What GPA and test scores does my student need for a merit scholarship at UM?

UM does not publish GPA, SAT, or ACT cutoffs for any merit tier. All awards are holistic, factoring in academic record, rigor, and personal qualities. The admitted class middle 50% is 1350-1450 SAT and 30-33 ACT with a 3.75 average unweighted GPA, but meeting these stats does not guarantee any award. Roughly 35% of freshmen with no financial need receive some institutional merit averaging $23,560 per year.

University of Miami· Renewal Rules

Keeping University of Miami’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 20262 months ago· PT

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 7 of 7
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 7
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

University of Miami'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.

Stamps Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
Isaac Bashevis Singer Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
Ronald A. Hammond Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
Marta S. and L. Austin Weeks Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
George W. Jenkins Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
President's Scholarship: 3.0 GPA
Canes Achievement Award: 3.0 GPA

Renewal terms by tier

Stamps Scholarship
Full cost of attendance: tuition and fees, on-campus housing, meal plan, University health insurance, textbooks, laptop allowance, plus a $12,000 enrichment fund for study abroad, research, and unpaid internships
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires full-time enrollment (minimum 12 credit hours per semester), 24+ credit hours per academic year, and minimum 3.0 GPA calculated after the second semester of attendance.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/stamps/index.html
Isaac Bashevis Singer Scholarship
Full cost of tuition per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html
Ronald A. Hammond Scholarship
Full cost of tuition per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html
Marta S. and L. Austin Weeks Scholarship
Full cost of tuition per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html
George W. Jenkins Scholarship
Full cost of attendance including a semester stipend
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html
President's Scholarship
Up to $30,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year, full-time enrollment (minimum 12 credit hours per semester), and 24+ credit hours per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html
Canes Achievement Award
Up to $20,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires minimum 3.0 GPA per academic year, full-time enrollment, and 24+ credit hours per academic year.
Source: https://admissions.miami.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/freshman/index.html

Renewal questions families ask

What GPA and test scores does my student need for a merit scholarship at UM?: UM does not publish GPA, SAT, or ACT cutoffs for any merit tier. All awards are holistic, factoring in academic record, rigor, and personal qualities. The admitted class middle 50% is 1350-1450 SAT and 30-33 ACT with a 3.75 average unweighted GPA, but meeting these stats does not guarantee any award. Roughly 35% of freshmen with no financial need receive some institutional merit averaging $23,560 per year.

Rules that bite at University of Miami

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook, derived from University of Miami's own tier rules and not generic advice.

cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$10,000/yr ($30,000 − $20,000)
University of Miami publishes a tier ladder where crossing Canes Achievement → President's Scholarship changes the marginal value by +$10,000/yr ($30,000 − $20,000). The only fully computable step — both tiers publish firm dollar maximums. A 1.5x increase. Both holistic and auto-considered; driven by competitiveness of the admit, not a reportable score line.
renewalStamps Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to 8 semesters (10 for Architecture). Requires full-time enrollment (minimum 12 credit hours per semester), 24+ credit hours per academic year, and minimum 3.0 GPA calculated after the second semester of attendance. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How University of Miami compares across our verified dataset

669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
University of Miami 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.
63 of 751 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.
University of Miami is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against University of Miami’s own published materials.