Get merit aid23%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Last verifiedJul 2026Analyst COWORK
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The merit-aid verdict at Radford
Radford auto-considers on-time applicants (no separate application) for a tiered set of named, tuition-only merit awards (Excellence/Wayfinder/Compass) with separate, higher out-of-state amounts and a low 2.5 renewal GPA.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Radford
All freshman tiers are stated as 'up to' a ceiling (or a range), with no published GPA/test grid — the actual amount is determined by the university.
If the full amount is not allocated to tuition and mandatory fees, the remainder is not refunded and does not roll over to future terms — these are tuition/fee-only awards, not a full ride.
Other tuition-specific awards (military tuition stipend, Academic Common Market) reduce the merit scholarship.
Students who fall below 12 credit hours at any time will have their scholarship revoked.
Renewal requires a cumulative 2.5 GPA (2.8 for Transfer Excellence) and good judicial standing after the first year and each semester thereafter.
Only freshmen who apply by Feb. 1 and transfers who apply by March 1 are automatically considered for institutional merit scholarships.
Who this school is for
Admitted students who apply on time (freshmen by Feb. 1, transfers by March 1); out-of-state students get markedly larger award ceilings. Awards are 'up to' amounts with no published GPA/test grid.
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Radford, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Radford, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$8,965
$30,001–$48,000
$8,724
$48,001–$75,000
$12,069
$75,001–$110,000
$17,092
$110,001+
$23,533
All income levels (average)
$14,578
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$28,405
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$12,548
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$25,633
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$14,578
That works out to an average 49% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.
Radford is a public school; Scorecard's net price and cost of attendance figures cover in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
49%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
76%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$24,000 (~$254/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$53,739
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
40%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
55%
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
Up to $4,000…Up to $4,000 (in-state) / Up to $8,000 (out-of-state)
Radford Excellence Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Incoming freshman students. Auto-considered with no separate application if the admission application is submitted by Feb. 1.
Renewal terms
Up to eight consecutive semesters. After the first academic year, and each semester thereafter, must achieve a cumulative 2.5 GPA (4.0 scale) and remain in good judicial standing. Must complete at least 12 credit hours each semester or the scholarship is revoked.
Notes
Applied toward tuition and mandatory fees only. Reduced by other tuition-specific awards (e.g., military tuition stipend, Academic Common Market). If the full amount is not allocated to tuition/fees, the remainder is NOT refunded and does not roll over. Amounts are 'up to' ceilings — no published stat grid.
$1,000-$2,000…$1,000-$2,000 (in-state) / Up to $8,000 (out-of-state)
Wayfinder Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Incoming freshman and transfer students; auto-considered (no separate application) if applied on time.
Renewal terms
New freshmen: up to eight consecutive semesters. Transfers: up to four consecutive semesters. After year one and each semester thereafter, cumulative 2.5 GPA and good judicial standing required; must complete 12+ credits/semester or scholarship revoked.
Notes
Tuition and mandatory fees only; reduced by other tuition-specific awards; unused amount not refunded and does not roll over.
Up to $1,000…Up to $1,000 (in-state) / Up to $7,000 (out-of-state)
Compass Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Incoming freshman and transfer students; auto-considered (no separate application) if applied on time.
Renewal terms
New freshmen: up to eight consecutive semesters. Transfers: up to four. Cumulative 2.5 GPA and good judicial standing after year one; 12+ credits/semester or revoked.
Notes
Tuition and mandatory fees only; reduced by other tuition-specific awards; unused amount not refunded and does not roll over.
Transfer students with excellent academic standards on all attempted college courses. All completed application materials must be received by Admissions by March 1.
Renewal terms
Up to four consecutive semesters. After year one and each semester thereafter, cumulative 2.8 GPA and good judicial standing required; 12+ credits/semester or revoked.
Notes
Tuition and mandatory fees only; reduced by other tuition-specific awards; unused amount not refunded. Note the HIGHER 2.8 renewal GPA vs. 2.5 for the freshman tiers.
Transfer students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa with high academic success; all completed application materials received by Admissions by March 1.
Renewal terms
Up to four consecutive semesters if renewal criteria are met.
Notes
Page states $3,000 per academic year for Virginia residents/in-state-eligible students; no out-of-state amount published for this award.
Institutional merit scholarships are applied only to tuition and mandatory fees. Other tuition-specific awards (e.g., military tuition stipend, Academic Common Market) reduce the merit award. Any portion not used for tuition/fees is not refunded and does not roll over. A residency change to in-state reduces the award amount.
These are tuition/fee-restricted (effectively last-dollar against tuition) awards. The page does not address how private OUTSIDE scholarships interact; the displacement language is specific to other tuition benefits (military stipend, Academic Common Market) and residency.
From the Radford Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated figures):
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Radford’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
23%of admitsget merit
Average award$3,936
At Radford, roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $3,936.
As filed in Radford's CDS Section H2A: of 1,406 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 323 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $3,936. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,159 of 5,548, averaging $4,223. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
The 2025-2026 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.
AmountTuition (need-based program, not merit)EligibilityReferenced for FAFSA filers; complete FAFSA by March 1 for grant programs and the Radford Tuition Promise.
Mentioned on the aid-types page; verify details on the dedicated Tuition Promise page.
No. New freshman applicants who apply by Feb. 1 and transfer applicants who apply by March 1 are automatically considered for institutional merit-based scholarships; no additional application is required.
What is the renewal GPA?
A cumulative 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale (2.8 for the Transfer Excellence Scholarship), plus good judicial standing, checked after the first academic year and each semester thereafter.
When must I confirm enrollment to keep my scholarship?
Confirm attendance per your admission letter — new freshmen by May 1, incoming transfers by June 1.
What is the FAFSA deadline?
Submit the FAFSA by March 1 to be considered for grant programs and the Radford Tuition Promise; FAFSAs received after March 1 are still reviewed for grant programs.
How Radford compares across our verified dataset
241 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Radford is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Radford 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 claim is checked against Radford’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
