Trevecca Nazarene University Scholarships (2026–2027)

📅 2027–2028 Planning Note: The costs below reflect the most recently published figures (2026–2027). Universities typically finalize the next year’s rates in the spring, and we’ll update this page once official 2027–2028 numbers are released.

Planning tip: At large public universities, tuition, fees, and housing usually increase modestly each year (often in the 2–5% range). For early budgeting, families may want to plan for roughly $1,000–$1,500 more in-state or $2,000–$3,000 more out-of-state in total direct costs once new rates are published.

Average Federal Net Price: $18,035 — this is what families actually paid after grants and scholarships (no loans), based on the most recent federal data. Your specific cost could be significantly lower or higher depending on your financial aid eligibility and merit scholarships. New to Net Price & SAI? Read our guide.

Trevecca is a private university, so there is no in-state or out-of-state split. A family in Tullahoma and a family in Ohio see the same $35,650 tuition and fees line. That also means there is no reciprocity program and no out-of-state waiver to chase here. The way you lower the price at Trevecca is merit and need-based aid, not residency.

Trevecca uses “blocked” tuition. Anywhere between 12 and 18 credit hours costs the same flat $17,050 per semester, so a student taking 16 hours pays exactly what a student taking 12 hours pays. Below 12 hours you get billed per credit at $1,300, and Trevecca lists a separate $1,190 per credit hour rate at 19 or more hours.

Parent translation: hours 13 through 18 are effectively free. If your student is trying to graduate in three and a half years or double major, that block is where the savings live. But scholarships also require a minimum of 12 hours every semester, so dropping to 11 hours to lighten a load can quietly cost you the entire award for that term. Confirm how overload hours above 18 are billed before registering for them.

📅 Trevecca Scholarship Timeline (Simple Version)

• October: FAFSA opens. Tennessee state aid is first-come, first-served until the money runs out, so file now rather than in spring. Trevecca’s school code is 003526.
• January 31: Music and worship audition applications close. This is the earliest hard deadline on the calendar.
• February 19, 2027: J.O. McClurkan full-tuition application due.
• February 21: Communications LEAD scholarship applications close (dramatic arts, film and media, journalism).
• February: Endowed scholarship applications become available. Ask for them.
• March 5, 2027: McClurkan Day on campus, by invitation only.
• Mid-March: Trevecca Scholars Program application and recommendation letter due for Metro Nashville students.
• April national test date: Last sitting Trevecca will count toward raising an academic award.

Notice that admission itself has no deadline. Trevecca is rolling. Every date on this list is a money date, which is exactly why families miss them.

It is the only tier on the freshman ladder with a genuine no-test path. A 3.5 unweighted GPA gets your student $8,000 a year with no ACT or SAT involved at all. If you have a steady A-minus student who freezes on standardized tests, stop stressing about test day and make sure that transcript is clean. Every other tier above $8,000 requires a score.

Every three-tenths of a GPA point is worth $2,000 a year, or $8,000 across a four-semester run. A student sitting at 3.45 who pulls one more A moves from Welch to Holmes. A student at 3.65 who does the same moves to Chilton. You also need two full-time semesters of college after high school graduation to qualify for any transfer academic scholarship at all.

🧠 Parent Reality Check on McClurkan

Trevecca named three McClurkan recipients for 2026. Three in 2025. Three in 2024. Two in each of the two years before that. Meeting the 28 ACT and 3.5 GPA bar does not win you anything; it earns you the right to submit an application, and plenty of qualified students never receive the McClurkan Day invitation.

What separates finalists is not the transcript. It is a documented record of service and leadership that a committee can see on paper and then ask about across an interview table. Recent winners have been Eagle Scouts, club presidents, worship leaders and mission trip organizers.

Apply anyway. It costs an afternoon and the upside is full tuition. Just build your actual college budget around the Strickland or Dunning award your student already qualifies for automatically, and treat McClurkan as a bonus if it lands.

❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs

When is the McClurkan deadline?
Friday, February 19, 2027. Top applicants are then invited to McClurkan Day on campus on Friday, March 5, 2027, which is by invitation only.

How many McClurkan awards are given each year?
Two or three. Trevecca named three recipients in each of 2024, 2025 and 2026, and two in the two cycles before that.

What happens at McClurkan Day?
Your student interviews with faculty, staff and administrators, meets one on one with a professor in their intended field, and tours campus with current students. Being invited to compete earns the “McClurkan scholar” designation and recognition at commencement, even if your student is not one of the final award recipients.

Does McClurkan cover room and board?
No. It covers full tuition. With housing and board running $11,400 a year, even the biggest award at Trevecca leaves a real bill to plan for.

Can out-of-state or international students win it?
Yes. Trevecca specifically tells international applicants that McClurkan is the one full-tuition award available to them, and recent winners have come from Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Kansas as well as Tennessee.

Is Trevecca a Stamps, QuestBridge or National Merit partner?
No to all three. Trevecca does not participate in those programs, so National Merit Finalist status carries no automatic package here.

What should my student prepare?
A service and leadership record they can talk about out loud, not just list. Our Essay Toolkit and Brag Sheet Builder are built for exactly this kind of organizing.

🧠 Parent Strategy: Trevecca Publishes the List Nobody Reads

Most universities keep their endowed scholarship funds behind a portal. Trevecca posts roughly one hundred of them publicly, by name, with the donor’s criteria spelled out, at trevecca.edu/give/endowed-scholarships. It sits under the “Give” section of the site, which is why almost no applicant family ever finds it.

1. Read the list in the fall, before applications open.
2. Write down every fund whose criteria you match by major, home state, home church, family circumstance or GPA.
3. Applications become available in February each year. Ask the new student financial aid office in January how to apply for the specific funds on your list.
4. Name the funds in your email. Vague requests get vague answers.

Parent translation: the students who get endowed money are the ones who asked for it by name. There is no automatic matching process.

📚 What Is Actually In the Endowed Fund List

Some real examples, to show you how specific donor criteria get:

• By home state or region: South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, the Appalachian region, the North Florida and North Alabama districts, and even individual congregations in Rocky Mount NC, Huntsville AL and Bradenton FL.
• By circumstance: funds for students whose family is facing a life-threatening illness, for women whose education was interrupted by addiction or adversity, for children of missionaries, for children of alumni, and for students with physical limitations.
• By major: accounting, business, communication studies, dramatic arts, education, special education, English, history, psychology, social work, biology, chemistry, nursing, math, computer science, physician assistant, worship arts, social justice, and organ or stringed instrument study.
• Physics majors have three separate funds competing for a very small number of students. If that is your kid, read this list first.
• Some GPA floors sit at 2.0 or 2.5, which means a solid but unspectacular student can still match several funds.

Endowed awards run $1,000 to $5,000 a year, are credited in the first semester, require twelve hours of enrollment, and are capped at four years like the academic tiers.

If your church writes a check to Trevecca on your student’s behalf, Trevecca matches it. A $500 gift becomes $1,000, which is $4,000 across a degree. A lot of congregations have a small scholarship fund sitting unused because nobody ever asks.

One wrinkle to pin down in writing: Trevecca’s adult aid page says it will double any donation up to $500 for members of a participating Nazarene church in the Southeast region, while the same page also caps Trevecca’s match at $500 per academic year. Their own payment worksheet describes a 1-to-1 match up to $500 for all other churches. Ask financial aid to confirm the exact match for your congregation before you plan around it. The check must come to Trevecca directly from the church, not passed through your family.

Trevecca competes in NCAA Division II in the Gulf South Conference as the Trojans, and its published aid grid lists athletic scholarships at “varies,” set by skill and by the individual program. Amounts are determined by the coach in conjunction with the financial aid office, not by a published formula, so there is nothing to look up. If your student is being recruited, the conversation happens with the coach.

Worth knowing: several endowed funds in the published list are earmarked specifically for student athletes, including basketball. Those are separate money from the athletic award itself, and a coach may not think to mention them.

• January 31 for the School of Music and Worship Arts. One application covers both the music and worship tracks, and the same audition doubles as your entrance audition for the department. You can audition in person or send a video, though video applicants may be asked to audition again at orientation. Trevecca publishes no dollar amount for these, so call 615-248-1288 or email music2@trevecca.edu and ask what a typical award looks like.
• February 21 for the three Department of Communications LEAD scholarships (dramatic arts, film and media arts, journalism). Trevecca publishes only the deadline and a downloadable form for these, with no amount, criteria or selection process listed. The general aid grid puts departmental awards at $1,000 to $3,000 a year, but that figure is not stated for these specific awards. Call the department in January.

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Do these stack with my automatic academic scholarship?
Generally yes for traditional undergraduates. The one-scholarship-per-semester rule applies to Trevecca’s academic tiers specifically, and departmental, endowed, leadership and church-matching awards sit in different categories. Adult and graduate students face a stricter rule: one institutional scholarship per semester, period, including military and athletic awards.

Where do I actually apply for an endowed scholarship?
There is no single portal. Trevecca says endowed scholarship applications become available in February each year. The practical move is to read the published fund list, identify your matches, then contact the Office of New Student Financial Aid at newstudentfinaid@trevecca.edu or 615-248-1523 and ask by name.

Do I need to file the FAFSA even if I do not expect need-based aid?
Yes. Trevecca explicitly encourages every student to complete the FAFSA to be considered for institutional scholarships, and many endowed funds are awarded partly on demonstrated need. Trevecca’s school code is 003526.

What if I am a transfer or adult student?
Several awards are built for you. Phi Theta Kappa members entering Adult Studies get $500 per semester. Students at the Motlow State campus receive $1,000 after finishing their first class. First responders and military students, including veterans, spouses and dependents under 24, receive up to ten percent of tuition. The BML endowment for the Management and Leadership degree weighs work and life experience rather than a recent transcript.

Are any of these full tuition?
Two. The Trevecca Scholars Program covers full tuition, fees and books for up to 25 students a year from twelve participating Metro Nashville public high schools, though not housing or meals. The Nazarene Pastor Scholarship covers tuition on the core Christian Ministry classes in the online BA for licensed ministers on the Southeast Field, with electives, books and fees excluded. Both are narrow doors, but if you fit either one, nothing else on this page matters as much.

How will I know if I won something?
Institutional awards appear on your official offer of aid, which Trevecca mails after your admission requirements are complete. Departmental and endowed awards are often communicated by the department or the financial aid office separately, which is another reason to ask rather than wait.

• McClurkan Scholar status. This is the closest thing Trevecca has to an honors designation. Students invited to compete at McClurkan Day carry the “McClurkan scholar” title through their four years and receive special recognition at commencement, whether or not they win the full-tuition award itself.
• Undergraduate research. Trevecca runs a student research symposium, now named in honor of longtime psychology professor Dr. Randy Carden. For a school of roughly 1,900 undergraduates, that is meaningful access to faculty-mentored research that would be competitive to get at a larger institution.
• Class size. Roughly 55% of Trevecca classes enroll fewer than twenty students, with a 20:1 student-faculty ratio. The small-seminar experience that honors colleges are built to manufacture is closer to the default here.
• Department-level recognition. The endowed fund list includes awards decided by faculty recommendation within a department, meaning your student’s professors have direct influence over money.

• Music & Worship Arts: audition-based awards, renewable annually, January 31 deadline. Judged on musical ability, academic potential, and what the ensembles need that year.
• Communications: three LEAD scholarships for dramatic arts, film and media arts, and journalism. February 21 deadline.
• Sciences: dedicated endowed funds for physics (three separate ones), chemistry, biology and nursing, several restricted to incoming freshmen.
• Education: one of the deepest endowed pools on campus, including funds specifically for early education and special education concentrations.
• Theology & Ministry: the Millard Reed School of Theology and Christian Ministry administers a large set of ministerial funds, including the Skinner Family endowment, which alone provides ten scholarships a year for students preparing for full-time Christian service.

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