Can scholarships stack?

Yes — need-based aid (FAFSA) and talent-based awards (athletics, music, art, theatre) can stack on top of your academic scholarship, up to the total cost of attendance.

What is the 2026-27 cost of attendance?

On-campus financial-aid cost of attendance is $79,300 (tuition $56,630; health fee $628; activity fee $362; technology fee $340; housing $10,830; meal plan $7,510; books $1,600; personal $1,400). Direct (billed) costs are $76,300; off-campus COA is $75,585.

Westmont· Outside Scholarship Displacement

Will Westmont 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 Westmont

No displacement

Westmont doesn't displace institutional aid at all. In plain dollar terms, that means a $5,000 outside award lowers the family bill by the full $5,000.

westmont.edu publishes the $79,300 cost-of-attendance worksheet the math is run against.

Source: https://www.westmont.edu/scholarships

The math: a $5,000 outside scholarship at Westmont

Setup
Imagine you've already received Westmont's institutional merit award and you win a $5,000 outside scholarship from a community foundation.
What Westmont does
Westmont stacks the outside scholarship on top of institutional aid up to the cost of attendance. The full $5,000 reduces your family's bill.
Family takeaway
Outside scholarships are pure upside here. Apply broadly; every dollar you win is a dollar the family doesn't pay.

Schools with the same policy

These schools also use no displacement for outside scholarships. The same dollar math above applies at each.

Schools that handle this differently

If Westmont’s policy concerns you, these schools treat outside scholarships under a different rule.

When this rule bites hardest

Trusting a stale cost figure
Westmont's financial-aid landing materials have shown an older (2023-24) tuition figure; the dedicated Cost of Attendance page is current — 2026-27 tuition is $56,630 and the on-campus financial-aid cost of attendance is $79,300.

Displacement questions families ask

Can scholarships stack?: Yes — need-based aid (FAFSA) and talent-based awards (athletics, music, art, theatre) can stack on top of your academic scholarship, up to the total cost of attendance.
What is the 2026-27 cost of attendance?: On-campus financial-aid cost of attendance is $79,300 (tuition $56,630; health fee $628; activity fee $362; technology fee $340; housing $10,830; meal plan $7,510; books $1,600; personal $1,400). Direct (billed) costs are $76,300; off-campus COA is $75,585.

Rules that bite at Westmont

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

renewalTransfer Scholarships (President's / Ruth Kerr / Founder's): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
President's $20,000 (3.75 college GPA, renew 3.25/3.0 honors); Ruth Kerr $15,000 (3.35 college GPA, renew 3.0); Founder's $12,000 (3.0 college GPA, renew 2.75). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

Aid-office script (copy & send)

The displacement rule is only binding when it's in writing. This script asks Westmont's aid office the specific question that matters for no displacement.

Subject: Outside-scholarship treatment question, fall applicant

Dear Westmont 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.westmont.edu/scholarships and the $79,300 cost-of-attendance worksheet.

Can you confirm that a $5,000 private outside scholarship, added after my package is built, stacks on top of institutional merit and need-based aid up to COA, without reducing any institutional grant dollars?

Is there a specific reporting form I need to file when the outside award is confirmed?

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 Westmont compares across our verified dataset

8 of 272 verified schools in our dataset use no-displacement displacement.
Westmont is in the small minority (8 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
247 of 272 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Westmont 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 Westmont’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.