Scholarships

As a Premier Scholar, you will receive educational enrichment opportunities, including:

• A shared first-year curriculum with other Premier Scholars
• A sophomore experience to prepare for the Honors Program
• A Vocation Ethics and Society capstone project
• Focused preparation for prestigious postgraduate fellowships
• Guaranteed support for at least one experiential learning opportunity such as study abroad, paid internship, paid research experience or a stipend for summer fellowship programs

You will be placed into a group of students who share similar interests. Your group will be housed in living/learning communities to provide active, interactive and dynamic settings to grow and thrive.

As a Premier Scholar, you will have a faculty/staff mentor and benefit from the built-in support systems that come from living and working with outstanding peers.

Become a Millsaps Premier Scholar. Application Requirements

You should have an unweighted minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and a minimum ACT score of 28 or 1300 on the SAT. A complete application for the Premier Scholarship includes the following:

• Standard Millsaps application for admission
• Premier Scholarship Application comprising the following:
  • Two short essay responses to provided prompts. Essays must be between 500 and 700 words.
  • Two letters of recommendation. One should be from a teacher, counselor or principal; one should be from a coach, an employer or a mentor. Letters should not come from a relative.
• Optional portfolio of work demonstrating your achievements in relevant areas (academic, artistic, performative, leadership, etc.).

We value Millsaps legacy students who carry on a family tradition of having the Millsaps experience. If your brother, sister, parent or grandparent attended Millsaps for two or more years, you qualify for a $1,000 scholarship! To be considered, indicate on your application for admission which of your relatives is an alumnus of the college. Legacy information must be submitted prior to your admission decision to be considered.

Millsaps was built on the spirit of the Methodist faith, and we strive to embody the spirit of John Wesley through our affiliation with the Methodist church. Below is a list of financial aid specifically for Methodist students:
Methodist students may apply for outside scholarships and loans by submitting applications to the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. Students must re-apply by organizational deadlines each year.

Children of United Methodist Pastors
Millsaps College will award $2,000 per year, renewable up to four years, to incoming first-year or transfer students whose parent provides confirmation of appointment as a United Methodist Church pastor. The confirmation of appointment is required at the point of application for admission. Contact your Millsaps admission counselor with questions.

United Methodist Higher Education Foundation
The United Methodist Higher Education Foundation (UMHEF) awards more than $2 million in scholarships every year to United Methodist (UM) students attending UM-related schools, including Millsaps College. Learn about the many UMHEF scholarship opportunities, including the popular UM Dollars for Scholars program, by visiting the UMHEF website. Applications are typically open January 1 through March 1.

General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) administers numerous scholarships and low-interest loans for United Methodist students. Every year, an average of $5.5 million is awarded to help students pursue their dreams through higher education. For more information, visit the GBHEM’s loans and scholarships page. Scholarship applications open December 15 through March 24.

The Mississippi United Methodist Foundation
The Mississippi United Methodist Foundation provides scholarship awards to Mississippi United Methodist students. You can apply on the foundation’s website. Scholarship applications are open from January 2 through April 1.

The college invites accepted students planning to major or participate in the arts at Millsaps to apply for a Millsaps College Fine Arts Scholarship. These scholarships are available in the disciplines of studio art and theatre, and are awarded based on portfolio reviews, auditions, and/or interviews, which take place annually on campus. Interview dates for the 2025 – 2026 school year will be announced at a later date.

Music scholarships are available for talented students willing to make significant contributions to the musical arts at Millsaps College. Scholarships include the Jonathan Sweat Music Scholarships for students planning to major in music, the Jonathan Sweat Performance Scholarships for new and current non-music majors, the Ridgeway Scholarship for membership in the Millsaps Chamber Singers, the Distinguished Music Merit Scholarship and the Music Ensemble Scholarship. Auditions and interview dates for the 2025 – 2026 school year will be announced at a later date.

The VA’s Yellow Ribbon Program is a benefit in which Millsaps partners with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that Yellow Ribbon 100% eligible recipients receive matching institutional funds to cover tuition and fees. If you become eligible for Yellow Ribbon benefits, we will adjust your financial aid award accordingly and send you a revised financial aid award. If you are an incoming student and believe you will be eligible for Yellow Ribbon benefits, please notify the Office of Admissions immediately so that your financial aid can be adjusted in a timely fashion. Millsaps merit scholarships are not stacked on top of the Millsaps Yellow Ribbon award. However, if Yellow Ribbon benefits do not cover 4 years, the initial Millsaps merit scholarship will be made available to the student when Yellow Ribbon benefits expire.

To begin the process for VA Yellow Ribbon benefits, apply for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/. If you qualify for benefits, you will receive a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Provide a copy of your COE to the Millsaps Office of Records. Along with your COE, you will also need to complete and return a VA Information Sheet, which can be downloaded.

Download VA Information Sheet

If you are either an Eagle Scout or a Girl Scout who has earned Gold Award status and are admitted to Millsaps, you will receive a minimum total scholarship package of $15,000 per year, renewable all four years, in recognition of your leadership, academic and extracurricular achievements. Academic merit scholarships may replace Scouting scholarships. If you are eligible for multiple awards, you will receive the award with the highest monetary value.

The E.H. Sumners Endowed Scholarship Fund partners with Millsaps College to award scholarships to selected high school seniors, a limited number of transfer students and returning undergraduate students who are residents of Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Montgomery or Webster counties in Mississippi. Millsaps-specific criteria for award/receipt:

• If you are eligible for multiple awards, you will receive the award with the highest monetary value.
• E.H. Sumners Endowed Scholarship may not be received for more than 8 semesters, and recipients must remain continuously enrolled at Millsaps (excluding summer terms).
• The award amount is based on campus residency. Awards will be reduced by 35% should a student choose to live off campus.

The priority deadline for incoming students is February 1, and for returning undergraduate students, the priority deadline is March 1. For more information and to apply, please visit the E.H. Sumners Grant website.

Transferring to Millsaps pays off! All admitted transfer students receive a $6,000 housing grant toward on-campus residence halls. In addition, transfer students may receive merit scholarships ranging from $18,000 to $22,000, plus additional awards for students involved with Phi Theta Kappa.

Students who are residents of Mississippi should complete the Mississippi Office of Financial Aid Application online at https://www.msfinancialaid.org/ after October 1 each year.

We offer the following scholarships for students involved with Phi Theta Kappa, in addition to a $6,000 on-campus residence hall grant:

Phi Theta Kappa Member: $5,000, annually
Phi Theta Kappa Officer: $6,000, annually
Phi Theta Kappa President: $7,000, annually

Millsaps scholarships are normally restricted to eight semesters of eligibility. Occasionally, students may face circumstances that would significantly impair their ability to complete an undergraduate degree in four years. An additional semester(s) might be required for a student to successfully finish degree requirements.

Recognizing that extenuating circumstances may be beyond a student’s control, Millsaps College has established an appeal process to request additional scholarship eligibility. This extension of Millsaps scholarship funding would be capped at 10 semesters of total scholarship eligibility.

A student may complete an appeal form and submit it to the Office of Financial Aid. The appeal will be reviewed by the Scholarship Review Committee. The Office of Financial Aid will notify the student of the results of the review. Note: This appeal is limited to extension of scholarship eligibility. The student must continue to meet all other scholarship guidelines and conditions, as published on the Millsaps website. This appeal is for Millsaps-funded scholarships only and does not extend to federal and/or state funding eligibility.