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Saint Joseph's scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$75,202per year · 2025-2026 · On-campus
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Saint Joseph's is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 3 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
4 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Where does your student land?

  1. Merit-Based Academic (University) ScholarshipsAmount not published; awarded holistically. SJU states some awards 'reduce the cost of tuition to be similar to the tuition of a state school.'Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Merit-Based Academic (University) Scholarships

    Amount not published; awarded holistically. SJU states some awards 'reduce the cost of tuition to be similar to the tuition of a state school.'

    Published coverage or packageNot 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 Merit-Based Academic (University) Scholarships

    Who qualifies

    No separate application. All applicants — including test-optional applicants — are automatically reviewed for a merit scholarship. SJU does not publish a stat-banded dollar grid for these awards; the tier and amount are set holistically inside the admission review.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for up to eight semesters as long as the student remains a full-time undergraduate and meets the minimum cumulative GPA requirement for the award. The specific minimum GPA varies by award and is not published as a single public number.

  2. Guaranteed Admission Program merit awardMinimum $30,000 over four years ($120,000 value) + $5,000/yr excellence award ($20,000 value)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Guaranteed Admission Program merit award

    Minimum $30,000 over four years ($120,000 value) + $5,000/yr excellence award ($20,000 value)

    Published award termsAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.75
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Guaranteed Admission Program merit award

    Who qualifies

    Cumulative weighted 3.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale guarantees admission and the published minimum award. Direct-entry professional programs additionally require a weighted math and science GPA of 3.00 or higher.

    How to keep it

    Four-year award (eight semesters) for full-time undergraduates meeting the program's GPA requirement. The published amount is a guaranteed minimum, not a ceiling.

  3. Jesuit Preparatory ScholarshipAmount not publishedAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Jesuit Preparatory Scholarship

    Amount not published

    Published award termsAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.00
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Jesuit Preparatory Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Awarded to incoming first-year students who graduate from a Jesuit high school and have a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale. Dollar amount is not published on the public scholarships page.

    How to keep it

    Renewable as a merit award for full-time undergraduates meeting the minimum cumulative GPA requirement.

Lights up against Saint Joseph's'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.

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The fine print

Renewal ruleMerit-Based Academic (University) Scholarships: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewable for up to eight semesters as long as the student remains a full-time undergraduate and meets the minimum cumulative GPA requirement for the award. The specific minimum GPA varies by award and is not published as a single public number. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Saint Joseph's different

A Philadelphia Jesuit university that reviews every applicant for merit automatically and guarantees a floor — students admitted through the Guaranteed Admission Program get at least a $30,000-over-four-years award plus a $5,000 excellence award — though it does not publish a public GPA/test dollar grid for its general University Scholarships.

Merit tiers32 based on grades or scores
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.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. 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.

Take Saint Joseph's's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. Saint Joseph's reviews every applicant for merit automatically but does not publish a stat-banded dollar table for its general University Scholarships. The amount is set holistically. The one published, predictable figure is the Guaranteed Admission Program floor for students with a 3.75+ weighted GPA.

  2. SJU describes the GAP award as a minimum — 'at minimum, a $30,000 four-year merit scholarship... plus an additional $5,000 excellence award.' Strong applicants may be offered more. Do not assume the published floor is the most you can receive.

  3. SJU requires you to report outside awards to the Financial Aid Office but does not publish how they affect institutional aid. The outside scholarship could displace institutional aid rather than add to it. Email finaid@sju.edu to confirm before counting on the combined total.

See award cutoffs and special programs

Guaranteed Admission Program — a published merit floor for 3.75+ GPA students

Most of Saint Joseph's merit is awarded holistically without a public dollar grid, but the Guaranteed Admission Program (GAP) is the one place SJU publishes a guaranteed floor. Students with a cumulative weighted 3.75 or higher GPA on a 4.0 scale are guaranteed admission and 'will receive, at minimum, a $30,000 four-year merit scholarship award for a total value of $120,000, plus an additional $5,000 excellence award for an additional total value of $20,000.' That works out to a minimum of roughly $35,000 per year in combined merit and excellence aid. Direct-entry professional programs add a requirement of a weighted math and science GPA of 3.00 or higher. Because this is a floor rather than a ceiling, strong applicants may be offered more, but families can bank on at least this amount when the 3.75 GPA bar is cleared — useful certainty in a system that is otherwise holistic.

Source

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Students aiming at a mid-size Catholic, business-strong university in Philadelphia who want merit considered automatically with no separate application. Best floor-certainty for applicants with a weighted 3.75+ GPA who can qualify for the Guaranteed Admission Program, and for graduates of Jesuit high schools who clear the 3.00 GPA Jesuit Preparatory Scholarship bar.

Cost of attendance$75,202 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
On-campus$75,202
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Loan fees

Official SJU Required Cost of Attendance page; Campus Resident scenario. Tuition & fees = tuition $55,180 + fees $200.

Saint Joseph's cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Saint Joseph's, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Saint Joseph's, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$22,570
$30,001–$48,000$23,022
$48,001–$75,000$24,297
$75,001–$110,000$28,772
$110,001+$33,222
All income levels (average)$29,689

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$53,260
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$29,689

That works out to roughly a 56% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $67,954 (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
79%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
89%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$25,500 (~$270/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$86,881
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
21%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
66%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

In most cases outside scholarships are simply added to the existing SJU aid package, or first reduce loans/work-study, and total aid cannot exceed the University's cost of attendance under federal overaward rules. But because SJU grants and scholarships can only be applied toward tuition, if the outside scholarship is also tuition-restricted, the combined SJU-plus-outside tuition-designated aid cannot exceed the cost of tuition alone — narrower than full COA.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): We make every effort to have any outside scholarships simply added to your merit scholarship amount/existing Saint Joseph's University aid, as long as the total amount of your financial aid combined from all sources (grants, scholarships, loans and work study) does not exceed the University's annual "cost of attendance". By federal regulations, a student cannot be over-awarded beyond this number. Additionally, since Saint Joseph's University grants and scholarships can only be used toward tuition costs, if you receive an outside scholarship (or tuition benefit) that must also be used toward tuition costs only, all of the awards combined (SJU and outside resource) cannot exceed the amount of tuition (not counting fees, room and board). In most cases, outside scholarships can either be added to the existing financial aid package or, reduce loans or federal work study.

Source

Other Saint Joseph's scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountCompetitive full-tuition scholarshipsEligibilityAwarded to students who attended the Gesu School of Philadelphia.

Source

AmountFull-tuition scholarships and additional partial scholarshipsEligibilityFor high-achieving women in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics; requires a minimum 3.5 cumulative high school GPA.

Source

AmountPartial-tuition scholarshipsEligibilityRequires a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale; awarded as part of SJU's merit scholarship review.

Source

Saint Joseph's merit aid FAQ

  • Do I need a separate application for Saint Joseph's merit scholarships?

    No. SJU states that 'all students who submit a complete application for admission are reviewed for a merit scholarship, including test-optional applicants.' The University Scholarships do not require a separate application.

  • Is there any guaranteed merit amount at Saint Joseph's?

    Yes, through the Guaranteed Admission Program. Students with a cumulative weighted 3.75+ GPA are guaranteed admission and 'will receive, at minimum, a $30,000 four-year merit scholarship award for a total value of $120,000, plus an additional $5,000 excellence award for an additional total value of $20,000.' That is a floor, not a ceiling.

  • What GPA do I need to keep my SJU merit scholarship?

    SJU says merit awards are 'renewable for up to eight semesters as long as the student remains enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student and meets the minimum cumulative GPA requirement for the award.' The specific minimum GPA varies by award and is not published as a single public number, so confirm your award's renewal GPA in your offer letter.

  • Are there special scholarships for Jesuit high school graduates?

    Yes. The Jesuit Preparatory Scholarship is 'awarded to incoming first-year students who graduate from a Jesuit high school and have achieved a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale.' The dollar amount is not published on the public scholarships page.

  • Will an outside scholarship reduce my Saint Joseph's aid?

    SJU's public site does not publish a displacement formula. It only instructs you to 'submit a copy of the award notification to the Financial Aid Office via email to finaid@sju.edu.' Whether the outside award reduces loans, institutional aid, or unmet need is decided by the aid office — confirm directly before relying on stacking.

See sources and other schools

How Saint Joseph's compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Saint Joseph's 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.

    Saint Joseph's 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 Saint Joseph's’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • Rosemont merit aid. Pennsylvania private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Scranton merit aid. Pennsylvania private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Grove City merit aid. Pennsylvania private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Villanova merit aid. Pennsylvania private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring Saint Joseph's merit aid

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