Can I get both grids?

The page publishes the Academic Honor Scholarship and the Housing and Meals Scholarship as two separate annual grids; the housing/meals award continues only while living on campus. (The page does not explicitly state every student receives both — confirm with the scholarship office.)

What does renewal require?

Earn at least 12 hours each semester with a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher for the duration of the award; falling below either can cost you the scholarship. The Housing and Meals award additionally requires living on campus.

How much is TOPS at Nicholls?

Per Nicholls' TOPS page: Opportunity $2,461.14/semester; Performance adds a $200/semester stipend; Honors adds $400/semester; Excellence pays $4,370.57/semester ($4,451.69 in high-cost programs). Amounts are set by the state (no aid year labeled on the page).

Nicholls· Renewal Rules

Keeping Nicholls’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: 3 of 3
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 3
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Nicholls'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.

Annual Academic Honor Scholarship: See notes
Annual Housing and Meals Scholarship (academic enrichment): See notes
TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state award hosted at Nicholls: 2.3 GPA

Renewal terms by tier

Annual Academic Honor Scholarship
$2,000-$4,500/year (by GPA x ACT grid), for 4 years
Entry requirements: 3.0 minimum (grid bands at 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0) GPA · SAT accepted (page says submit ACT/SAT scores; grid is published in ACT bands only) SAT · 21 minimum (grid bands 21-23, 24-26, 27-29, 30+); at GPA 3.0 an ACT of 24+ is required ACT
To keep it: Those awarded an academic scholarship will be required to earn at least 12 hours each semester with a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher for the duration of the award. Falling below either or both requirements could result in a loss of your scholarship.
Source: https://www.nicholls.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/first-time-freshman/
Annual Housing and Meals Scholarship (academic enrichment)
$2,000-$4,500/year (by GPA x ACT grid), for 4 years
Entry requirements: 3.0 minimum (grid bands at 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0) GPA · SAT accepted; grid published in ACT bands only SAT · 21 minimum (grid bands 21-23, 24-26, 27-29, 30+); at GPA 3.0 an ACT of 24+ is required ACT
To keep it: Same renewal as academic scholarships (12 hours/semester earned, 3.0 semester GPA) PLUS: 'To continue to receive the housing and meals scholarship (academic enrichment), students must be living on campus.'
Source: https://www.nicholls.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/first-time-freshman/
TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state award hosted at Nicholls
$2,461.14/semester (Opportunity, +$200/semester stipend for Performance, +$400/semester for Honors); $4,370.57/semester (Excellence; $4,451.69 for high-cost programs)
Entry requirements: 2.5 (Opportunity), 3.25 (Performance), 3.5 (Honors), 3.5 (Excellence) GPA · 20 (Opportunity), 23 (Performance), 27 (Honors), 31 (Excellence) ACT
To keep it: Suspended if cumulative external GPA falls below 2.0 at end of fall/summer/intersession. At end of every Spring: Opportunity requires 2.3 cumulative GPA (<48 hrs) or 2.5 (48+ hrs); Performance/Honors/Excellence require 3.0 cumulative GPA; all require 24 credit hours per academic year (summer can cure the hour shortfall). Losing TOPS for GPA gives up to two years to restore it while enrolled full-time.
Source: https://www.nicholls.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/tops/

How families lose this aid

Treating the 3.0 renewal GPA as cumulative.
Renewal requires a SEMESTER GPA of 3.0 or higher plus 12 earned hours EVERY semester 'for the duration of the award' — one bad semester 'could result in a loss of your scholarship.'
Moving off campus while holding the Housing and Meals scholarship.
The page states 'To continue to receive the housing and meals scholarship (academic enrichment), students must be living on campus.' Moving off campus forfeits that grid's money.
Assuming a 3.0 GPA alone gets a scholarship.
In both grids, the GPA 3.0 row is blank under ACT 21-23 — a 3.0 student needs at least a 24 ACT; with ACT 21-23 the minimum GPA is 3.5.
Failing to pass 24 hours per year on TOPS.
Per Nicholls' TOPS page, not passing 24 hours for the year loses the TOPS award; GPA-based losses give only a two-year window to cure while enrolled full-time.

Renewal questions families ask

Can I get both grids?: The page publishes the Academic Honor Scholarship and the Housing and Meals Scholarship as two separate annual grids; the housing/meals award continues only while living on campus. (The page does not explicitly state every student receives both — confirm with the scholarship office.)
What does renewal require?: Earn at least 12 hours each semester with a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher for the duration of the award; falling below either can cost you the scholarship. The Housing and Meals award additionally requires living on campus.
How much is TOPS at Nicholls?: Per Nicholls' TOPS page: Opportunity $2,461.14/semester; Performance adds a $200/semester stipend; Honors adds $400/semester; Excellence pays $4,370.57/semester ($4,451.69 in high-cost programs). Amounts are set by the state (no aid year labeled on the page).

Rules that bite at Nicholls

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

renewalTOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state award hosted at Nicholls: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Suspended if cumulative external GPA falls below 2.0 at end of fall/summer/intersession. At end of every Spring: Opportunity requires 2.3 cumulative GPA (<48 hrs) or 2.5 (48+ hrs); Performance/Honors/Excellence require 3.0 cumulative GPA; all require 24 credit hours per academic year (summer can cure the hour shortfall). Losing TOPS for GPA gives up to two years to restore it while enrolled full-time. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Nicholls compares across our verified dataset

669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Nicholls 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 Nicholls’s own published materials.