The starting point
Small evangelical Christian university with a published four-tier academic merit ladder ($7,000-$21,000/yr) that accepts SAT, ACT, or CLT at every tier. Admission requires a personal statement of faith in Jesus Christ and a pastor recommendation from every applicant, which is a structural filter that sits above merit review.
More than one award path. Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.
Awards to discuss
First 3 of 5 recorded awards, in chapter display order. This is a selection, not a ranking. Read the full chapter for all awards. Amounts retain the original units and conditions; confirm the entering year with the school.
Distinguished Academic Scholarship
$10,000/yr · Published amount
Recorded as automatic on academic criteria; all conditions apply.
GPA: 3.75+
Eligibility: Standardized test score encouraged but not required. TMU accepts SAT, ACT, and CLT when submitted.
Renewal: Renewable with a 2.75 cumulative TMU GPA. Maximum number of renewal years is not published on TMU's scholarship page.
Other terms: Automatic on HS GPA for admitted residential undergraduates. Second tier in the four-tier ladder, below the competitive President's Scholarship and above the Honors and Achievement automatic tiers.
https://www.masters.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid-and-tuition/scholarships/academic-scholarships/
Honors Academic Scholarship
$8,500/yr · Published amount
Recorded as automatic on academic criteria; all conditions apply.
GPA: 3.45+
Eligibility: Standardized test score encouraged but not required. The Honors label here refers to the scholarship tier, not a separate honors college or living-learning program. TMU does not publish a distinct honors program with its own scholarship layer.
Renewal: Renewable with a 2.75 cumulative TMU GPA. Maximum number of renewal years is not published.
Other terms: Families expecting an honors college cohort experience should not conflate this scholarship tier with a residential honors program. The Honors Academic Scholarship is a GPA-based merit award, not an admission into a separate academic cohort.
https://www.masters.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid-and-tuition/scholarships/academic-scholarships/
Achievement Academic Scholarship
$7,000/yr · Published amount
Recorded as automatic on academic criteria; all conditions apply.
GPA: 3.0+
Eligibility: Standardized test score encouraged but not required. Automatic on HS GPA for admitted residential undergraduates.
Renewal: Renewable with a 2.75 cumulative TMU GPA. Maximum number of renewal years is not published.
Other terms: Entry-level tier in the automatic ladder. Families with a 3.0-3.44 GPA clear this tier but not the higher Honors ($8,500) or Distinguished ($10,000) tiers.
https://www.masters.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid-and-tuition/scholarships/academic-scholarships/
Ask before you decide
- Which entering-year policy and residency category apply to us? What are the admission and scholarship deadlines?
- What grades and credits are required to renew, and for how many terms?
- How would other school awards or outside scholarships change the offer?
Recorded stacking policy: TMU allows merit, need-based, and outside scholarships to stack together in most cases, but publishes two specific restrictions: TMUC-named scholarships cannot stack with each other, and athletic-scholarship recipients forfeit all other institutional aid, qualifying only for federal/state aid and the outside portion of ministry or external scholarships. TMU does not publish an explicit loan-first or grant-first displacement rule for how outside scholarships interact with institutional aid packaging.
Our unanswered questions / Family notes
