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Southern Wesleyan· Renewal Rules

Keeping Southern Wesleyan’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
8 of 8
One-time tiers
0
Tiers with published renewal terms
8
Renewal risk profile
low

Renewal risk profile

Southern Wesleyan's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

  • Freshman Academic Aid — Residential Students (Presidential / Trustee / Warrior / Opportunity): See notes
  • Freshman Academic Aid — Commuter Students (Presidential / Trustee / Warrior / Opportunity): See notes
  • SWU Fellows (Palmetto Fellows Recipients): See notes
  • SWU Fellows Full Scholarship: See notes
  • SWU Life Tuition Scholarship: See notes
  • Out-of-State SWU Fellows: See notes
  • Out-of-State / International Scholarship: See notes
  • Transfer Academic Aid (Transfer Trustee / Transfer Warrior / Transfer Opportunity): See notes

Renewal terms by tier

  • Freshman Academic Aid — Residential Students (Presidential / Trustee / Warrior / Opportunity)

    $10,000-$14,000

    Entry requirements: Tiered by HS GPA: 4.3+ ($14,000); 3.4-4.29 ($13,000); 2.5-3.39 ($11,000); <2.5 ($10,000) GPA

    To keep it: Renewable for up to four years or 120 SWU credit hours, whichever comes first. No renewal GPA is published on this page.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • Freshman Academic Aid — Commuter Students (Presidential / Trustee / Warrior / Opportunity)

    $5,000-$7,000

    Entry requirements: Tiered by HS GPA: 4.3+ ($7,000); 3.4-4.29 ($6,500); 2.5-3.39 ($5,500); <2.5 ($5,000) GPA

    To keep it: Renewable for up to four years or 120 SWU credit hours, whichever comes first.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • SWU Fellows (Palmetto Fellows Recipients)

    $5,000 per year

    To keep it: Described as 'per year'; explicit renewal conditions not stated.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • SWU Fellows Full Scholarship

    Full tuition, required fees, room (double room), and board

    Entry requirements: Palmetto Fellows criteria: 3.5 cumulative GPA + top 6% of class (with 1200 SAT or 25 ACT), OR 4.0 GPA (with 1400 SAT or 31 ACT) GPA · 1200 or 1400 depending on path SAT · 25 or 31 depending on path ACT

    To keep it: Renewal terms not stated on the page.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • SWU Life Tuition Scholarship

    Full tuition and fees

    Entry requirements: SC LIFE criteria — meet 2 of 3: 3.0 cumulative GPA; 1100 SAT or 22 ACT; top 30% of class GPA · 1100 (one of three criteria) SAT · 22 (one of three criteria) ACT

    To keep it: Renewal terms not stated on the page.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • Out-of-State SWU Fellows

    $7,500 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.0 cumulative GPA (one of three criteria) GPA · 1100 (one of three criteria) SAT · 22 (one of three criteria) ACT

    To keep it: Described as 'per year'; explicit renewal conditions not stated.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • Out-of-State / International Scholarship

    $2,500 per year

    To keep it: Described as 'per year'; explicit renewal conditions not stated.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

  • Transfer Academic Aid (Transfer Trustee / Transfer Warrior / Transfer Opportunity)

    $6,000-$11,000

    Entry requirements: 3.5-4.0 ($11,000); 3.0-3.49 ($10,000); <3.0 ($6,000) — cumulative GPA from all institutions attended GPA

    To keep it: Renewable for up to four years or 120 SWU credit hours, whichever comes first.

    Source: https://www.swu.edu/on-campus/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants/

How families lose this aid

  • Commuting without realizing it halves the merit award.

    The commuter grid pays $5,000-$7,000 versus $10,000-$14,000 for residential students at identical GPA tiers.

  • Missing that the academic award stops at 120 credit hours.

    Renewal runs 'up to four years or 120 SWU credit hours, whichever comes first' — students who bring in dual-enrollment credit or take overloads can hit the 120-hour cap before their fourth year.

  • Treating the renewal terms as GPA-free.

    No renewal GPA is published for the academic grid on this page — but the catalog may impose one. Ask the aid office in writing what GPA (and SAP standard) is required to keep the scholarship all four years.

Renewal questions families ask

Do I need test scores for the freshman academic scholarships?
The published freshman grid is 'Based on high school GPA' alone — tiers run from $10,000 (<2.5 GPA) to $14,000 (4.3+) for residential students. The page intro mentions SAT/ACT/CLT, but no test cutoffs appear in the grid; confirm with admissions whether scores can affect placement.
How long is the academic scholarship renewable?
Up to four years or 120 SWU credit hours, whichever comes first.

How Southern Wesleyan compares across our verified dataset

  • 669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Southern Wesleyan 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 Southern Wesleyan’s own published materials.

More on Southern Wesleyan merit aid