Sewanee: The University of the South Scholarships (2026–2027)
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Last Updated on August 4, 2026- Tuition, housing, and average family net price
- Automatic merit ranges and qualifier benchmarks
- Flagship and hidden-gem awards
- Honors and stacking strategy
📊 Admissions Snapshot
- Acceptance Rate: ~57%
- Middle 50% ACT: 28-32
- Middle 50% SAT: 1270-1390
- Average GPA: 3.84
Before you look at a single scholarship number, understand this. Sewanee makes three written promises to every student who holds up their end academically and socially:
- A funded summer internship or research fellowship. Not “help finding one.” Funded.
- A semester abroad at no additional tuition cost. More than 200 approved programs.
- Graduation in four years with one major. If Sewanee cannot deliver that, they give you up to one additional year of study tuition-free.
Parent translation: that fifth-year guarantee is worth roughly $58,000 in tuition, and the funded summer is worth a few thousand more. Neither one shows up in a scholarship award letter, so families comparing Sewanee’s offer against a bigger merit number somewhere else are often comparing the wrong two things. Ask about the Pledge in writing when you visit.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 Sewanee: The University of the South at a Glance
- Your financial aid paperwork gates your admission decision. Sewanee will not release a decision until your need-based aid materials are in. If you are applying for aid, an incomplete CSS Profile means no answer at all, not just no money.
- There is no separate scholarship application and no separate scholarship deadline. Submitting the Common App by your round’s deadline is the whole thing. Your scholarship offer arrives with your admission decision.
- Sewanee does not use IDOC and cannot waive the CSS Profile fee. Most schools that require the Profile will waive the fee for low-income families. Sewanee says plainly that it cannot. Budget for it.
- You will still read “Sewanee meets 100% of need” on other websites. Treat that as out of date. Sewanee announced a full-need commitment years ago, but the current aid page says funds are limited and makes no such promise. Sewanee’s own most recent Common Data Set shows about 95% of need met on average, with only about a third of aided first-year students fully met.
- One price, one bill, and two different official totals. Sewanee charges a single comprehensive fee with no in-state or out-of-state split. The admissions site and the academic catalog publish totals that differ by $419, because one includes optional tuition insurance and the other does not. See the cost section below.
- Early Decision is where the Tuition Exchange line starts. If a parent works at a Tuition Exchange or ACS school, Sewanee reviews those candidates beginning with Early Decision, and there are only six spots.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — Sewanee: The University of the South is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 28-32; SAT: 1270-1390.
Average net price? About $33,616/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? No — private school; same rate for all.
University scholarship page: https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/scholarships/
Carey Fellows program information page: https://new.sewanee.edu/academics/babson-center-for-global-commerce/carey-fellows-business-honors-program/program-information/
University Choir page: https://new.sewanee.edu/campus-life/believing/all-saints-chapel/the-university-choir/
University academics page: https://new.sewanee.edu/academics/
Bonner Leaders program page: https://new.sewanee.edu/campus-life/office-of-civic-engagement/ce-programs/bonner-leaders-program/
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at Sewanee: The University of the South 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.
| Category (2026–2027) | In-State | Out-of-State |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition & Mandatory Fees (2 semesters) | $59,145 | $59,145 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $16,628 | $16,628 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $75,773 | $75,773 |
Average Federal Net Price: $33,616 — 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.
📌 Regional Tuition & Waiver Options
Sewanee has not released 2026–2027 figures yet. The numbers in the table are Sewanee’s most recently published rates, which are for 2025–2026, taken straight from the University catalog. Sewanee typically posts the next year’s comprehensive fee in the spring. For planning purposes, assume a modest increase and budget roughly $2,000 to $3,000 more than what you see here. We update this page as soon as official numbers post.
Sewanee is private, so there is no in-state or out-of-state tuition. A family in Tennessee and a family in Oregon see the exact same sticker price. What most families do not realize is that two pieces of that “comprehensive fee” are optional:
- Tuition insurance, $419. You can opt out.
- Bookstore charge (First Day Complete), $500. You can opt out each semester and buy your own books.
That is why Sewanee’s admissions page lists a comprehensive fee of $75,354 while the academic catalog lists $75,773. Same school, same year. The catalog number includes tuition insurance and the admissions number does not. A family that opts out of both lines pays about $919 less than the table above shows.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at Sewanee
Why is there only one column of numbers that matters?
Because Sewanee is a private Episcopal college and charges every undergraduate the same comprehensive fee regardless of home state. There is no residency discount to chase, no reciprocity agreement to apply for, and no out-of-state waiver to hunt down. Your cost comes down entirely to merit scholarship and need-based aid.
What exactly does the comprehensive fee cover?
Tuition, the activities fee, room, your meal plan, and the bookstore program. That is unusually inclusive. Most schools bill books separately and then act surprised when families are shocked. Sewanee folds books in and lets you opt out if you would rather shop around.
What is not included?
Personal expenses, supplies, and travel. Sewanee suggests U.S. students budget about $1,500 for supplies and personal spending, plus somewhere between $400 and $1,200 for travel depending on how far you live from the Cumberland Plateau. That travel range is worth taking seriously. Sewanee sits on a mountain about 90 minutes from Nashville and roughly two hours from Chattanooga, and there is no airport nearby.
Does Sewanee meet 100% of financial need?
Not currently, and this is the single most common piece of outdated information about Sewanee on the internet. The University announced a full-need commitment several years ago, but the current financial aid page states plainly that funds are limited and gives priority to on-time applications. Sewanee’s own Common Data Set reports about 95% of need met on average, with only about a third of aided first-year students seeing need fully covered. Plan for a gap and be pleasantly surprised if there is not one.
Do I need the CSS Profile, or is FAFSA enough?
Both, and this trips people up. FAFSA alone only gets you federal aid. To be considered for Sewanee’s own need-based money, you must submit the CSS Profile as well. Sewanee’s FAFSA code is 003534 and its CSS Profile code is 1842. Two more things to know: Sewanee does not participate in the Profile’s IDOC document service, and it cannot issue CSS Profile fee waivers. If the Profile fee is a hardship, that cost is on you.
When is the aid paperwork actually due?
It tracks your admission round, not a single universal date. Early Decision I applicants who get an actionable CSS Profile in by December 1 receive an aid offer by December 19. Early Action and Early Decision II applicants who submit the Profile and FAFSA by February 1 receive an offer by March 1. Regular Decision applicants who submit by March 1 receive an offer by April 1. After March 1, review moves to first come, first served.
Will my price go up every year?
Expect modest annual increases in the comprehensive fee, the same as almost anywhere. Your academic scholarship is renewable for four years as long as you maintain satisfactory academic progress, but it is generally a fixed dollar amount rather than a fixed percentage, which means the gap can widen slightly each year. Ask the financial aid office directly how your specific award behaves over four years.
Is the average net price of about $33,600 realistic for us?
It is a real federal average, which means half of aided families paid more and half paid less. Sewanee reports that about 98% of entering first-year students receive some form of gift funding, and that recent average institutional award has run just over $34,000. Run the net price calculator before you fall in love with the place, not after.
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/tuition-fees/
https://e-catalog.sewanee.edu/arts-sciences/admission-expenses-financial-aid/tuition-fees/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/need-based-aid/
https://new.sewanee.edu/offices/university-offices/ir/common-data-set/
📅 Sewanee Scholarship Timeline (Simple Version)
- Nov. 15: Early Decision I. Binding. Decision and scholarship offer arrive mid-December. Also where Tuition Exchange review begins.
- Dec. 1: Early Action (non-binding), and the CSS Profile date for ED I families who want an aid offer by December 19.
- Jan. 15: Early Decision II. Binding.
- Feb. 1: Regular Decision, and the aid document date for Early Action and ED II.
- Mar. 1: Last on-time date for Regular Decision aid documents. After this, review is first come, first served.
Parent rule of thumb: at Sewanee your admission deadline is your scholarship deadline. There is no second bite at the apple in March.
Automatic Merit Scholarships — Sewanee
“EQB” comes from Sewanee’s motto, Ecce Quam Bonum. The award runs from $5,000 to $34,000 a year, and that top number is not a rounding error. At $34,000 against a comprehensive fee in the mid-$70,000s, a strong admit can knock nearly half the sticker price off before need-based aid enters the picture. Sewanee reports that recent average institutional funding for first-year students has landed just over $34,000, which tells you the upper end of this range is being used, not just advertised.
What we cannot tell you is exactly where your student lands, because Sewanee does not publish cutoffs. Historically, strong course rigor with test scores in the upper 20s ACT or 1200s SAT and up has put students in EQB territory, but treat that as our read on the pattern rather than an institutional promise.
Note: Sewanee does superscore both the ACT and SAT, so send every sitting you have. ACT Science is now optional, and Sewanee calculates superscores both with and without Science, then uses whichever is higher. Roughly 46% of enrolled students applied test-optional, so choosing not to submit is a genuinely normal path here, not a red flag.
Automatic Merit — FAQs (Sewanee)
Do I have to apply for the EQB Award?
No. Submit the Common Application and your required documents by your round’s deadline and you are automatically reviewed. Your scholarship notification arrives at the same time as your admission decision.
Is there a GPA or test score that guarantees a specific amount?
No, and anyone telling you otherwise is guessing. Sewanee runs a genuinely holistic review that weighs rigor of coursework, academic performance, essays, recommendations, and fit. Test scores are considered when submitted but are not the lever. This is the single biggest mindset shift for families coming from a place like Alabama or Arizona, where merit is a lookup table.
What is the George Hopper Award?
It is $1,500 a year for dependents of Episcopal clergy, and it is explicitly granted in addition to whatever academic scholarship you already earned. If your family has an Episcopal clergy connection, this is free money layered on top. It requires no separate application.
Does the EQB Award stack with anything else?
Yes, and this is where Sewanee is more generous than it first appears. The Hopper Award stacks. The Wilkins Scholarship adds $5,000 a year on top of your EQB. Fellowships in the Arts add $2,000 a year on top. The choral scholarships stack. The only thing that does not stack is a full-ride award, because Vice-Chancellor’s and Benedict replace the standalone EQB amount rather than adding to it, which is obviously fine since they are worth far more.
Are these renewable?
Yes. All academic scholarships renew for four years as long as you maintain satisfactory academic progress. Sewanee does not publish a specific GPA renewal threshold in its scholarship materials, so ask the financial aid office for the standard in writing when you get your offer.
Should I submit test scores or apply test-optional?
Practical answer: if your scores sit inside or above Sewanee’s middle 50% range (ACT 28 to 32, SAT 1270 to 1390), send them. If they sit meaningfully below, applying test-optional is a well-worn path here and will not hurt your scholarship consideration. You can also switch your testing plan either direction as long as you notify your admission counselor by your admission deadline.
Does applying Early Decision get me more money?
Sewanee states that all applicants, regardless of round, are fully eligible for aid and scholarship consideration. ED does not buy you a bigger award. It does improve your admission odds meaningfully, and it is the round where Tuition Exchange candidates get reviewed first. The tradeoff is that ED is binding, so you give up the ability to compare offers.
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/scholarships/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/application-options-deadlines/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/application-review/
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at Sewanee?
| Award | Stacks with EQB? | Sewanee Parent Translation |
|---|---|---|
| EQB Award | Base award | This is the foundation everything else builds on. $5,000 to $34,000 per year. |
| Wilkins Scholarship | ✅ Yes, adds on | $5,000 a year in addition to your EQB. Sewanee’s language on this is explicit. |
| George Hopper Award | ✅ Yes, adds on | $1,500 a year for Episcopal clergy dependents, stacked on top of any academic scholarship. |
| Fellowship in the Arts | ✅ Yes, adds on | $2,000 a year, renewable four years. Sewanee literally calls these “stackable fellowships.” |
| Vice-Chancellor’s & Benedict | ❌ Replaces | These cover full tuition, fees, room, and board, so they take the place of a standalone EQB amount rather than adding to it. That is a good problem to have. |
| Need-based grant | ✅ Usually | Layered after merit to fill remaining need. Requires both FAFSA and CSS Profile, on time. |
The practical takeaway: Sewanee’s stacking rules are unusually friendly. A student can realistically hold an EQB Award, a Wilkins boost, an arts fellowship, and a need-based grant all at once. What Sewanee does not have is a big essay-and-interview scholarship weekend the way some flagship publics do. There is no finalist competition to prepare for and no separate scholarship essay to write. The application you already submitted is the whole audition.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
How do I apply for the Vice-Chancellor’s or Benedict Scholarship?
You do not, and that is not us dodging the question. Sewanee publishes no separate application for either award. Both are selected from the admitted pool during normal admissions review. Submit by your round’s deadline with the strongest application you can build.
How many are actually awarded?
One Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship and two Benedict Scholarships per year. Three students out of an entering class of roughly 450. Be realistic about that math while still submitting the best application you can, because the same strength that puts you in Benedict conversation is what pushes an EQB Award toward the top of its range.
What do Vice-Chancellor’s and Benedict actually cover?
Full tuition, fees, room, and board, annually. That is effectively the entire comprehensive fee, not just tuition. Both are renewable for four years.
What is the Wilkins Scholarship and how is it different?
Wilkins is $5,000 a year layered on top of your EQB Award. It goes to strong academic admits as a further boost, again with no separate application. Think of it less as a distinct scholarship and more as an upgrade tier applied during review.
Is the Fellowship in the Arts worth chasing?
If your student has a real track record in visual studies, art history, film, dance, theatre, or music, yes. It is $2,000 a year, renewable for four, and it stacks. This one does require an application, which you submit after you are admitted through Sewanee’s engagement portal. Watch your email after your decision arrives, because the invitation goes out then.
Does Sewanee participate in National Merit, Stamps, or QuestBridge?
We found no evidence of a Sewanee partnership with any of the three. If National Merit standing or a Stamps package is central to your strategy, Sewanee is not the school where that lever works. Confirm directly with admissions if this matters to your plan.
What should we prepare?
Essays and recommendations carry real weight in a holistic read, and Sewanee explicitly counts demonstrated interest through visits, fairs, counselor contact, and email engagement as part of its review. That last one is unusual and worth acting on. Our Essay Toolkit and Brag Sheet Builder can help organize the pieces.
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/scholarships/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/application-review/
Honors at Sewanee: There Is No Honors College, and That Is On Purpose
If you are coming from a list of big public universities, you have been trained to ask “does it have an honors college?” At Sewanee that question does not really apply, and it is worth understanding why before you treat it as a mark against the school.
Sewanee enrolls roughly 1,600 undergraduates with a student-to-faculty ratio of about 8.6 to 1, and the overwhelming majority of class sections have fewer than 20 students. An honors college at a large university exists to carve out small seminars, close faculty access, and priority advising from a campus of 30,000. At Sewanee that is the baseline experience, so there is nothing to carve out. Sewanee does not report an honors program on its Common Data Set for exactly this reason.
What Sewanee offers instead are two selective academic distinctions and one campus-wide tradition. None of them changes your scholarship dollars directly, but all three change what your transcript and your network look like at graduation.
What Sewanee Offers Instead
This is the one honors-track item with a real deadline that most families miss. Admitted first-year students are invited to apply for Carey Fellows shortly after their acceptance, applications typically open at the end of January, and the deadline has recently fallen in mid-March with decisions in mid-April. That is before the May 1 enrollment deadline, which means you may need to apply to a program at a school you have not committed to yet. Do it anyway. Students who miss the first-year window can apply again in the fall of sophomore year.
- Sewanee’s oldest and most visible academic distinction. Students who reach a set academic standard earn the right to wear the academic gown to class, and you will see them all over campus.
- It carries no money, but it is genuinely part of campus culture rather than a line on a website, and it signals academic standing to faculty writing your recommendations later.
- Ask about current eligibility standards during your visit, since requirements are set by the University and can be adjusted.
Honors at Sewanee — FAQs
Does Sewanee have an honors college I should apply to?
No. There is no separate honors college, no honors application, and no honors admission decision. If a college list spreadsheet has an “honors college” column, Sewanee gets a no, and that no does not mean what it would mean at a 30,000-student public university.
Then what is the equivalent of getting into honors here?
Practically speaking, three things: earning a strong EQB Award at admission, getting selected as a Carey Fellow if business is your direction, and pursuing departmental honors in your major as an upperclassman. Those are the paths that carry weight.
What is the Carey Fellows program actually worth?
It is Sewanee’s business honors program, run through the Babson Center for Global Commerce. Fellows complete the business minor plus two proseminars, and spend an entire semester in a paid, full-time internship that the Babson Center arranges. Recent fellows have interned in corporate strategy at Milliken and sports licensing at CAA. There is program funding through the Wm. Polk Carey Pre-Business Fund and a stipend, and it layers on top of your existing merit aid rather than replacing any of it. The minimum GPA is 3.33.
Does departmental honors come with money?
No. Departmental honors is an academic designation conferred at graduation for completing an honors thesis or capstone under faculty supervision, typically applied for during junior year with a minimum GPA around 3.50 depending on the department. It does not change your aid package. It changes your graduate school application.
Is Sewanee still academically rigorous without an honors track?
The outcomes suggest yes. Sewanee has produced 28 Rhodes Scholars since 1907, more than Amherst, Emory, Haverford, Middlebury, or Vanderbilt, alongside 53 Watson Fellows and 35 NCAA Postgraduate Scholars, from a student body of about 1,600. Reported graduate school acceptance rates run 90% to 95% for business and law and 80% to 85% for medicine.
Can I do research as an undergraduate?
Yes, and the Sewanee Pledge funds it. Every student who meets Sewanee’s expectations is promised funding for a summer internship or research fellowship. At a school with no graduate students competing for lab space, undergraduate research is not a scarce commodity.
https://new.sewanee.edu/academics/babson-center-for-global-commerce/carey-fellows-business-honors-program/program-information/
https://new.sewanee.edu/offices/the-college-of-arts-sciences-offices/dean-of-the-college/recipients-of-post-graduate-scholarships-and-fellowships/sewanee-s-rhodes-scholars/
https://new.sewanee.edu/offices/university-offices/ir/common-data-set/
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/the-sewanee-pledge/
⭐ College Specialty
Sewanee is a small Episcopal liberal arts college sitting on a 13,000-acre campus that everyone there calls “the Domain.” That number is not marketing. It is forests, bluffs, meadows, lakes, and caves, and it is used as an actual outdoor laboratory. About three dozen majors, roughly 1,600 undergraduates, and a student-to-faculty ratio around 8.6 to 1. That combination shapes what Sewanee is good at.
Environmental Studies and Forestry — Very few liberal arts colleges in the country offer forestry as a full major, and almost none of them own 13,000 acres to teach it on. Sewanee builds an entire cluster here: Earth and Environmental Systems, Environment and Sustainability, Forestry, Geology, Natural Resources and the Environment, Watershed Science, and even Environmental Arts and Humanities, all tied together by the Integrated Program in the Environment. If your student is drawn to environmental work and you are comparing small colleges, this is the one where the fieldwork starts outside the classroom door.
- English and Creative Writing: Sewanee publishes The Sewanee Review, founded in 1892 and the oldest continuously published literary quarterly in America. Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O’Connor published early work in it. Undergraduates work there as assistant editors, which is the kind of resume line that follows a person into publishing. The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, funded by the estate of Tennessee Williams, brings Pulitzer and Nobel-caliber faculty to campus every summer.
- Biology and Neuroscience: The largest science cluster on campus and one of the biggest sources of degrees conferred, feeding a pre-health pipeline that reports medical school acceptance rates in the 80% to 85% range against a national average closer to 42%.
- Finance and Pre-Business: Finance is a full major, business is a minor, and the Babson Center for Global Commerce anchors both with executive speakers, skills training, funded professional exam prep, and the Carey Fellows honors track with its semester-long paid internship. This is a genuinely serious business pathway hiding inside a liberal arts college.
- Psychology and History: Two of the largest majors by degrees awarded, and both under-marketed relative to how many Sewanee students actually study them. If either is your student’s direction, they will not be in a small orphaned department.
- International and Global Studies: Paired with a study-abroad program that the Sewanee Pledge makes tuition-neutral across more than 200 approved programs. Studying abroad here does not cost extra tuition, which quietly removes the most common reason students skip it.
- Distinctive smaller programs: Rhetoric as a full major, plus minors in Shakespeare Studies, Southern Appalachian Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and Religion and Environment. These are the kinds of programs that exist because a specific faculty member is excellent, not because a market study said so.
From a student body of about 1,600, Sewanee has produced 28 Rhodes Scholars since 1907, ahead of Amherst, Emory, Haverford, Middlebury, and Vanderbilt, along with 53 Watson Fellows and 35 NCAA Postgraduate Scholars. Small schools rarely put up those numbers. The explanation Sewanee gives is faculty mentorship, and given the class sizes, that is a credible answer rather than a brochure line.
🔗 Official Sewanee Links
Every link below was checked and confirmed live. Use these to verify deadlines, award terms, and costs, because Sewanee updates its published figures on its own schedule and official pages always win over any summary, including ours.
-
University Homepage:
https://new.sewanee.edu/ -
Applying to Sewanee:
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/ -
Application Timeline & Deadlines (all rounds, deposit dates):
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/application-options-deadlines/ -
Application Review & Policies (test-optional, superscore, class profile):
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/application-process/application-review/ -
Scholarships:
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/scholarships/ -
Tuition & Fees (comprehensive fee):
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/tuition-fees/ -
Catalog Tuition & Fees (full line-item breakdown):
https://e-catalog.sewanee.edu/arts-sciences/admission-expenses-financial-aid/tuition-fees/ -
Need-Based Aid (FAFSA/CSS deadlines by round, Tuition Exchange):
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/cost-financial-aid/need-based-aid/ -
Net Price Calculator:
https://collegepricecalculator.com/sewanee
This is the calculator linked from Sewanee’s live tuition page. Sewanee’s Common Data Set lists a different calculator URL, so if this one gives you trouble, contact the financial aid office directly. -
The Sewanee Pledge:
https://new.sewanee.edu/admission-aid/the-sewanee-pledge/ -
Carey Fellows Business Honors Program:
https://new.sewanee.edu/academics/babson-center-for-global-commerce/carey-fellows-business-honors-program/program-information/ -
Bonner Leaders Program:
https://new.sewanee.edu/campus-life/office-of-civic-engagement/ce-programs/bonner-leaders-program/ -
The University Choir (Vial Comer Choral Scholarships):
https://new.sewanee.edu/campus-life/believing/all-saints-chapel/the-university-choir/ -
Programs of Study (majors, minors, certificates):
https://new.sewanee.edu/programs-of-study/ -
Common Data Set (institutional data):
https://new.sewanee.edu/offices/university-offices/ir/common-data-set/
Most recent edition posted by Sewanee is 2023–2024.