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St. Thomas University · Florida

STU (Miami) Merit Aid

Miami Gardens' Catholic university posts simple GPA tiers (up to $13,000 at 3.6+, $9,000 at just 2.5+), guarantees up to $14,000 for Catholic-high-school grads, and tops Bright Futures recipients to 100% of tuition — but multiple institutional awards never stack: you get the single highest one.

Verified Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK
Merit tiers8See requirements
Last verifiedJun 2026Analyst COWORK

Rules that bite at STU (Miami)

The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from STU (Miami)'s own published policy, not generic advice.

  • renewalSTU Bright Futures: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable up to four years of full-time undergraduate study with good academic standing at STU and with the Bright Futures program. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • displacementDifferent aid types are displaced differently

    STU (Miami) treats loans, work-study, and institutional grant under different rules. The same $5,000 outside award can land against any of them depending on category.

Common merit-aid mistakes at STU (Miami)

  1. 'Recipients of multiple institutional awards, including tuition discounts, are eligible to receive the highest individual award only,' and the Catholic HS/Dual Enrollment award 'cannot be combined with each other or additional academic scholarships.'

  2. STU 'reserves the right to review and adjust original financial aid award packages, including university-funded scholarships and/or grants received as additional funding from federal, state, or private source.'

  3. It is last-dollar and tuition-only: the amount is 'determined after subtracting federal, state, and institutional aid from the cost of tuition' and 'does not cover fees, housing, or meal plans.'

  4. Every academic tier is 'Up to' ($14,000/$13,000/$11,000/$9,000) — the exact award can be lower.

  5. The $4,000 Campus Visit Award requires attending an in-person tour (only certain events count), and the FAFSA (code 001468) is the stated first step to a full aid offer — it also triggers the automatic $3,500/yr EASE grant for Florida residents.

  6. 'Academic scholarships are renewable for four years of study, as long as students continue to make satisfactory academic progress (SAP), or a probation is approved.'

Who this school is for

Florida students who can layer state money (Bright Futures top-up to full tuition, automatic $3,500 EASE) under one institutional award; Catholic-high-school and dual-enrollment grads get the largest guaranteed tier at only a 2.5 GPA.

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 $14,000/year

Catholic High School/Dual Enrollment Scholarship

ApplicationRenewable
GPA
2.5+
Requirements & details
Eligibility

Guaranteed to all freshmen who graduate from a U.S. private Catholic high school or were an STU Dual Enrollment student.

Renewal terms

Academic scholarships renew for four years with SAP (or an approved probation).

Notes

'These awards cannot be combined with each other or additional academic scholarships.'

Source

Up to $13,000/year

Presidential Scholarship

ApplicationRenewable
GPA
3.6 or higher (U.S. high school GPA)
Requirements & details
Renewal terms

Renewable for four years with SAP (or approved probation).

Source

Up to $11,000/year

Dean's Scholarship

ApplicationRenewable
GPA
3.0 or higher (U.S. high school GPA)
Requirements & details
Renewal terms

Renewable for four years with SAP (or approved probation).

Source

Up to $9,000/year

STU Award

ApplicationRenewable
GPA
2.5 or higher (U.S. high school GPA)
Requirements & details
Renewal terms

Renewable for four years with SAP (or approved probation).

Source

Up to 100% of tuition

STU Bright Futures

ApplicationRenewable
View requirements
Eligibility

Must be receiving a Florida Academic Scholarship or Florida Medallion Scholarship through Florida Bright Futures, be approved by the Florida DOE, and appear on STU's Bright Futures roster; FAFSA and STU/Common App application required.

Renewal terms

Renewable up to four years of full-time undergraduate study with good academic standing at STU and with the Bright Futures program.

Notes

Last-dollar top-up: amount 'is determined after subtracting federal, state, and institutional aid from the cost of tuition.' Covers tuition only — not fees, housing, or meal plans.

Source

$4,000

Campus Visit Award

ApplicationRenewable
View requirements
Eligibility

Schedule and attend an in-person campus tour (only certain admissions events count); complete the free application and be admitted. An athletic scholarship may already include this award.

Renewal terms

Renewable up to four years of study ($1,000 per year) for full-time traditional undergraduates who maintain on-campus enrollment.

Source

Up to $9,000-$13,000

International Scholarships

ApplicationRenewable
GPA
Tiered: 3.6+ / 3.0-3.59 / 2.99 or below
Requirements & details
Eligibility

New undergraduate international students, based on high school GPA.

Renewal terms

Academic scholarships renew for four years with SAP.

Source

Amount not published

Villanova Award

Application
View requirements
Eligibility

Based on financial need, leadership, extracurricular involvement, service, and institutional aid; priority to students admitted and deposited before May 1.

Source

Outside scholarship stacking policy

Institutional awards do not stack: 'Recipients of multiple institutional awards, including tuition discounts, are eligible to receive the highest individual award only,' and the Catholic HS/Dual Enrollment award explicitly cannot combine with other academic scholarships. STU also reserves the right to adjust university-funded scholarships when additional federal, state, or private funding arrives — so outside money can shrink the institutional award.

Scholarships are for traditional full-time undergrads (fall/spring) and can be used toward tuition, fees, or housing and meal plans. The Bright Futures top-up is explicitly last-dollar against tuition.

Source

Lesser-known scholarships at STU (Miami)

Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.

AmountUp to 45% of tuitionEligibilityStudents whose family member graduated from STU

Subject to the highest-single-award rule.

Source

AmountUp to 50% of tuitionEligibilityStudents whose sibling attended STU

Subject to the highest-single-award rule.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityCatholic students with 2.8+ GPA and demonstrated community-service commitment

Requires ongoing service and Campus Ministry Leadership Team involvement while enrolled.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityRecruited by a program director; indicate the activity on the application

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityRecruited by a coach; list the sport on the application

May already include the Campus Visit Award.

Source

Amount$3,500/yrEligibilityAll Florida students after submitting the FAFSA; proof of parent residency at enrollment

State grant, automatic with FAFSA.

Source

STU (Miami) merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    No hard scholarship deadline is published. The Villanova Award gives priority to students 'admitted and deposited before May 1'; other awards are tied to admission, the FAFSA, and (for the Campus Visit Award) attending a tour.

  • How much merit aid can a freshman get?

    Up to $14,000/yr (Catholic HS or STU Dual Enrollment grad, 2.5+ GPA), up to $13,000/yr Presidential (3.6+), up to $11,000/yr Dean's (3.0+), or up to $9,000/yr STU Award (2.5+) — but only the highest single institutional award applies.

  • Does Bright Futures really cover all my tuition at STU?

    If you hold a Florida Academic or Medallion Scholarship and appear on STU's roster, the STU Bright Futures award guarantees 100% of tuition after federal, state, and institutional aid — but it never covers fees, housing, or meal plans.

  • How do scholarships renew?

    Academic scholarships renew for four years with satisfactory academic progress (or an approved probation). The Campus Visit Award renews at $1,000/yr for on-campus full-time students; Bright Futures renews with good standing in both STU and the state program.

  • Are international students eligible?

    Yes — tiered academic awards by high school GPA: up to $13,000 (3.6+), $11,000 (3.0-3.59), $9,000 (2.99 or below).

How STU (Miami) compares across our verified dataset

  • 86 of 751 verified schools in our dataset use mixed displacement.

    STU (Miami) is in the modest minority (86 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

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

    STU (Miami) 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 STU (Miami)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

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