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Niagara· Renewal Rules

Keeping Niagara’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 Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK

At a glance

Renewable tiers
9 of 9
One-time tiers
0
Tiers with published renewal terms
9
Renewal risk profile
low

Renewal risk profile

Niagara's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

  • Incoming Freshmen Scholarships & Grants (Niagara Trustees' Scholarships, NU Presidential Scholarships, Deans' Scholarships, NU Achievement Awards, NU Grants): See notes
  • Transfer Scholarship / Transfer Award (GPA grid): See notes
  • Phi Theta Kapa Merit Scholarship: See notes
  • Full Flight Scholarship: See notes
  • Purple Eagle Leadership Award: See notes
  • Vincentian Scholars Program: See notes
  • Eagle Experience Scholarship: See notes
  • Canadian Freshman Scholarship (Canadian Admissions page): See notes
  • NUSTEP Scholarship: Full-time enrollment

Renewal terms by tier

  • Incoming Freshmen Scholarships & Grants (Niagara Trustees' Scholarships, NU Presidential Scholarships, Deans' Scholarships, NU Achievement Awards, NU Grants)

    $15,000-$25,000 per year

    Entry requirements: Not published — eligibility determined by a thorough evaluation of the high school transcript and/or submitted standardized test scores GPA · Not published SAT · Not published ACT

    To keep it: Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress in order for the funds to be renewed each year. Catalog adds: renewable up to three years of undergraduate study with continuous enrollment.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/

  • Transfer Scholarship / Transfer Award (GPA grid)

    $14,000-$21,000 per year

    Entry requirements: 2.50-2.79 = $14,000; 2.80-3.09 = $16,000; 3.10-3.39 = $18,000; 3.40-3.69 = $19,000; 3.70 & above = $21,000 (cumulative GPA from prior colleges/universities) GPA

    To keep it: Scholarships and awards are renewable for up to three years; students must maintain satisfactory academic progress.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/

  • Phi Theta Kapa Merit Scholarship

    $24,000 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.00 cumulative QPA (per the PTK eligibility entry on the same page) GPA

    To keep it: Scholarships and awards are renewable for up to three years; students must maintain satisfactory academic progress.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/

  • Full Flight Scholarship

    Full tuition (a value of at least $39,000 per year)

    Entry requirements: None beyond admission — 'If you are accepted to Niagara University, you meet all the academic requirements for the program.' GPA

    To keep it: If your family income exceeds the annual maximum, you will no longer be eligible. However, if your income stays within that limit, the funding will be available to you for your full four years at Niagara University. You must remain a New York State resident.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/full-flight-scholarship/

  • Purple Eagle Leadership Award

    $25,000

    Entry requirements: Minimum 90 GPA (100-point high school scale) GPA

    To keep it: Awarded $25,000 and a book award renewable up to 4 years.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/purple-eagle-leadership-award/

  • Vincentian Scholars Program

    Trustee-scholarship level plus up to $5,000 per year

    Entry requirements: Must maintain a high grade point average (no admission cutoff published) GPA

    To keep it: Up to $5,000 per year as long as they maintain satisfactory academic performance and fulfill scholarship responsibilities; described as a four-year program.

    Source: https://mission.niagara.edu/vincentian/vincentian-scholars-program/

  • Eagle Experience Scholarship

    $1,250 per year, up to $5,000

    To keep it: Applied to your financial package for each year that you attend Niagara University.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/eagle-experience-scholarship/

  • Canadian Freshman Scholarship (Canadian Admissions page)

    $24,000 per year

    Entry requirements: Not published — 'Tuition is variable and depends on the level of merit scholarship and other grants that you receive. Once we have your marks from high school or other post secondary institutions, we can calculate this' GPA

    To keep it: Renewal terms not stated on the Canadian Admissions page; general NU merit renewal rules (satisfactory academic progress) presumably apply — confirm with admissions.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/admissions/canadian-students/

  • NUSTEP Scholarship

    $3,000 per year

    To keep it: Applicable for up to four years of full-time, continuous undergraduate study at Niagara University.

    Source: https://www.niagara.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships-grants/

How families lose this aid

  • Dropping below full-time without checking the aid impact

    Merit amounts are prorated for less-than-full-time enrollment (minimum six credit hours per semester), and per the catalog 'No institutional grant/scholarship is available for less than half-time attendance.' Renewal also requires continuous enrollment and satisfactory academic progress, with renewal limited to three years of undergraduate study.

Renewal questions families ask

What do I need to keep my merit scholarship?
Maintain continuous full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic progress; awards are renewable for up to three years of undergraduate study (four years total). No specific renewal GPA is published — confirm the SAP standard with the financial aid office.
Do transfer students need to apply for merit scholarships?
No — 'There is no application for the transfer scholarships/awards.' Awards run from $14,000/year (2.50-2.79 GPA) to $21,000/year (3.70+), with $24,000/year for documented Phi Theta Kappa members. Full Flight is not available to transfers.

Rules that bite at Niagara

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

  • renewalNUSTEP Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Applicable for up to four years of full-time, continuous undergraduate study at Niagara University. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Niagara compares across our verified dataset

  • 669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Niagara 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.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Niagara’s own published materials.

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