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Muhlenberg scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$80,658per year · 2025-2026 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Muhlenberg 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
4 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. Merit Scholarship$30,000-$46,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Merit Scholarship

    $30,000-$46,000

    Published rangeNot 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 Merit Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    All applicants who submit a complete admission application are considered; based on academic performance, extracurriculars, and character. Test-optional applicants are eligible; admissions interview encouraged

    How to keep it

    Renewable up to eight undergraduate semesters with good social standing, full-time status, and minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 at the end of year one and 3.0 at the end of years two and three. Fixed per-semester amount — does NOT increase. Any unused merit due to part-time status, withdrawal, or early graduation is forfeited.

    Worth knowing

    Considered automatically with admission, but amount is holistic (no published GPA/test grid). Determined at time of admission based on academic record and course rigor.

  2. RJ Fellows Scholarship$5,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    RJ Fellows Scholarship

    $5,000

    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 RJ Fellows Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Students invited to join the RJ Fellows honors program

    How to keep it

    Tied to participation in the RJ Fellows honors community; annual scholarship.

    Worth knowing

    By invitation to the honors community.

  3. Talent Scholarship (art, dance, film, music, theatre)$1,000-$2,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Talent Scholarship (art, dance, film, music, theatre)

    $1,000-$2,000

    Published rangeNot 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 Talent Scholarship (art, dance, film, music, theatre)

    Who qualifies

    Audition or portfolio review; open to majors and non-majors; may apply in no more than two disciplines; final deadline March 1

    How to keep it

    Renewable for all four years based on academic performance, good campus standing, and continued participation in the arts.

    Worth knowing

    Amount is '$1,000-$2,000 total per year'; can be earned in addition to merit. Award reflected in initial aid offer only if audition/portfolio submitted by the application-cycle deadline.

  4. Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship — Transfer Students$5,000Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship — Transfer Students

    $5,000

    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 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship — Transfer Students

    Who qualifies

    Current community college students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to four semesters at Muhlenberg as long as a 3.0 GPA and good community standing are maintained.

    Worth knowing

    Transfer-specific award; separate from the first-year merit track.

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The fine print

Renewal ruleMerit Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewable up to eight undergraduate semesters with good social standing, full-time status, and minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 at the end of year one and 3.0 at the end of years two and three. Fixed per-semester amount — does NOT increase. Any unused merit due to part-time status, withdrawal, or early graduation is forfeited. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

Aid capHard $80,658 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at Muhlenberg cannot push the package past $80,658. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes Muhlenberg different

Muhlenberg considers every admitted applicant for a large automatic merit scholarship ($30,000-$46,000), but the award is frozen at a fixed amount and carries a rising renewal-GPA cliff (2.5 after year one, then 3.0 after years two and three).

Merit tiers4See 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 Muhlenberg'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 renewal GPA RISES: 2.5 at the end of year one, then 3.0 at the end of years two and three. A student coasting at a 2.7 after sophomore year loses the scholarship.

  2. The award is a fixed per-semester amount set at admission and 'will not increase for any reason' — it does not scale up as tuition rises.

  3. Any unused merit scholarship due to part-time status, withdrawal, or early graduation is forfeited — it cannot be carried over or paid out.

  4. Although the final talent deadline is March 1, the audition/portfolio must be in by your application-cycle deadline for the talent award to appear in your initial financial aid offer.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Strong students who interview and can sustain a 3.0 GPA; arts-inclined applicants (majors or not) who audition can stack a talent award on top of merit.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $80,658 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Muhlenberg, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,302
$30,001–$48,000$16,629
$48,001–$75,000$19,717
$75,001–$110,000$25,452
$110,001+$37,603
All income levels (average)$28,905

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$62,805
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$28,905

That works out to roughly a 63% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $77,270 (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
82%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
90%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,455 (~$270/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$69,107
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
22%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
55%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships only trigger an aid adjustment if total aid would exceed the cost of attendance (or the student's aid eligibility cap); below that ceiling, awards are not displaced.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Students must report any scholarships, grants, and/ or loans received through outside sources to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid reserves the right to adjust your financial aid offer if our total aid from all sources exceeds your financial need or Cost of Attendance.

Source

Other Muhlenberg scholarships worth checking

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

Amount$5,000/yearEligibilityInvitation to the RJ Fellows honors community

Also listed as a meritTier

Source

Muhlenberg merit aid FAQ

  • Do I need a separate application for merit scholarships?

    No. All students who submit a complete admission application are automatically considered; an admissions interview is encouraged and test-optional applicants remain eligible.

  • What GPA do I need to keep my merit scholarship?

    A cumulative 2.5 at the end of your first year, then 3.0 at the end of your second and third years, plus full-time status and good social standing.

  • What are the application and FAFSA deadlines?

    Early Decision I and FAFSA priority: November 15; Early Action: December 1; Early Decision II and Regular Decision: February 16. Muhlenberg's FAFSA school code is 003304.

See sources and other schools

How Muhlenberg compares

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

    Muhlenberg 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.

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

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Muhlenberg merit aid

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