Taylor (IN) runs an automatic GPA+test merit grid (Director $11,000 to President $21,000) with a renewal cliff that drops top tiers to the Trustee level, plus a competitive 100%-of-tuition Alice Hamilton Scholarship and a National Merit award that replaces the standard merit. (DRAFT)
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Taylor (IN) worth a closer look?
Taylor (IN) is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.
Merit tiers42 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
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See what Taylor (IN)'s published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.
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.
President 3.70+, Dean 3.70+, Faculty 3.70+, Trustee 3.30-3.69, Director 3.29 & below
SAT
President 1430, Dean 1270
ACT
President 32, Dean 27 (Faculty/Trustee/Director: no scores required)
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
CLT: President 103, Dean 90; test scores must be received by April 1; decisions made independent of FAFSA
How to keep it
Renewable with a 3.0 Taylor GPA. RENEWAL CLIFF: students must maintain a 3.0 Taylor GPA to retain the President, Dean, and Faculty scholarships — otherwise the scholarship drops to the Trustee Scholarship level ($15,000).
Notes
Automatic on GPA + test score. Faculty ($17,000), Trustee ($15,000) and Director ($11,000) require no test scores. Test scores must be received by April 1 for consideration.
IMPORTANT: 'This award replaces the President, Dean, Faculty, or Trustee Scholarship' — it is mutually exclusive with the standard merit grid, not stacked on top.
CLT 98; competitive; must apply and be accepted to Taylor by November 1 to be eligible for a Scholars Day interview invitation (Scholars Day November 2026)
How to keep it
Renewal terms not specified on this page (competitive full-tuition award).
Notes
Tuition-only (100% of tuition, not full cost of attendance). Competitive, by invitation/interview on Scholars Day. Students with a 3.70 GPA and 32 ACT / 1430 SAT / 98 CLT may be invited.
All transfer students with at least one semester of college credit after high school
How to keep it
Renewable each year with a cumulative 3.0 Taylor GPA. RENEWAL CLIFF: must maintain a 3.0 cumulative Taylor GPA to retain the top three award amounts ($18,000/$16,000/$14,000), otherwise the scholarship drops to the $12,000 level.
Notes
Awarded in lieu of other academic scholarships (does not stack with the freshman merit grid).
Per the Taylor University Financial Aid Office, August 2026. How we verify
Superscoring for merit award reconsideration
If the student retakes the test and scores higher, will Taylor reconsider him for a better award?
Taylor superscores and uses the highest score to determine or increase the merit award, as long as the new test is received before April 1 of senior year.
“retakes the test, we do superscore and take the highest score to determine his merit award or whether an increase can be awarded. The test simply has to be received prior to April 1st of his senior year.”
GPA required to keep top-tier scholarship
What GPA does the student need to maintain to keep his scholarship after year one?
Students in the top three award tiers must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA at the end of each academic year or they drop to the tier 4 (Trustee) scholarship amount.
“students in our top three tiers of awards are required to maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA at the end of each academic year or they drop down to the tier 4 (Trustee) scholarship amount”
Reinstatement after GPA drop
Is there a way to get the original scholarship back after a weak semester/year?
Awards are reevaluated at the end of the following academic year, and if the GPA is back to 3.0 or better, the original merit award is reinstated.
“We reevaluate at the end of the next academic year and if back up to 3.0 or better, then we reinstate the initial merit award.”
Combining awards with merit scholarship
Can a departmental or honors award combine with merit money, or is there a cap?
Taylor tries to stack awards when possible, but federal guidelines and an institutional cap (all Taylor funding capped at cost) apply, though hitting these limits is rare.
“We try to stack other awards whenever possible, but there are some federal guidelines that we have to follow as well as an institutional guideline that all Taylor funding is capped at our costs.”
What families often miss
President/Dean/Faculty scholarships require a 3.0 Taylor GPA to renew; falling below 3.0 drops the award to the Trustee level ($15,000), not a total loss but a real reduction.
The $21,000 Academic Merit Award REPLACES the President/Dean/Faculty/Trustee scholarship — it is mutually exclusive, so a President-tier student does not net an extra $21,000.
It covers 100% of TUITION only — housing, food, and fees are not included, so the gap to full cost of attendance remains.
You must apply and be accepted by November 1 to be eligible for a Scholars Day interview invitation; the competition is held in November 2026.
Test scores must be received by April 1 for merit scholarship consideration; late scores can cost a higher tier.
The Transfer Scholarship's top three amounts ($18k/$16k/$14k) require maintaining a 3.0 cumulative Taylor GPA; otherwise it drops to $12,000, and it is awarded in lieu of other academic scholarships.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
High-stat students (3.70+ GPA, 1430 SAT / 32 ACT) hit the $21,000 President tier or compete for the full-tuition Alice Hamilton award; strong students without test scores still reach the $15,000-$17,000 Faculty/Trustee tiers. (DRAFT)
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Taylor (IN), what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Taylor (IN), academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$16,143
$30,001–$48,000
$17,262
$48,001–$75,000
$18,100
$75,001–$110,000
$23,504
$110,001+
$30,050
All income levels (average)
$24,865
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$53,405
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$40,490
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$24,865
That works out to an average 53% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
74%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
89%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$20,500 (~$217/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$52,198
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
17%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
37%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
All outside awards must be reported and will trigger a repackaging of the aid offer; actual reductions are governed by Taylor's cap that outside aid plus Taylor aid and family resources cannot exceed total educational costs, direct and indirect.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): You must inform the Financial Aid Office of any monies received from sources other than Taylor University. All outside awards are considered financial aid and will require a change in your award. ... The sum of your outside aid and Taylor grants, scholarships, loans, and employment, plus the parents' and student's resources cannot exceed your total educational costs (direct and indirect). Moreover, Taylor University must revise an award at any time to prevent such an occurrence.
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
Amount$5,000 per year (renewable)EligibilityFiled FAFSA, demonstrate financial need, accepted to Taylor; special interest in entrepreneurship/education/media/government
Test scores must be received by April 1 for merit scholarship consideration. The priority FAFSA deadline for endowed scholarships is February 1; for Alice Hamilton, you must be accepted by November 1.
What do I need for the top ($21,000) President Scholarship?
A 3.70+ GPA and a 1430 SAT, 32 ACT, or 103 CLT. It renews with a 3.0 Taylor GPA; below that it drops to the Trustee level ($15,000).
Is the Alice Hamilton Scholarship a full ride?
No — it covers 100% of tuition only. It's competitive, by interview on Scholars Day (November 2026), and requires acceptance by November 1 with a 3.70 GPA and 32 ACT / 1430 SAT / 98 CLT.
How does the National Merit award interact with my merit scholarship?
The $21,000 Academic Merit Award (National Merit Finalist) replaces the President/Dean/Faculty/Trustee scholarship rather than stacking on top of it.
See sources and other schools+
How Taylor (IN) compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Taylor (IN) is in a recognizable cluster (235 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.
Taylor (IN) 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.
132 of 749 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Taylor (IN) 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 claim is checked against Taylor (IN)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
