How much merit aid will I get for 2026-27?

First-year and transfer merit scholarships both range from $18,000 to $24,000 for the 2026-27 academic year. No GPA/test grid is published; transfer awards are 'primarily determined by the college GPA.'

What GPA do I need to keep my merit scholarship?

None beyond good standing: 'Merit Scholarships will renew all four years for students as long as the students remain in good standing at the university - no higher GPA requirement exists to keep their award.'

Can I earn more merit money after I enroll?

Yes — a 3.6+ overall GPA at year's end earns the $1,000 Academic Excellence Award toward the next year's tuition, repeatable each qualifying year (excluded for full/near-full tuition scholarship recipients).

Roger Williams· Renewal Rules

Keeping Roger Williams’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: 6 of 7
One-time tiers: 1
Tiers with published renewal terms: 6
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Roger Williams'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.

Merit Scholarships (first-year, 2026-27): See notes
RWU Transfer Merit Scholarship (2026-27): Full-time enrollment
Academic Excellence Award: 3.6 GPA
Intercultural Leadership Ambassador (ILA) Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
RWU International Merit Scholarship: See notes
Local full-tuition endowed scholarships (Harold Payson / Bristol Fire & Police Memorial / Michael Andrade / Portsmouth HS): Full-time enrollment

Renewal terms by tier

Merit Scholarships (first-year, 2026-27)
$18,000-$24,000
To keep it: Renew all four years with good standing at the university — 'no higher GPA requirement exists to keep their award.'
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships
RWU Transfer Merit Scholarship (2026-27)
$18,000-$24,000
To keep it: Renews up to four years with good standing and full-time bachelor's enrollment; no higher GPA requirement.
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships
Academic Excellence Award
$1,000
Entry requirements: Minimum overall 3.6 GPA or higher at the end of the academic year (earned at RWU) GPA
To keep it: Can be earned at the conclusion of each academic year in which a 3.6 GPA is earned; applies to the following year's tuition.
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships
Intercultural Leadership Ambassador (ILA) Scholarship
95% of tuition
Entry requirements: Minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA
To keep it: Renewable for four consecutive years of residential, full-time undergraduate study.
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships
RWU International Merit Scholarship
Up to 50% of standard tuition, housing, and meals
To keep it: Annual and renewable.
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships
Local full-tuition endowed scholarships (Harold Payson / Bristol Fire & Police Memorial / Michael Andrade / Portsmouth HS)
Full tuition (Andrade & Portsmouth: full tuition and fees)
Entry requirements: Portsmouth HS: minimum 3.0 GPA and combined SAT of at least 1170; Andrade (Mount Hope HS): minimum B average GPA · Portsmouth HS: 1170 combined SAT
To keep it: Four-year awards. Portsmouth HS renewal: maintain a minimum RWU GPA of 3.0 and five hours of community service to the Portsmouth School District. Bristol awards require full-time status and SAP per the catalog.
Source: https://www.rwu.edu/undergraduate/admission-aid/financial-aid/types-aid/new-student-awards-and-endowed-scholarships

How families lose this aid

Reading the ILA Scholarship as a full ride.
It is '95% of tuition' — not fees, housing, or meals — and requires residential full-time study, high need, a 3.0 GPA, leadership, and a qualifying background category.
Assuming a local endowed scholarship is awarded every year regardless of applicants.
'In a year where there is no qualified candidate as determined by the Award Committee, there shall be no award of the scholarship for such year' — and several (Brito, Montalbano, Maisoh, Shawmut) are typically awarded only once every four years.
Portsmouth HS Scholarship recipients coasting on the friendly general renewal rule.
Unlike the standard merit award (good standing only), the Portsmouth award has its own renewal terms: a minimum 3.0 RWU GPA plus five hours of community service to the Portsmouth School District each year.

Renewal questions families ask

How much merit aid will I get for 2026-27?: First-year and transfer merit scholarships both range from $18,000 to $24,000 for the 2026-27 academic year. No GPA/test grid is published; transfer awards are 'primarily determined by the college GPA.'
What GPA do I need to keep my merit scholarship?: None beyond good standing: 'Merit Scholarships will renew all four years for students as long as the students remain in good standing at the university - no higher GPA requirement exists to keep their award.'
Can I earn more merit money after I enroll?: Yes — a 3.6+ overall GPA at year's end earns the $1,000 Academic Excellence Award toward the next year's tuition, repeatable each qualifying year (excluded for full/near-full tuition scholarship recipients).

Rules that bite at Roger Williams

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

renewalRWU Transfer Merit Scholarship (2026-27): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renews up to four years with good standing and full-time bachelor's enrollment; no higher GPA requirement. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Roger Williams compares across our verified dataset

69 of 751 verified schools publish a top renewal tier requiring 3.5+ GPA or major-GPA gating.
Roger Williams is one of them. Calibrate year-one academic load against the renewal floor, not just freshman survival.
669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Roger Williams 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.
133 of 751 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Roger Williams is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

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

policyRoger Williams stacking policy