North Central (IL) awards automatic merit on admission. North Central (IL) does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.
Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.
GPA
Presidential 4.17-5.00; Dean 3.87-4.16; Honor 3.58-3.86; Achievement 3.23-3.57; Academic 3.22 and below (cumulative HS GPA, recalculated to a 4.0 scale)
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Academic Merit Grid (Presidential / Dean / Honor / Achievement / Academic)
Who qualifies
Awarded during the admission review process based on a holistic review; GPA increase after first semester senior year can be re-evaluated
How to keep it
Renewable up to four years provided you maintain the required GPA each year and remain a full-time undergraduate. The awarding page states these scholarships 'remain the same if you maintain the appropriate cumulative GPA' and SAP; the specific numeric renewal GPA is not published.
Worth knowing
Test-blind GPA grid. GPAs are recalculated to a 4.0 scale (the raw bands extend above 4.0 for weighted GPAs). Holistic review; no separate application.
Published amountAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.
GPA
Cumulative high school GPA of 4.25 and above (recalculated)
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Presidential Housing Award
Who qualifies
Students must live on campus
How to keep it
Annual; conditioned on living on campus.
Worth knowing
IMPORTANT: housing-conditional award — the $3,000 is contingent on living on campus; a high-GPA commuter would not receive it.
Talent Scholarships (music / theatre / art / forensics)Amount not publishedNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Talent Scholarships (music / theatre / art / forensics)
Amount not published
Published award termsNot 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 Scholarships (music / theatre / art / forensics)
Who qualifies
Audition required; open to incoming students
How to keep it
Renewable depending on department funding and continued participation.
Worth knowing
By audition; renewal tied to participation and department funding.
Alumni Scholarship$1,000Not automatic
Published awardOther selection criteria
Alumni Scholarship
$1,000
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.
Open award details for Alumni Scholarship
Who qualifies
Recommended by a North Central alum (one recommendation per alum per year); referral deadline March 15
Renewal terms
Applied to first academic year; limited to one alumni scholarship per student.
Worth knowing
Alum-referral award for the first academic year.
Lights up against North Central (IL)'s published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.
Free Merit Check
Check the rules that could cut this.
The free Merit Check shows which North Central (IL) award your student's numbers reach, and the rules that could change it. About 30 seconds.
This page covers one school.
Your playbook does this for every school on your list, sorted by what you’d pay.
Ready in under 10 minutes. 30-day money-back guarantee.
“it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa
The fine print
Renewal ruleAcademic Merit Grid (Presidential / Dean / Honor / Achievement / Academic): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable up to four years provided you maintain the required GPA each year and remain a full-time undergraduate. The awarding page states these scholarships 'remain the same if you maintain the appropriate cumulative GPA' and SAP; the specific numeric renewal GPA is not published. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
What makes North Central (IL) different
North Central College (Naperville IL, Methodist) auto-awards a GPA grid recalculated to a 4.0 scale (Academic $25,500 to Presidential $30,000) plus a $3,000 Presidential Housing Award that requires living on campus. (DRAFT)
Merit tiers42 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards27%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
More than one award path
Separate the two paths.
Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.
Match the published criteria
Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.
Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
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.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award+
Straight from the aid office
What North Central (IL)'s aid office says
Per the Financial Aid Office, North Central College, August 2026. How we verify
Who decides academic scholarships
Which office determines academic scholarship awards?
The Admission Office makes determinations of academic scholarships, and the Financial Aid office is forwarding the question to them.
“I am forwarding your email to our Admission Office as they make determinations of academic scholarships.”
GPA scale used for scholarship tiers
What GPA scale do the published scholarship levels use?
The published scholarship levels reflect the 2025-26 GPA requirements for each tier on a 4.0 scale.
“The published scholarship levels do reflect the 2025-26 GPA requirements for each tier on a 4.0 Grade Point Scale.”
Weighted GPA accepted
Does the school use weighted GPA in reviewing scholarships?
The school accepts the weighted GPA on the 4.0 scale when reviewing a student.
“We acknowledge a student's effort and accept the weighted GPA on the 4.0 scale in their review.”
Factors determining scholarship
Is anything besides GPA used to determine the scholarship amount?
No other factors beyond GPA determine the scholarship; test scores have no monetary value.
“There are no other factors that determine the scholarship beyond the GPA itself (test scores have no monetary value).”
Honors/weighted GPA example
How can a student's GPA exceed 4.0 on a 4.0 scale?
A student can earn a GPA above 4.0 on the 4.0 scale by taking Honors courses, which award additional GPA points (e.g., an Honors A is 4.5 vs. a standard A at 4.0).
“For example, in a high school standard class, if a student earns an A that is a 4.0 while in an Honors class an A can be a 4.5. The school's GPA scale is still 4.0, but the student has earned additional GPA points for the complexity of the course, giving them a potential GPA over 4.0 on a 4.0 scale.”
Minimum admissions GPA
What is the minimum GPA for admission?
The minimum GPA for admissions is around 2.5, with no excessive low grades, though the average admitted GPA is typically around 3.5.
“Our minimum GPA for admissions is around 2.5 with no excessive low grades, but our average typically sits around a 3.5.”
Minimum scholarship GPA threshold
What GPA qualifies for the minimum scholarship award?
Any accepted student with a GPA of 3.22 or below will receive the minimum scholarship, and awards increase based on the student's earned cumulative GPA at the time of applying as shown on the website.
“The minimum scholarship will be awarded to any accepted student with a GPA of 3.22 or below, and increase based on a student's earned cumulative GPA at the time of applying as indicated on the website.”
GPA recalculation policy
When does the school recalculate a student's GPA?
The school only recalculates GPA if the student's school uses a standard grading scale of 5.0 or another scale different from 4.0.
“We only recalculate the GPA if the school's standard grading scale is on a 5.0 or other grade point scale.”
What families often miss
The Presidential Housing Award (4.25+ GPA) requires LIVING ON CAMPUS — a qualifying commuter or off-campus student would not receive it.
The bands run above 4.0 (e.g., Presidential 4.17-5.00) because they reflect weighted GPAs, but NCC recalculates GPAs to a 4.0 scale for the award decision, so your weighted GPA isn't taken at face value.
The awarding page lists 'You receive outside aid' as a reason your aid offer may be revised — an outside award can trigger a package change, though the reduction order isn't published.
If your GPA significantly increases after the first semester of senior year, you must contact your admission counselor for a possible scholarship-level re-evaluation — it isn't automatic.
Merit scholarships renew for up to four years only if you maintain the required cumulative GPA and full-time undergraduate status each year; departmental/talent awards also depend on continued participation and department funding.
The $1,000 Alumni Scholarship requires an alum's referral by March 15, and each alum may refer only one student per year.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
Every admitted first-year gets a renewable academic merit award scaled by recalculated GPA — from $25,500 up to $30,000 — with the highest-GPA students adding a $3,000 housing award if they live on campus. (DRAFT)
Published yearly cost: Approximately $68,826 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at North Central (IL), what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at North Central (IL), academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$12,507
$30,001–$48,000
$13,486
$48,001–$75,000
$16,362
$75,001–$110,000
$20,590
$110,001+
$26,961
All income levels (average)
$21,044
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$45,726
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$21,044
That works out to roughly a 63% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $57,219 (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
64%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
77%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$24,500 (~$260/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$60,123
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
27%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
50%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Outside scholarships reduce loans and/or work-study first; institutional grants are only reduced if required to prevent an over-award.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): When a decrease in the North Central College portion of a student's aid offer is required, the Office of Financial Aid will attempt to reduce the loan or employment offer before considering a reduction to grant funding. [Reasons for revision include:] 1. Outside aid received is higher than originally estimated. 2. Outside resources were not originally taken into account.
From the North Central (IL) Common Data Set 2024-2025:
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From North Central (IL)’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
27%of admitsget merit
Average award$29,314Covers ~43% of $68,826 cost of attendance
At North Central (IL), roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $29,314 — about 43% of total cost.
As filed in North Central (IL)'s CDS Section H2A: of 482 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 132 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $29,314. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 767 of 2,386, averaging $27,228. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit27%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Average merit award$29,314Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Automatically during the admission review process, based on your cumulative high school GPA recalculated to a 4.0 scale (holistic review). No separate application is required for the academic merit grid.
What GPA do I need for each tier?
Presidential $30,000 (4.17-5.00), Dean $29,000 (3.87-4.16), Honor $28,000 (3.58-3.86), Achievement $26,500 (3.23-3.57), Academic $25,500 (3.22 and below). A $3,000 Presidential Housing Award is added at 4.25+ if you live on campus.
Can outside scholarships change my aid?
Yes — receiving outside aid is listed as a reason your aid offer may be revised. The college notifies you by email; the specific reduction order is not published, so confirm with Financial Aid.
What's the cost of attendance?
For 2026-27, a resident student's total estimated COA is $68,826 (tuition $48,214 + student fees $530 + housing and food $15,556 + books $920 + personal $2,466 + transportation $1,062 + loan fees $78). Direct billed costs (tuition+fees+housing/food) are $64,300.
See sources and other schools+
How North Central (IL) compares
145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
North Central (IL) is in a recognizable cluster (145 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.
North Central (IL) 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 North Central (IL)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
