Students with a B+ average whose families earn less than $85,000 a year could soon have their tuition covered at Sweet Briar College under an expanded aid program.
The private Amherst County school is expanding its SBCommitment program by decreasing the required GPA needed to qualify for full tuition coverage in an effort to reach “more qualified Virginia women,” according to a news release.
Originally launched in 2024, the program provided free tuition to in-state Pell Grant-eligible students with a 3.6 GPA or higher.
Now, students can qualify if they are Virginia residents, are Pell Grant-eligible, have a family income of $85,000 or less and have a GPA of 3.25 or higher.
Students enrolling at Sweet Briar College as freshmen for the 2027-28 school year or as transfer students starting in January 2027 are eligible for the scholarship. Students must attend the school full-time and in-person and live on campus, though the scholarship will not cover housing costs, Clelie Steckel, the college’s director of communications, marketing and events, said in an email.
“The GPA change reflects Sweet Briar’s broader goal of identifying students who are academically prepared for college-level work while making the opportunity available to a wider group of qualified Virginia women,” Christopher Smith, the school’s vice president of enrollment management, said via email. “GPA remains a meaningful academic benchmark, but the SBCommitment 2.0 criteria also recognizes that strong students can demonstrate readiness and potential across a broad range of academic records.”
The other change — that students must come from families that make less than $85,000 a year — was meant to “make the program criteria as clear and transparent as possible,” he said.
Since the initial version launched in January 2025, 18 students have taken advantage of the initiative, Smith said. Students who have transferred since the spring of 2025 or enrolled as freshmen since then have been eligible if they met the original criteria.
“Virginia’s future depends on the opportunities available to talented women to develop their abilities and put their skills to work in their communities, professions and industries,” college President Mary Pope Hutson said in a news release announcing the program changes.
“SBCommitment 2.0 reflects our belief that financial circumstances should not prevent a promising young woman from accessing an education that will challenge her intellectually, develop her confidence, and prepare her to lead. When we invest in Virginia women, we invest in the strength of the commonwealth.”
The program will cover a qualifying student’s full tuition costs through a combination of federal, state and institutional resources, according to the release. It does not include housing, meals, books, fees and other costs.
The current annual tuition cost at Sweet Briar College is about $29,740 a year before scholarships and financial aid, according to the school’s website. Total costs for an undergraduate student living on campus, including tuition, housing and other fees, are about $48,300.
All applicants are also considered for merit scholarships and other institutional scholarships, according to the college.
Students can receive up to $7,395 a year as of the 2026-27 school year through federal Pell Grants. Students must demonstrate significant financial need and be pursuing their first degree.
Sweet Briar students are also eligible for the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant, a state award that provides up to $5,250 to Virginia residents attending private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the state.
About 35.9% of Sweet Briar’s students are eligible for Pell Grants, Steckel said in an email, and about 98% of students receive some form of merit or need-based financial assistance.
About 370 students attended Sweet Briar during the 2025-26 school year, according to data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
The scholarship program announcement comes as colleges and universities across Virginia and the country seek to appeal to broader groups of students as enrollment numbers decline nationally and student interest in traditional four-year colleges changes.
Many have launched new financial aid opportunities, such as Roanoke College’s scholarship targeting Southwest Virginia residents, or have increased income limits for existing free tuition programs like Washington & Lee’s W&L Promise program that guarantees free tuition to any student whose family earns less than $200,000 a year.
To be considered for the SBCommitment 2.0 program — or any other university-funded assistance — students must apply for admission and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, and meet eligibility requirements, according to the school’s news release.
For more information, visit sbc.edu/sbcommitment or contact the Sweet Briar College Office of Admissions at admissions@sbc.edu or 434-381-6142.
