Freshmen Scholarships
Beginning with the 2010-11 Academic Year
Renewal scholarship college GPA requirements: Trustee – 3.5;
Presidential – 3.0; Achievement – 2.5.
Students can increase their Freshman Scholarship by reaching the minimum
GPA requirement of the next highest level for consecutive fall and
spring semesters of an academic year with completion of at least 12
credit hours in each semester. A student’s renewal scholarship will drop
to the next lowest scholarship if the student has consecutive fall and
spring semesters in an academic year of a GPA below the expected minimum
for their award.
SWAU Freshmen Awards are based on a combination of high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and test scores (SAT or ACT). Awards will be calculated using the 7th term GPA issued at mid point of the senior year. All Freshmen Awards will be divided between fall and spring semesters of your freshmen year, provided you are enrolled as a full time student taking 12 credit hours or more each semester. The scholarships are renewable for 3 years. The scholarship amount is subject to change (increase or decrease) based on college GPA.
| SCORES | AWARD NAME | YEARLY AWARD | MAXIMUM 4-YEAR AWARD |
| 85-100 | Trustee Award | $5,000 | $20,000 |
| Trustee Award + | $6,000 | $24,000 | |
| 75-84.9 | Presidential Award | $3,000 | $12,000 |
| Presidential Award + | $4,000 | $16,000 | |
| 65-74.9 | Achievement Award | $2,000 | $8,000 |
| Achievement Award + | $3,000 | $12,000 |
+ Additional $1,000 will be applied to tuition costs if the student lives in the residence hall.
Calculate your score now to see how much you could get. Enter your GPA on a 4.0 scale, and use a combined verbal and math SAT score. You must enter either an SAT or ACT score. If you enter an SAT and ACT score the higher resulting calculation will be used.
Transfer Scholarships
A transfer student with at least 24 cumulative college credits from other colleges may qualify for one of the following scholarships:
$4,000 if cumulative GPA from prior college is 3.75
$3,000 if cumulative GPA from prior college is 3.5-3.74
$1,500 if cumulative GPA from prior college is 3.0-3.49
Transfer scholarships are renewable for two years for students transferring
24-55 credits, and one year for students transferring 56-89 credits.
Scholarships are not renewable for students transferring 90 or more credits.
Scholarship are renewable only for students who are in a good scholastic
standing, who maintain a commendable citizenship record. Transfer scholarships
do not apply to students with a prior 4 year degree.
Southwestern Scholars
The Southwestern Scholars Award is given to students who achieve the level of Finalist, Semi-finalist, or Commended Scholar in the National Merit Qualifying Test. Students must take the Pre-SAT test their junior year and the SAT test their senior year to qualify. Selection is determined by SAT officials.
| Finalist | 100% tuition |
| Semi-Finalist | 50% tuition |
See the SWAU bulletin for more details.
Dean's List Book Award
Students who are on the dean's list will receive a scholarship for books purchased through the SWAU Bookstore in the semester immediately following the achievement.
| Dean's Distinguished List | $200 |
| Dean's List | $100 |
Gold or Silver Award
Students who have completed 75+ hours of college credit at the end of the fall semester with a GPA of 3.90+ will receive a Gold Award of $600. Students who have completed 75+ hours of college credit with GPA of 3.70 to 3.89 will receive a Silver Award of $400. Recipients of these awards must be currently enrolled in at least 12 hours for the spring semester and must have earned (in residence) a minimum of 12 hours of credit in the fall.
4-Way Match Scholarship
A 4-Way Scholarship allows a student's family, church or a concerned person, and Southwestern Adventist University scholarship funds to assist with payment of the SWAU student account. The student must contribute $500 in earnings during the semester, whether from on campus employment, or from an off campus job. It is also the responsibility of the student to obtain a commitment from two different sources. Thus, earnings of $500, and contributions of $500 each from two different sources may be matched by $500 from the university. While $500 is the maximum award, smaller 4-Way donations can also be matched.
See the SWAU bulletin for more details.
Pechero Scholarship
The Pechero Scholarship is need-based, and offered to residents of the following Texas counties: Bee, Bexar, Calhoun, Cameron, Galveston, Harris, Hidalgo, Jackson, Nueces, and Willacy.
See the SWAU bulletin for more details.
Callicott Scholarship
The Callicott scholarship is available to students who may need assistance after federal, state, and institutional aid. Applicants must be working, placing earnings on their accounts, have applied for federal grants and loans for which they are eligible, and have a minimum GPA of 2.0. This scholarship is awarded late in the semester.
See the SWAU bulletin for more details.
Family Discounts
When parents are supporting three or more students from the same family at SWAU, each of these students may receive a 10% discount on tuition, provided each student of this family is taking at least 12 hours of class work.
See the SWAU bulletin for more details.
Summer Work Scholarship
Students who pay rent for campus housing during the summer and work a certain number of hours at a campus job, may be eligible for a scholarship the following year. You may pick up an application at Student Financial Services.
Student Missionary & Taskforce Worker Scholarship
SWAU awards scholarships to students who successfully complete a full term of service no shorter than 8 months in an approved student missionary or task force program. These awards are evenly divided over the two semesters of the school year immediately following the return of the student missionary or taskforce worker.
| Student Missionary | $1,200 |
| Taskforce | $1,200 |
Summer Ministries Scholarships
SWAU students who work between school years in a summer ministries program (such as a summer camp or as a literature evangelist) will receive a scholarship worth 75% of whatever portion of their net earnings they apply to their account, up to $2,000. The student's earnings are applied to the fall semester and the SWAU match is applied to the Spring semester.
Endowed Awards & Scholarships
Southwestern Adventist University is grateful to the donors who have made endowed scholarship funds possible.
For a complete listing of the Endowed Awards and Scholarships, please see the Finances section of the SWAU Academic Bulletin.