated)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

Interview by members of the Honors Council; competitive application via the shared competitive-scholarship form.

How to keep it

Renewal terms not published.

Notes

Competitive; the page describes selection criteria (intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, communication, leadership, creativity) but no dollar amount.

Source

Amount not published

Transfer Student Scholarships (Presidential Transfer Scholarship, Transfer Scholarship, Mountain Lion Associate Scholarship)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Mountain Lion Associate Scholarship is for students who have already been awarded an associate degree.

How to keep it

Renewal terms not published; the academic-scholarship renewal language ('designated minimum college GPA') appears on the same page.

Notes

The scholarships page lists three transfer-merit awards by name with no amounts or criteria.

Source

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. MHU does not publish amounts or GPA/test cutoffs for its named academic scholarships (Bailey, Blue and Gold, Presidential). The only dollar figure on the site is an indirect reference on the Blackwell page to 'academic merit scholarships ranging from $17,000-$19,000 annually.' Families must wait for the aid package to know their award.

  2. The promise is a 'minimum of a 50 percent discount on tuition' only — it does not apply to the comprehensive fee or the $13,006 food & housing charge in the $53,484 total cost of attendance.

  3. The scholarships page says recipients 'are required to maintain a designated minimum college grade point average (GPA) to continue receiving the scholarship each semester,' but the designated GPA is not published anywhere on the pages reviewed. Ask the aid office for the exact renewal GPA in writing.

  4. MHU's SAP policy states students not meeting the standards 'are not eligible for federal, state, or institutional aid' — meaning merit scholarships are also cut off, with GPA floors of 1.50 (freshman), 1.80 (sophomore), and 2.00 (junior+) plus minimum earned-hours requirements.

  5. It is competitive: it requires a separate application, an interview, one recommendation, a 3.5 high school GPA, and North Carolina residency — and it is 'up to $3000,' not a guaranteed $3,000.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strongest fit for western North Carolina students — residents of nine nearby counties are guaranteed at least 50% off tuition — and NC students with a 3.5+ GPA and leadership record who can compete for the Blackwell add-on.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $53,484 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Mars Hill, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$17,021
$30,001–$48,000$17,020
$48,001–$75,000$20,628
$75,001–$110,000$21,637
$110,001+$21,972
All income levels (average)$19,910

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$37,736
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$19,910

That works out to roughly a 60% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $50,099 (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
45%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
69%
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)
$44,781
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
52%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
70%
See other scholarships and cost examples

Other Mars Hill scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityStudents with a passion for community work and social justice; service experience; most students must demonstrate financial need via FAFSA.

Service commitment of approximately 10 hours a week (service, leadership development, meetings/trainings). Need-based component makes this a hybrid, not a pure merit award.

Source

Amount$500-$2,500EligibilityUS citizen/legal resident; NC resident for at least one year; full-time (12 credit hours) at MHU; member of a church affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of NC.

Third-party award administered by Provision Financial Resources of NC Baptists, not by MHU; requires FAFSA SAR copy and transcript per the MHU page.

Source

Mars Hill merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship application deadline?

    No scholarship deadline is published on the financial-aid or scholarships pages reviewed (retrieved 2026-06-07). The competitive scholarships (Blackwell, Honors, Bonner) use one shared application form. Ask the aid office for the priority date for the 2026-2027 entry cycle.

  • Do I need to file the FAFSA to get merit aid?

    The scholarships page says 'After you have completed the FAFSA, we will be in touch with you to let you know the details of the financial aid package for which you have qualified,' and the Bonner program explicitly requires FAFSA-demonstrated need. The page does not state whether the academic merit scholarships themselves require FAFSA — confirm with the aid office. MHU's federal school code is 002944.

  • How much does Mars Hill cost for 2026-2027?

    Total cost of attendance is $53,484: tuition $40,228 (includes required textbooks), comprehensive student fee $250, and food & housing $13,006.

  • Is there a guaranteed scholarship for local students?

    Yes. The Local Lion Promise guarantees a minimum 50 percent discount on tuition for traditional undergraduates who live or attend high school in Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Mitchell, McDowell, Transylvania, or Yancey county, NC.

See sources and other schools

How Mars Hill compares

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Mars Hill merit aid