How do I keep my scholarship?

Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress — generally a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and completing at least 67% of your courses, reviewed each June.

St. Olaf· Renewal Rules

Keeping St. Olaf’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 2026today· COWORK

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 6 of 6
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 3
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

St. Olaf'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.

Academic Scholarships (Buntrock, Regents, Presidential, Dean's, Faculty, St. Olaf): See notes
Campus Living Scholarship: See notes
Transfer Student Scholarships: 2.0 GPA

Renewal terms by tier

Academic Scholarships (Buntrock, Regents, Presidential, Dean's, Faculty, St. Olaf)
$17,000-$34,000
Entry requirements: No minimum set GPA · Test-optional; considered if submitted SAT · Test-optional; considered if submitted ACT
To keep it: Renews automatically with Satisfactory Academic Progress — generally a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and completing at least 67% of courses. GPA checked once a year in June. If lost on GPA and grades improve, the scholarship can be reinstated.
Source: https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/academic-scholarships/
Campus Living Scholarship
$3,000-$4,000
To keep it: Tied to living on campus with a meal plan; would be forfeited if the student moves off campus.
Source: https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/merit-scholarships/
Transfer Student Scholarships
$5,000-$35,000
To keep it: Subject to the same Satisfactory Academic Progress renewal (2.0 GPA, 67% completion).
Source: https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/merit-scholarships/

How families lose this aid

Forgetting the Campus Living Scholarship requires living on campus with a meal plan
The $3,000-$4,000 Campus Living Scholarship is only payable to students who live on campus AND have a meal plan; move off campus and you lose it.
Overlooking the renewal SAP requirement
Merit scholarships renew automatically only if you make Satisfactory Academic Progress — generally a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and completing at least 67% of your courses, checked each June. Falling below can cost the scholarship (though students with demonstrated need typically have it replaced with need-based aid).
Trying to predict your award from a GPA/test grid
St. Olaf explicitly does NOT set minimum criteria and evaluates holistically, so there is no published grid; the academic award is determined by an individual review and stated in your admission letter.

Renewal questions families ask

How do I keep my scholarship?: Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress — generally a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and completing at least 67% of your courses, reviewed each June.

Rules that bite at St. Olaf

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

renewalCampus Living Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Tied to living on campus with a meal plan; would be forfeited if the student moves off campus. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How St. Olaf compares across our verified dataset

247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
St. Olaf is one of them. The cohort minority (25 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
75 of 272 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
St. Olaf 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 St. Olaf’s own published materials.