Research · Scholarships · October 2026
Scholarships in South Carolina: the 4 state programs and what each asks for
As of October 2026: South Carolina has 4 state scholarship programs for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Palmetto Fellows Scholarship: Up to $6,700 for freshman year.
The table holds every state-funded award we could confirm for a South Carolina high school graduate going to college. It does not hold federal aid, or a scholarship that comes from one college rather than from the state.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
South Carolina runs 3 awards that turn on grades or scores. Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is one of them. 4 of the 4 programs we could read name a GPA, and 2 name a test score. A need-based award asks about family income instead, through the FAFSA.
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is the award to read first. What Palmetto Fellows Scholarship pays: Up to $6,700 for freshman year. The next program on the table is LIFE Scholarship: Four-year public: up to cost-of-attendance, not to exceed $4,700, plus a $300 book allowance. The table carries the deadline and the renewal rule for each one.
What this table does not tell you. 3 programs publish figures for an earlier award year (2021-22, 2022-23), and the state has posted nothing newer we could find. The table says which year each one describes.
Every state scholarship in South Carolina
Read the row, then open the state's own page before you count on a figure.
| Program | Merit or need | What it pays | GPA it asks for | Test score it asks for | Who qualifies | Deadline | Renewable | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmetto Fellows Scholarship | Merit | Up to $6,700 for freshman year; up to $7,500 per year for sophomore, junior, and senior years (the page describes the 2022-23 award year) | 3.50 cumulative GPA (SC Uniform Grading Policy) with a 1200 SAT/25 ACT and top-6% class rank; OR a 4.00 cumulative GPA with a 1400 SAT/31 ACT (no rank needed) | 1200 SAT (25 ACT) minimum under the GPA-plus-rank path, or 1400 SAT (31 ACT) under the GPA-only path | SC resident and U.S. citizen or permanent resident at high school graduation; enrolled in an approved SC public/private high school, home school, or qualifying out-of-state preparatory school as a dependent of a SC resident; cannot also receive LIFE, SC HOPE, or Lottery Tuition Assistance in the same year | Early Awards: April 15 of senior year (tests through the March administration); Late Awards: June 30 of senior year (tests through the June administration, scores due to CHE by July 31) | Renewable up to 8 terms (first bachelor's degree) if the student stays enrolled full-time, earns a 3.0 cumulative GPA and at least 30 non-remedial credit hours each academic year, and maintains SC residency | Source |
| LIFE Scholarship | Merit | Four-year public: up to cost-of-attendance, not to exceed $4,700, plus a $300 book allowance; four-year independent: up to $4,700 plus $300 book allowance; two-year/technical: up to cost-of-tuition plus $300 book allowance, not to exceed $5,000 (the page describes the 2021-22 award year) | First-time freshmen at a 4-year school must meet 2 of 3: 3.0 cumulative GPA (SC Uniform Grading Scale), 1100 SAT/22 ACT, or top-30% class rank; freshmen at a 2-year or technical school need only the 3.0 GPA | 1100 SAT or 22 ACT is one of the three qualifying criteria (2 of 3 required) for four-year enrollees | Graduate from high school or an approved home school program; SC resident and U.S. citizen/permanent resident at graduation; enrolled full-time, degree-seeking; cannot also receive SC HOPE, Palmetto Fellows, or Lottery Tuition Assistance | No separate application; the college determines eligibility from the final high school transcript after enrollment | Renewable up to 8 terms (first bachelor's degree) if the student earns a cumulative 3.0 LIFE GPA and an average of 30 credit hours each academic year | Source |
| SC HOPE Scholarship | Merit | Up to $2,800 (including a $300 book allowance) toward cost of attendance, for the first year of attendance only (the page describes the 2021-22 award year) | 3.0 cumulative GPA (SC Uniform Grading Policy) upon high school graduation | — | For first-time freshmen at a four-year SC public or private college who do not qualify for LIFE or Palmetto Fellows; SC resident and U.S. citizen/permanent resident at graduation; enrolled full-time, degree-seeking; funded by SC Education Lottery proceeds | No separate application; eligibility determined by the college from the final official high school transcript | Not renewable -- limited to no more than two terms during the first year of attendance only | Source |
| South Carolina Need-based Grant | Need-based | Up to $3,500 annually if enrolled full-time at a public institution, or up to $1,750 annually if enrolled part-time | 2.0 cumulative GPA (4.0 scale) by the end of each academic year to retain eligibility | — | SC resident and U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen; enrolled at an eligible SC public institution; complete the FAFSA; awarded first-come, first-served based on financial need | Complete the FAFSA as soon as possible after October 1 of each academic year | Renewable for up to 8 full-time-equivalent terms (first bachelor's degree) with continued need, FAFSA filing, and minimum credit-hour/GPA progress | Source |
Every row is a state-funded or state-administered award for a South Carolina high school graduate going to an undergraduate program, as of October 2026. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out. A blank cell means the state's own page does not state it. Dollar figures and GPA floors change every year.
How to read a state scholarship
State awards come in two shapes. A merit award asks about grades, a course list, or a test score, and it does not care what a family earns. A need-based award asks about income and assets through the FAFSA, and it does not care about grades. Some awards ask about both, and the table calls those merit and need.
The deadline column is the one families miss. For most need-based state aid the deadline is really the FAFSA deadline, and it falls months before a college asks for a decision. A merit award more often has no application at all: the state or the high school nominates the student from records it already holds.
What a family should do with this
Open the official page in the last column for the one or two programs your student plausibly qualifies for, and write down two dates: the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline. Those are the two that close. In South Carolina the earliest date on this table is the one to put on the calendar first.
Then look past the state. A state award is usually the smaller half of an offer. The college's own merit grid and its net price for your family income move more money than any state program on this page, and both are published.
Questions parents ask
What scholarships does South Carolina offer?
South Carolina has 4 state scholarship programs for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Palmetto Fellows Scholarship: Up to $6,700 for freshman year.
Does South Carolina have a merit scholarship?
South Carolina runs 3 awards that turn on grades or scores, and Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is one of them.
How do I find the rules for a South Carolina scholarship?
Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.
Method & sources: Programs come from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) and the agency's own program pages, read in October 2026. The population is a student who graduates from a South Carolina high school and enrolls as an undergraduate. A scholarship offered by one college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all out of scope. A value the agency's own page does not state is left blank rather than filled from elsewhere, and a page that could not be read drops every figure.
- South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE)
- Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
- LIFE Scholarship
- SC HOPE Scholarship
- South Carolina Need-based Grant
This brief as data: /research/scholarships-in-south-carolina.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Merit scholarships by college · State scholarships in every state · High schools in South Carolina · Scholarship deadlines