Financial Aid

Attend Westminster Tuition-Free

Launching fall 2025, the Westminster Advantage is our first large-scale tuition-free initiative. It will allow more Pennsylvania students to receive a life-changing Westminster education without owing a single dollar for tuition.

The Advantage is unique because it is applied last. It covers any remaining tuition after other financial aid, such as academic scholarships and federal and state loans, is applied. It’s just one more way we’re making an exceptional Westminster education genuinely affordable.

And the best news? If you are a Pennsylvania resident applying for admission in fall 2025, with a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher, and a total family annual income of $75,000 or less, you will be automatically considered for this scholarship if you do three things:

•  Apply to Westminster.
•  File your FAFSA.
•  Apply for a Pennsylvania State Grant.

No separate scholarship application or essay is required.

How It Works

Eligibility Criteria

•  U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.


•  Pennsylvania resident.


•  High school GPA of 3.0 (weighted GPA).


•  Enrolling as a full-time undergraduate student (minimum of 12 semester hours each semester).


•  Enrolling in a bachelor’s degree-granting program.


• Students in the Exploratory (undecided) major are eligible.


•  Working toward the first bachelor’s degree.


• Post-undergraduates are not eligible.


•  Have a total family income of $75,000 or less.


•  Filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2025-2026 academic year. (Eligibility for a federal Pell Grant as determined by the FAFSA is required.)


•  Submitted all requested financial aid documents and the FAFSA must be free of all holds and processing issues.


• If a student feels the income reported on the FAFSA is no longer accurate, review the Special Circumstances process to address changes in household income, divorce, death of a parent, etc. For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid finaid@westminster.edu.


•  Applied for a PA State Grant award through PHEAA for the 2025-2026 academic year. (Eligibility for the PA State Grant is required.)

How Scholarship Amount is Determined

The Westminster Advantage Scholarship covers the difference between tuition and other grants and tuition-specific scholarships.

If eligibility is reduced to an amount between $1-$199 based on the aforementioned calculation, the student will receive a $200 minimum award.

• NOTE: If the total of grants and tuition-specific awards exceed the cost of tuition, the student will not be eligible for a Westminster Advantage Scholarship.

The Westminster Advantage Scholarship can only be applied to tuition. It cannot be applied to other College fees or charges, which include but are not limited to:

•  Housing


•  Meal plans


•  Activity Fee


•  New Student Orientation Fee


•  Special Course Fees


•  Music Lesson Fees


•  Internship Fees


•  Study Abroad and Other Travel-Related Fees

Award may be reduced or canceled if the student changes their schedule, drops or withdraws from a course, or their tuition charges change for any other reason.

Scholarship Renewal Criteria

First-year and transfer students who enroll as new students in fall 2025 may be eligible for a maximum of 8 semesters, or 4 academic years, of the Westminster Advantage Scholarship.

This award does not renew automatically. To remain eligible, every academic year the student must:

•  File the FAFSA.


•  Apply for the PA State Grant.


•  Have a family annual income of $75,000 or less as reported on each year's FAFSA.


•  Continue to be eligible for a federal Pell grant and a PA State Grant.


•  Enroll in a minimum of 12 semester hours at Westminster each semester.


•  Meet the Financial Aid Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress every semester.


•  Complete any requests for additional information from the Office of Financial Aid to establish annual eligibility.

The Advantage Scholarship is available only for the fall and spring semesters.

For questions about this program, contact finaid@westminster.edu.