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Emporia State scholarships and merit aid

The short answer

Emporia State is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and 3 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
5 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Where does your student land?

  1. Freshman Presidential Scholarship$1,250-$3,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Freshman Presidential Scholarship

    $1,250-$3,000 per year

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.0+ (tiered: 3.0-3.24 up to 3.95+)
    ACT
    21+ (tiered: 21-22 up to 30+)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Freshman Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    New incoming freshmen; awarded on the higher of GPA or ACT. No separate application — admission application and transcripts determine eligibility. Must enroll in at least 12 credit hours per fall and spring.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for three years after the first academic year when the student maintains a 3.0 or higher ESU GPA and completes 24 ESU credit hours each year. Spring-entry freshmen get half the award in spring and may renew for seven additional semesters.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic on stats. Award is the higher qualifying band of GPA OR ACT. Amounts shown are per year. Official transcripts must be received by the 20th day of the start semester.

  2. Transfer Presidential Scholarship$1,250-$3,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer Presidential Scholarship

    $1,250-$3,000 per year

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.0+ (tiered: 3.0-3.24 up to 3.95+)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Incoming transfer students; awarded on GPA only (ACT not used for transfers). No separate application. Must submit all official transcripts from all universities attended by the 20th day of the start semester. Enroll in at least 12 credit hours per fall and spring.

    How to keep it

    Incoming transfers with 24+ transferable credit hours beginning in the fall can renew for one year after the first academic year (four total semesters) when they maintain a 3.0 or higher ESU GPA and complete 24 ESU credit hours. Transfers with fewer than 24 hours may defer to freshman requirements.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic on GPA. Same dollar grid as freshmen but transfers qualify on GPA only.

  3. Honors Scholarship$1,000 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Honors Scholarship

    $1,000 per year

    Published amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Honors Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Acceptance into the ESU Honors College; remain actively engaged in the Honors College. New-member scholarships go to students entering in August; fall membership applications must be received by the spring deadline.

    How to keep it

    Annual renewable scholarship; after the first year an annual scholarship renewal application must be submitted to the Honors College each spring (the Honors page also states an April 15 renewal deadline). Awards are based on member activity and GPA; amounts are based on available funding.

    Worth knowing

    Stackable on top of the Presidential Scholarship. The Honors College page states the amount is funding-dependent ('amounts are based on available funding'); the 2026-2027 amount is stated as $1000.

  4. Legacy Scholarship$1,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Legacy Scholarship

    $1,000 per year

    Published amountAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Legacy Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate student with a parent, stepparent or grandparent who graduated from Emporia State University. New in 2026: also available to second-bachelor students. Awarded automatically — no separate application stated.

    How to keep it

    Renewable; total scholarship award is available for eight semesters throughout all undergraduate degrees pursued. (A 2024 ESU news release describes it as 'renewable for up to four years.')

    Worth knowing

    Automatically awarded to qualifying alumni-legacy students; explicitly stackable with other ESU scholarships.

Lights up against Emporia State's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.

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What makes Emporia State different

Emporia State's renewable Presidential Scholarship is automatic on GPA or ACT, paying $1,250-$3,000/year with no separate application, and ESU explicitly lets you stack it with Honors ($1,000) and Legacy ($1,000) awards up to the cost of attendance.

Merit tiers43 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

More than one award path

Separate the two paths.

Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. Know what happens next year

    Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.

The fine print / Three questions to carry forward

Before you count on it.

Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.

Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.

Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.

Take Emporia State's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. It is automatic — 'It is not necessary to complete a separate application if you qualify.' Your admission application and transcripts determine the award. But transcripts must arrive by the 20th day of your start semester.

  2. The freshman grid awards on GPA OR ACT — whichever band is higher. A 30 ACT earns the top $3,000 tier even without a 3.95 GPA. (Transfers qualify on GPA only.)

  3. The official 2026-2027 Cost of Attendance is published PER SEMESTER ($12,038 full-time in-state; $16,236 full-time out-of-state). Double it for a rough academic-year figure; the official page does not state an annual total.

  4. Renewal of the Presidential Scholarship requires a 3.0 cumulative ESU GPA AND 24 completed ESU credit hours every year — your high-school GPA only sets the initial award.

  5. ESU lets you stack Presidential + Honors + Legacy and others, but 'Total Financial Aid and Stackable Scholarships shall not exceed the total cost of attendance' — once you hit COA, additional awards can be reduced.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Cost-conscious Kansas and out-of-state students with a 3.0+ GPA or 21+ ACT who want a guaranteed, automatic merit award at an affordable regional public, plus easy-to-stack $1,000 Honors and alumni-legacy add-ons.

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Emporia State, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Emporia State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$11,452
$30,001–$48,000$11,905
$48,001–$75,000$14,229
$75,001–$110,000$18,994
$110,001+$19,531
All income levels (average)$16,261

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22
$21,967
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$7,106
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$15,419
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$16,261

That works out to an average 26% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.

Emporia State is a public school; Scorecard's net price and cost of attendance figures cover in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
56%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
77%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,500 (~$207/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$47,601
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
40%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
72%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

ESU explicitly allows students to stack scholarships, with a single hard cap: total financial aid plus stackable scholarships cannot exceed the total cost of attendance. No published rule was found describing how third-party OUTSIDE scholarships specifically displace ESU institutional aid (beyond the same COA cap).

The Presidential, athletic, and main scholarships pages all carry the footnote 'Total Financial Aid and Stackable Scholarships shall not exceed the total cost of attendance.' ESU's own Legacy Scholarship announcement states 'ESU allows students to "stack" scholarships, meaning this new Legacy Scholarship will be in addition to all the other scholarships for which they qualify.' Whether an outside award reduces ESU gift aid or only self-help when the COA cap is hit is not stated on the official pages.

Source

Other Emporia State scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountVariesEligibilityMembers of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at a community college (transfer students).

Listed on the ESU undergraduate scholarships page; specific award amount not published on the official page reviewed.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityMajors and non-majors participating in music ensembles; audition may be required.

Amount not published on the official scholarships landing page.

Source

Amount$1,000EligibilityIncoming freshmen and transfer students majoring in Art with a qualifying portfolio.

Recruitment scholarship; complete the Art Program Scholarship Application to indicate interest. Sourced from the ESU scholarship portal library.

Source

AmountVariesEligibilityIncoming NCAA Division II / MIAA student-athletes.

Several scholarships available to incoming athletes; subject to the same COA cap on total aid.

Source

Emporia State merit aid FAQ

  • Is the Presidential Scholarship automatic?

    Yes. There is no separate application — your admission application and transcripts determine eligibility. Just be sure all official transcripts are received by the 20th day of your start semester.

  • What's the scholarship deadline?

    Complete your application by December 1 to be eligible for the most scholarship opportunities. Honors College scholarship renewals are due to the Honors College each spring (the Honors page states an April 15 renewal deadline).

  • Can I combine ESU scholarships?

    Yes — ESU explicitly allows stacking (e.g., Presidential + Honors + Legacy), but total financial aid and stackable scholarships cannot exceed your total cost of attendance.

  • How do I keep the Presidential Scholarship?

    Maintain a 3.0 or higher cumulative ESU GPA and complete at least 24 ESU credit hours each year. Freshmen can renew for three additional years; transfers with 24+ transfer hours can renew for one additional year (four total semesters).

See sources and other schools

How Emporia State compares

  • 235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    Emporia State is in a recognizable cluster (235 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    Emporia State is one of them. The cohort minority (84 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Emporia State’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Emporia State merit aid

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