DRAFT: TMU publishes a clean unweighted-GPA grid ($3,000-$9,000 for freshmen, $3,000-$6,500 for transfers) where every student gets exactly one academic scholarship — plus a menu of small institutional awards (Christian school, home school, Baptist, sibling, cross-cultural) that are explicitly stackable with all other aid.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Truett McConnell worth a closer look?
Truett McConnell awards automatic merit on admission. Truett McConnell does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.
Merit tiers22 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
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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.
$3,000-$9,000
Freshman Academic Scholarships (GPA Grid)
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
Presidential Scholar $9,000 at 4.0+ unweighted HS GPA; Trustee Scholar $8,000 at 3.7; Vice Presidential Scholar $6,500 at 3.4; Dean Scholar $5,000 at 3.0; Bear Award $3,000 below 3.0 (all unweighted HS GPA minimums)
SAT
Not used
ACT
Not used
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Freshman status = fewer than 30 earned college hours after high school/home study graduation; applicable to full-time students in on-campus courses; students receive ONE academic scholarship
How to keep it
Renewal criteria not stated in the institutional financial aid document.
Notes
Official 'Institutional Financial Aid – Incoming 2026-2027 Students' document; GPA-only (no test scores), with a floor award ($3,000 Bear) even below 3.0.
Presidential Scholar $6,500 at 3.7+ college GPA; Trustee Scholar $5,000 at 3.4; Vice Presidential Scholar $4,000 at 3.0; Dean Scholar $3,500 at 2.5; Bear Award $3,000 below 2.5
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Transfer status = 30 or more earned college hours after high school/home study graduation; one academic scholarship per student
How to keep it
Renewal criteria not stated in the institutional financial aid document.
Notes
Same one-award-per-student structure as the freshman grid, at lower dollar levels.
The institutional aid document states students 'will receive one Academic Scholarship based on unweighted GPA' — the grid awards are mutually exclusive, though the smaller institutional scholarships do stack on top.
All freshman criteria are stated as UNWEIGHTED high school GPA. A weighted 4.0 that is unweighted 3.6 earns the $6,500 Vice Presidential tier, not the $9,000 Presidential.
The document is headed 'Applicable to Full-time Students Enrolled in On-Campus Courses' — part-time and online students are outside the published grid.
The $1,000 award requires at least 6 credit hours or 2 courses of dual enrollment 'through TMU' before graduation — credit earned at other colleges does not qualify.
That $1,000 scholarship requires a completed application with the parent/spouse's signature 'each year' — it does not auto-renew.
Both are 'renewed annually' at the discretion of the Music Department or Athletic Department — they are year-to-year awards, not four-year commitments.
The 2026-27 institutional aid document publishes awarding criteria but no renewal GPA — families should ask the aid office what college GPA keeps each award.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
DRAFT: Students with strong unweighted GPAs (every admitted full-time on-campus student lands somewhere on the grid, even below 3.0), plus Christian-school/home-school graduates and Georgia Baptist families who can stack several smaller awards on top.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $40,932 for 2026-2027. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Truett McConnell, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Truett McConnell, academic year 2021-22
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$21,274
$30,001–$48,000
$18,953
$48,001–$75,000
$20,984
$75,001–$110,000
$22,134
$110,001+
$24,560
All income levels (average)
$22,227
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$26,792
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$22,227
That works out to roughly a 43% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $39,152 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
38%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
67%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$23,439 (~$248/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$46,700
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
33%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
55%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Each student receives exactly ONE academic scholarship from the GPA grid, but TMU's other institutional scholarships (Christian school, home school, dual enrollment, Georgia Baptist, minister dependent, sibling discount, cross-cultural, music, athletic) are explicitly 'stackable with all other student financial aid.' Outside/private scholarship displacement is not addressed in the documents opened.
The institutional aid PDF footnotes: academic grids — 'Students will receive one Academic Scholarship based on unweighted GPA'; institutional scholarships — 'Institutional Scholarships are stackable with all other student financial aid.' No COA cap, tuition-only restriction, or outside-scholarship rule appears in the PDF or on the Scholarships & Aid page sections that rendered.
Amount$1,000 per yearEligibilityEarn at least 6 credit hours or complete 2 courses of dual enrollment credit THROUGH TMU prior to high school/home study graduation.
Amount$1,000 per yearEligibilityDependent of a parent/spouse who is an ordained or licensed Baptist minister, a full-time missionary through a Baptist mission board, or full-time with the GBMB.
Application with parent/spouse signature required EACH YEAR.
No scholarship deadline is published in the 2026-27 institutional aid document — academic scholarships are assigned from GPA at admission. The Scholarships & Aid page directs students to complete the FAFSA, acceptance, and aid steps; application-based awards (minister dependent, cross-cultural) require their own forms.
How much merit aid will I get as a freshman?
By unweighted high school GPA for 2026-27: 4.0+ = $9,000 (Presidential Scholar); 3.7 = $8,000 (Trustee); 3.4 = $6,500 (Vice Presidential); 3.0 = $5,000 (Dean); below 3.0 = $3,000 (Bear Award). Every full-time on-campus student receives exactly one of these.
How much do transfer students get?
By college GPA: 3.7+ = $6,500; 3.4 = $5,000; 3.0 = $4,000; 2.5 = $3,500; below 2.5 = $3,000. Transfer status means 30+ earned college hours after high school graduation.
Can I stack other TMU scholarships on top?
Yes — the institutional scholarships (Christian School $1,000, Home School $1,500, TMU Dual Enrollment $1,000, Georgia Baptist $500, Baptist Minister Dependent $1,000, Sibling 10% tuition discount, Cross-Cultural $1,000, music and athletic awards) are 'stackable with all other student financial aid.'
What does TMU cost for 2026-27?
Full-time tuition is $13,896 per semester plus a $1,058 student fee — $29,908/year in tuition and mandatory fees. With semi-private traditional housing and the unlimited (Golden Bear) meal plan, a freshman's annual tuition, fees, and room and board total $40,932 ($40,436 for upperclassmen in apartment housing with the basic plan).
See sources and other schools+
How Truett McConnell compares
14 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use no-displacement displacement.
Truett McConnell is in the small minority (14 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.
Truett McConnell 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.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Truett McConnell’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
