Belhaven 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: $16,299 — 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

The $9,850 above is Belhaven’s least expensive option: a double room in Caldwell, Wells, or Robertson, meal plan included. The other halls climb from there. Helen White runs $10,850, Lakeview doubles are $11,250, Lakeview quads are $11,650, a private room in Wells is $12,400, and University Village tops the list at $12,850 without a meal plan attached. That is a spread of about $3,000 a year, or $12,000 across a degree, decided by which building your student ends up in. Ask about housing assignment before you build your budget around the floor.

📅 Belhaven Scholarship Timeline (Simple Version)

• October 1: FAFSA opens. Belhaven’s school code is 002397. The academic awards do not require it, but the Need Grant and every federal and state program do.
• November 30: Early Acceptance deadline. Worth $1,500, non-binding, and it triggers a full aid award in mid-December instead of leaving you guessing until spring.
• Mid-November: Round 1 arts auditions and portfolios, which require Early Acceptance participation.
• Mid-December: Early Acceptance students receive their acceptance and complete financial aid package.
• Early March: Round 2 arts auditions and portfolios, at slightly lower award amounts than Round 1.
• Any time before enrollment: Campus visit or Discover Day, worth another $1,000 on the first-year package.

Parent rule of thumb: at most colleges the early deadline buys you peace of mind. At Belhaven it buys you $1,500 and a real aid letter before Christmas. Treat November 30 as the deadline that matters, even if your student is still shopping.

Every one of these awards is described the same way: $5,000 goes toward campus housing and the remainder goes toward educational expenses. That means the $17,500 President’s Scholarship reduces a roughly $31,500 tuition and fees bill by about $12,500, not $17,500. It also means the value shrinks if your student lives off campus.

Belhaven also lists a standalone $5,000 Residence Hall Grant for students living in the halls. Whether that is the same $5,000 already baked into your academic award or an additional $5,000 on top of it is not explained anywhere on their website. This is the single most important question to ask the financial aid office, and you should ask it before you compare Belhaven’s offer to anyone else’s.

The Distinguished Arts Scholarship is the only award here that requires your student to be evaluated against other applicants. It is open to students majoring in Art, Creative Writing, Dance, Graphic Design, Film Production, Music, Theatre, or Tradigital Studies, and it is decided by audition or portfolio review.

• Round 1 closes in mid-November, requires Early Acceptance participation, and pays at the top of the range.
• Round 2 closes in early March and pays modestly less.

Round 1 is worth aiming for. It pays more, and it forces you onto the November 30 Early Acceptance track that is worth another $1,500 anyway. Belhaven posts the exact dates cycle by cycle, so confirm them with admission for your student’s application year rather than trusting a date you read in the fall.

❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs

Is Belhaven a Stamps Scholarship partner?
No. Belhaven is not a Stamps partner institution.

Does Belhaven offer a National Merit package?
No. There is no published National Merit Finalist award here. A National Merit student would receive the President’s Scholarship like any other student with a 3.5 GPA and a 26 ACT.

Is there a full-ride scholarship?
No award covers tuition plus housing and meals. The closest thing is the PCA Pastor’s and Missionary Scholarship, which covers full tuition but explicitly leaves fees, books, room, and board to the family. It also requires living on campus.

My student is a strong writer with a great activity list. Is there anywhere to use that here?
Within Belhaven’s own aid, only the arts audition and portfolio review. Outside of it, absolutely. Mississippi’s HELP grant pays up to $9,000 a year for residents based on residency, academics, and need, and the Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant adds up to $2,500. Those applications reward exactly that kind of preparation. Our Essay Toolkit and Brag Sheet Builder are built for outside scholarship applications, which is where that effort belongs at a school like this one.

If nothing here is competitive, what actually determines our price?
Four things, in order of size: your student’s academic tier, whether they live on campus, whether your family has a PCA or Presbyterian connection, and whether you applied by November 30. That is genuinely the whole equation.

🧠 Parent Strategy: Belhaven’s Money Is in the Small Stuff

At most colleges the hidden gems are scattered across department pages and easy to miss. At Belhaven they are all listed in one place, and the trick is not finding them. The trick is realizing how much they add up to when you stack the ones that stack.

1. Apply by November 30. $1,500, non-binding, and you get a real aid letter in mid-December. This is the highest return on effort available anywhere on this page.
2. Schedule a campus visit or Discover Day. Another $1,000 on the first-year package. You were going to visit anyway.
3. File the FAFSA. School code 002397. It is not required for the academic award, but it is the gate for the Need Grant, Pell, and every Mississippi program.
4. Check your family tree. If your student is the child or sibling of a Belhaven student or graduate, that is $500 through the Legacy Scholarship. You have to tell them; contact admission directly.
5. Check your church. This is the big one for Presbyterian families, and it is worth reading the section below carefully because the denominations matter.

Parent translation: a family that applies early, visits campus, and mentions a Belhaven sibling has picked up $3,000 in the first year without their student writing a single essay.

⛪ The Presbyterian Awards, Untangled

Belhaven has historic Presbyterian ties and offers several church-connected awards. They are easy to mix up because two different denominations are involved, and the abbreviations are one letter apart. Here is the plain version.

• PCA is the Presbyterian Church in America. PCUSA is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). They are separate denominations, and Belhaven’s awards treat them differently.
• PCA pastors and Mission to the World missionaries: your child may attend tuition free. The pastor must be a PCA teaching elder currently serving full-time in a local congregation or as a full-time MTW missionary. Your student must live on campus, and $5,000 comes off the award if they move off campus after turning 21. This award cannot be combined with any other Belhaven scholarship.
• PCA church members: Belhaven guarantees at least 50% of tuition will be covered for a new full-time undergraduate living on campus, with a letter of recommendation from your pastor. Read that as a floor on your total scholarship coverage rather than a separate check, which means it interacts with your academic award instead of simply adding to it. Ask for the itemized letter.
• Presbyterian Scholarship Program: $1,000 a year, $4,000 over four years, added to the student’s total award. There is a gate that is easy to miss: your church must donate at least $1,000 annually to the Belhaven fund. This one depends on your congregation, not just your student.
• Presbyterian Mission Agency Scholarship: a separate PCUSA award, not a Belhaven award. It pays $4,000 to roughly 100 students nationally each year, with an additional $2,000 available to people of color. The FAFSA is required, and you apply through the Presbyterian Mission Agency rather than through Belhaven.
• Church Matching Grant: open to any congregation, not just Presbyterian ones. Belhaven matches up to $500 a year of your church’s contribution. The application is in BlazeNet. It cannot be combined with the PCA Pastor’s offer.

• Double Major Promise, fifth year tuition free: declare a double major and Belhaven covers tuition for a fifth year if you need it, a $30,000 value. The catch that costs families the most: transfer students are not eligible, and Belhaven defines a transfer as anyone with more than 12 college credit hours earned after high school graduation. Dual enrollment credit from high school does not disqualify your student, and neither do AP or CLEP credits. You must also stay continuously enrolled full-time for four years, file the FAFSA, and apply through BlazeNet before submitting a graduation application. Fees, books, room, and board are still yours in year five.
• Free online master’s degree: up to a $25,000 value, in business, education, data science, leadership, public administration, healthcare, sports administration, or biblical studies. You pay fees and books only. There is no time limit, so your student can work for three years and come back for it. Belhaven describes itself as the only university in the country offering this to traditional-campus students.

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Which of these actually stack with the academic scholarship?
Early Acceptance, the Visit Scholarship, the Legacy Scholarship, the Need Grant, and the Presbyterian Scholarship Program are all described as added to the package. The PCA Pastor’s full-tuition award does not stack with anything. The Residence Hall Grant is the genuine question mark, because Belhaven says it cannot combine with “some Belhaven scholarships” without saying which ones, while every academic tier already claims to include $5,000 toward housing. Ask for the itemization.

Is the Early Acceptance deadline binding?
No. Belhaven states it is non-binding with no obligation to commit after you are notified. That is unusual and it is in your favor. You get $1,500 and a December aid letter while keeping every other option open.

We are transferring in. What is available to us?
The Transfer Scholarship pays $14,000 to $16,500 with 12 or more credit hours and a 2.0 GPA. If your student is in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the PTK Scholarship pays a flat $17,500, which is the highest single academic figure Belhaven publishes. Transfers are also eligible for the $1,500 Early Acceptance Scholarship. Transfers are not eligible for the Double Major Promise.

My student is an artist. When should we audition?
Round 1, in mid-November. It pays at the top of the range and it puts you on the Early Acceptance track that is worth another $1,500. Round 2 in early March pays less. Belhaven posts exact dates cycle by cycle, so confirm with admission for your student’s year rather than trusting a date from a previous cycle.

Is there a deadline for the Legacy or Visit scholarships?
Neither has a published deadline, but both are described as first-year awards, so handle them before enrollment. For Legacy you have to raise your hand; contact admission and tell them about the Belhaven connection in your family.

Do current students have access to these?
The Need Grant is reassessed each year with your FAFSA, and the Church Matching Grant and Presbyterian Scholarship Program are described as annual. The entry awards like Early Acceptance and the Visit Scholarship are one-time first-year money.

You do not apply separately. You enroll in Honors Colloquium, and you may do so if you meet any one of these:

• ACT composite of 26 or above (or SAT reading plus math of 1190, or a CLT score of 81)
• ACT English or Writing of 28 or above (or SAT Writing of 630 or above)
• College-level GPA of 3.5 or above over at least two semesters, plus an interview with the Director of the Honors Program

Notice that third path. A student who did not test well but performs in college can still get in, which is a more forgiving door than most honors colleges offer.

Belhaven does not publish any scholarship tied to Honors Program participation. If an admission counselor mentions honors money to you, ask them to point to it in writing, because as of this writing it is not on the university’s website.

There is no Common Data Set. Most universities publish one, and it is where we normally go for admitted-student profiles and aid breakdowns. Belhaven does not publish one, and its consumer information page points to the federal IPEDS record instead. That is why the IPEDS link is above where a Common Data Set link would normally sit.

There is no standalone Net Price Calculator. Belhaven’s consumer information page labels its general financial aid page as the net price calculator. If you want a personalized estimate before you apply, the more reliable move is to call the admission office at 601-968-5940 and walk through your student’s GPA and test score against the published grid, since Belhaven’s awards are formula-driven enough that they can tell you over the phone.

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