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Pacific award rules

Will the scholarship last four years at Pacific?

We pulled the school’s grade, credit, and time limits into one place so you can see what it takes to keep the award.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

6 of 6 published awards are listed as renewable.

The exact rule can change by award. Check the award your student may receive before you count on the same amount every year.

What to do

Find the award name in the full research below. Save its grade, credit, and deadline rules with your college plan.

See every award rule, common mistake, and source

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.

  • Renewal ruleAcademic 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

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

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

More on Pacific merit aid