How much is the merit scholarship?

$10,000-$30,000/year for first-year students and $16,000-$30,000/year for transfers, determined holistically. Pacific does not publish a GPA/test grid.

How long does merit last?

Up to four years (eight fall/spring semesters) for first-years and three years (six semesters) for transfers, with full-time enrollment and SAP; it cannot be used for professional (pharmacy/dentistry/law) coursework.

Pacific· Renewal Rules

Keeping Pacific’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: 6
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Pacific'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 Merit Scholarships for First-Year Students (Pacific, President's, Provost's, Regent's, Sequoia, Tiger Excellence, Humanities, Conservatory): Full-time enrollment
Transfer Academic Excellence Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
Powell Scholarship (Powell Scholars Program): See notes
Engineering Innovation Scholars: See notes
MESA Scholarship Program: SAP standards
Community Involvement Program (CIP) Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Academic Merit Scholarships for First-Year Students (Pacific, President's, Provost's, Regent's, Sequoia, Tiger Excellence, Humanities, Conservatory)
$10,000-$30,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to four years (eight fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment (12+ units) and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
Transfer Academic Excellence Scholarship
$16,000-$30,000 per year
To keep it: Generally renewable for up to a total of three years (six fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment and SAP. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
Powell Scholarship (Powell Scholars Program)
Amount not published
To keep it: Not stated on the scholarships page.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
Engineering Innovation Scholars
$15,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for up to four years.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
MESA Scholarship Program
$1,000 per year
Entry requirements: Minimum 3.00 (admission) GPA
To keep it: Annually renewable; requires meeting university academic requirements and SAP.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
Community Involvement Program (CIP) Scholarship
Amount not published
To keep it: Comprehensive scholarship and retention program; specific renewal terms not stated.
Source: https://www.pacific.edu/financial-aid/scholarships

How families lose this aid

Counting on merit money during pharmacy, dentistry, or law coursework.
Scholarships 'can only be applied to undergraduate coursework' — students lose merit eligibility once they begin graduate-level professional courses in those programs.
Dropping below full-time.
Renewal requires full-time enrollment (12+ units); enrolling less than full-time reduces eligibility for grants, scholarships, and loans.
Transfers expecting a four-year runway.
Transfer merit renews for only three years (six fall/spring semesters), versus four years (eight semesters) for first-years.

Renewal questions families ask

How much is the merit scholarship?: $10,000-$30,000/year for first-year students and $16,000-$30,000/year for transfers, determined holistically. Pacific does not publish a GPA/test grid.
How long does merit last?: Up to four years (eight fall/spring semesters) for first-years and three years (six semesters) for transfers, with full-time enrollment and SAP; it cannot be used for professional (pharmacy/dentistry/law) coursework.

Rules that bite at Pacific

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

renewalAcademic Merit Scholarships for First-Year Students (Pacific, President's, Provost's, Regent's, Sequoia, Tiger Excellence, Humanities, Conservatory): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to four years (eight fall and spring semesters) with full-time enrollment (12+ units) and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Cannot be applied to professional coursework in pharmacy, dentistry, or law. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Pacific compares across our verified dataset

247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Pacific 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.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Pacific’s own published materials.