What's the cost of attendance?

For 2025-26 the comprehensive fee is $66,208 (tuition $53,186 + standard housing and meals $12,862 + health/clinic fee $160). Note: the scholarship amounts above are for students first enrolling in 2026-27.

Augustana (IL)· Outside Scholarship Displacement

Will Augustana (IL) Reduce Your Outside Scholarship?

When you win a private scholarship, who actually keeps the money: your family, or the school?

Verified Jun 2026today· COWORK

The rule at Augustana (IL)

Displacement policy unclear

Augustana (IL) has no published displacement order. In plain dollar terms, that means the published policy doesn't specify, so the family is guessing without a written aid-office answer.

augustana.edu publishes the $66,208 cost-of-attendance worksheet the math is run against.

Source: https://www.augustana.edu/admissions/scholarships

The math: a $5,000 outside scholarship at Augustana (IL)

Setup
Augustana (IL)'s public stacking policy doesn't specify how outside scholarships are treated when added to institutional aid.
What Augustana (IL) does
The financial-aid office can apply any of the displacement rules: loan-first, grant-first, COA-cap, or mixed. Without a written confirmation, families are guessing.
Family takeaway
Email the aid office with a specific dollar example before chasing private awards. Get the answer in writing so it's binding.

Schools with the same policy

These schools also use displacement policy unclear for outside scholarships. The same dollar math above applies at each.

Schools that handle this differently

If Augustana (IL)’s policy concerns you, these schools treat outside scholarships under a different rule.

When this rule bites hardest

Not realizing an endowed award can replace part of your stated aid
Academic or other Augustana scholarships could be adjusted through the awarding of an Augustana endowed scholarship — your published merit figure may be partly funded by an endowed award rather than added to.

Displacement questions families ask

What's the cost of attendance?: For 2025-26 the comprehensive fee is $66,208 (tuition $53,186 + standard housing and meals $12,862 + health/clinic fee $160). Note: the scholarship amounts above are for students first enrolling in 2026-27.

Rules that bite at Augustana (IL)

Trip wires derived from Augustana (IL)'s own published policy. These are the things a custom playbook would flag in the first pass.

renewalAcademic Merit Grid — High School (Presidential / Dean's / Founders): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewal requires full-time enrollment and an Augustana cumulative GPA: Presidential 3.0, Dean's 2.75, Founders 2.5. Students who miss the renewal GPA may receive a LOWER scholarship; awards never exceed the first-year amount in later years (no growth). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
displacementNo published displacement order
Augustana (IL)'s policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.

Aid-office script (copy & send)

The displacement rule is only binding when it's in writing. This script asks Augustana (IL)'s aid office the specific question that matters for displacement policy unclear.

Subject: Outside-scholarship treatment question, fall applicant

Dear Augustana (IL) Financial Aid Office,

I'm a fall applicant reviewing how outside scholarships interact with my institutional aid package. I've read the public policy at https://www.augustana.edu/admissions/scholarships and the $66,208 cost-of-attendance worksheet.

The public policy doesn't specify how outside scholarships are treated against institutional merit and need-based aid. Can you confirm in writing whether outside awards reduce: (a) loans first, (b) institutional grant first, or (c) only trigger a reduction when total aid exceeds COA?

If the answer varies by aid type or award size, what's the dollar threshold or category split?

A written answer (email is fine) is important because the outside-scholarship awarding bodies want confirmation before disbursing. Thank you for the time.

— [Student name], [Application ID if available]

How Augustana (IL) compares across our verified dataset

61 of 272 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.
Augustana (IL) is in a recognizable cluster (61 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
61 of 272 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.
Augustana (IL) is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Augustana (IL) 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 claim is checked against Augustana (IL)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

policyAugustana (IL) stacking policy
coaAugustana (IL) cost-of-attendance worksheet
scholarshipAustin E. Knowlton Scholarship (Ohio)