Skip to content

Hardin-Simmons scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$35,800per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Hardin-Simmons is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 11 published awards, and 10 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
6 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. Honors Scholarship$25,000 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Honors Scholarship

    $25,000 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

    Requires application and admission into the Julius Olsen Honors Program (JOHP) — not automatic on stats alone

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Highest tier on the freshman grid. Because it requires JOHP admission, it is not awarded purely on a GPA/test cutoff. HSU does not stack academic scholarships — if you qualify for more than one, only the highest dollar-value award is offered.

  2. Trustee Scholarship$22,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Trustee Scholarship

    $22,000 per year

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

    SAT
    1200
    ACT
    25
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Trustee Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    CLT = 78. Test-score-based tier on the automatic admission grid.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Awarded automatically on test scores (SAT 1200 / ACT 25 / CLT 78) during admission review. Does not stack with other academic scholarships — highest dollar-value only.

  3. Presidents Scholarship$20,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Presidents Scholarship

    $20,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.9+ GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Presidents Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    CLT = 76 (alternate qualifying path)

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Awarded automatically during admission review for a 3.9+ GPA (or CLT 76). Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  4. Deans Scholarship$18,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Deans Scholarship

    $18,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.5 – 3.8 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Deans Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    CLT = 74 (alternate qualifying path)

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Awarded automatically during admission review for a 3.5-3.8 GPA (or CLT 74). Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  5. University Scholarship$16,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    University Scholarship

    $16,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.2 – 3.4 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for University Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    CLT = 72 (alternate qualifying path)

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Awarded automatically during admission review for a 3.2-3.4 GPA (or CLT 72). Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  6. Opportunity Grant$14,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Opportunity Grant

    $14,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.0 – 3.1 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Opportunity Grant

    Who qualifies

    CLT = 66 (alternate qualifying path); on-campus living required

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition. On-campus living required (per the grid annotation).

    Worth knowing

    Lowest freshman grid tier, awarded automatically for a 3.0-3.1 GPA (or CLT 66). The published grid annotates this award as requiring on-campus living. Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  7. Texas Scholarship$44,000 total (up to $11,000 per year for four years)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Texas Scholarship

    $44,000 total (up to $11,000 per year for four years)

    Variable or qualified 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 Texas Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Graduating high school student from Texas granted general admission to HSU; available to public, private, and home-school Texas residents. Awarded automatically unless the student qualifies for a higher academic scholarship.

    How to keep it

    Up to $11,000 per year for four years; renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms with 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic merit floor for Texas residents: every admitted Texas high-school graduate gets the Texas Scholarship UNLESS they qualify for a higher-dollar academic scholarship from the grid (no stacking). Effectively guarantees Texas residents at least $11,000/year.

  8. Transfer Presidents Scholarship$16,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer Presidents Scholarship

    $16,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.5+ GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer Presidents Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students only; based on transferable college GPA

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Top tier of the automatic transfer grid for a 3.5+ college GPA. Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  9. Transfer Deans Scholarship$14,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer Deans Scholarship

    $14,000 per year

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

    GPA
    3.0 – 3.4 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer Deans Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students only; based on transferable college GPA

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic transfer grid tier for a 3.0-3.4 college GPA. Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  10. Transfer University Scholarship$12,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer University Scholarship

    $12,000 per year

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

    GPA
    2.5 – 2.9 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer University Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students only; based on transferable college GPA

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic transfer grid tier for a 2.5-2.9 college GPA. Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

  11. Transfer Scholarship$10,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer Scholarship

    $10,000 per year

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

    GPA
    2.0 – 2.4 GPA
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students only; based on transferable college GPA

    How to keep it

    Renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms; maintain 12+ hours, 2.0 GPA or higher, and SAP each semester. Capped at tuition.

    Worth knowing

    Lowest automatic transfer grid tier for a 2.0-2.4 college GPA. Does not stack — highest dollar-value award only.

This page covers one school.

Your playbook does this for every school on your list, sorted by what you’d pay.

Ready in under 10 minutes. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get my playbook$79
  • Secure payment through Stripe
  • “it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa

The fine print

Aid capHard $35,800 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at Hardin-Simmons cannot push the package past $35,800. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes Hardin-Simmons different

Hardin-Simmons awards a published, automatic GPA/test-score merit grid of $14,000-$25,000 per year set at admission, plus an automatic $44,000 ($11,000/yr) Texas Scholarship floor for Texas residents — but it does NOT stack academic awards (highest dollar-value only) and every award is capped at tuition.

Merit tiers1110 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 Hardin-Simmons's decision sheet

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

See what could change an award

Straight from the aid office

What Hardin-Simmons's aid office says

Per the Student Financial Services, Hardin-Simmons University, August 2026. How we verify

Texas Scholarship availability

Is the Texas Scholarship (valued up to $11,000/year) offered for 2026-2027?

HSU does not have a scholarship called the Texas Scholarship in its published offerings, so it is not offered for 2026-2027 students.

“HSU does not currently have a scholarship called the Texas Scholarship listed in our published scholarship offerings, and therefore it is not an award that we offer for 2026-2027 students.”
Texas Scholarship on Fall 2026 grid

Is the Texas Scholarship listed on the Fall 2026 scholarship grid?

Based on current published scholarship information, there is no Texas Scholarship listed for Fall 2026.

“Based on our current published scholarship information, there is no Texas Scholarship listed for Fall 2026.”

What families often miss

  1. They do not. 'If you qualify for more than one Academic Scholarship, HSU will offer you the highest dollar-value scholarship only.' Qualifying for the Texas Scholarship AND a higher grid award does not add them together — you get the larger one.

  2. 'Each scholarship amount is locked in and cannot be raised once the semester starts.' The only window to increase it is BEFORE the very first semester, by submitting updated GPA/SAT/ACT to Admissions.

  3. Every HSU-funded award is 'capped at tuition' and 'cannot exceed the cost of tuition.' Housing (~$3,100/semester for Lange) and meals (~$3,080/semester for Unlimited) are on top of tuition and are NOT covered by the academic scholarship.

  4. It is the floor, not an add-on. Texas residents get it 'unless a student qualifies for a higher academic scholarship' — so a 3.9+ GPA Presidents ($20,000/yr) replaces, not supplements, the $11,000/yr Texas Scholarship.

  5. Renewal requires 12+ hours, a 2.0 GPA or higher, and passing Satisfactory Academic Progress each semester; awards run a maximum of four years / eight long terms. Dropping below full-time or below a 2.0 jeopardizes the award.

  6. The published grid annotates the $14,000 Opportunity Grant as requiring on-campus living — moving off campus can affect this award. Confirm with the aid office before changing housing.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Texas (and out-of-state) students who want a fully automatic, GPA-or-test-driven merit award locked in at admission with no separate application — especially Texas residents who get a guaranteed $11,000/year floor — who understand the awards never stack and cannot exceed tuition.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $35,800 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Hardin-Simmons, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$13,822
$30,001–$48,000$15,190
$48,001–$75,000$17,248
$75,001–$110,000$18,182
$110,001+$25,639
All income levels (average)$19,555

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$32,960
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$19,555

That works out to roughly a 57% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $45,904 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
46%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
65%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$24,711 (~$262/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$54,771
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
46%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
93%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

HSU does NOT stack its own academic scholarships — a student who qualifies for more than one is offered only the single highest dollar-value award. Every HSU-funded award is tuition-specific and cannot exceed the cost of tuition. Outside (third-party) scholarships may fund any cost-of-attendance area, but total aid cannot exceed COA, and a large amount of outside money can reduce federal aid if a FAFSA was filed.

Two distinct rules. (1) Internal: academic scholarships do not stack on each other — highest dollar-value only — and are capped at tuition. (2) Outside awards: subject to the federal COA cap; if outside funds are high, they can lower other federal aid (not the institutional merit award itself). No published rule reduces the HSU academic scholarship specifically because of an outside award; the displacement that occurs is need-based/federal aid hitting the COA ceiling.

Source

Other Hardin-Simmons scholarships worth checking

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

AmountVariesEligibilityCompetitive presidential scholars program in the College of Liberal Arts; separate application.

Application window is Dec 1st through March 1st. Specific award amount not stated on the scholarships page; confirm value with the program/aid office.

Source

AmountTied to the $25,000 Honors ScholarshipEligibilityApplication and admission into the honors program; gateway to the top freshman award.

Not a separate dollar award by itself — JOHP admission is the prerequisite that unlocks the $25,000 Honors Scholarship tier.

Source

Hardin-Simmons merit aid FAQ

  • Do I have to apply separately for HSU's academic scholarships?

    No. 'Academic scholarships are automatically determined during your admission application review.' The grid awards ($14,000-$25,000/yr for freshmen) and the $44,000 Texas Scholarship are automatic — except the $25,000 Honors Scholarship, which requires admission to the Julius Olsen Honors Program, and competitive programs like the Cynthia Ann Parker Scholars (Dec 1-Mar 1 window).

  • Can I combine (stack) more than one HSU academic scholarship?

    No. HSU does not stack academic scholarships — 'if you qualify for more than one Academic Scholarship, HSU will offer you the highest dollar-value scholarship only.' All HSU-funded awards are also capped at tuition.

  • Can I raise my scholarship after I enroll?

    No. 'Each scholarship amount is locked in and cannot be raised once the semester starts.' You can only increase it before your very first semester by submitting updated GPA, SAT, or ACT scores to Admissions.

  • What do I have to do to keep my scholarship?

    Maintain 12+ hours, a 2.0 GPA or higher, and pass Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) each semester. Awards are renewable for a maximum of four years / eight long terms of undergraduate study.

  • What happens if I win an outside scholarship?

    Outside scholarships can fund any cost area, but your total aid cannot exceed your Cost of Attendance. A large amount of outside money 'could result in the lowering of other federal aid if you filed a FAFSA.' HSU requires reporting outside awards via a mandatory form.

See sources and other schools

How Hardin-Simmons compares

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

    Hardin-Simmons 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.

    Hardin-Simmons 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 Hardin-Simmons’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Hardin-Simmons merit aid

The next chapter

Where does Hardin-Simmons fit in your plan?

You have the school’s rules. Now put them in the context of your student and the rest of your list.

  1. Revisit the school research
  2. Explore another school
  3. See how the research becomes a plan

Ready to work through your whole list? Get my playbook

Inside the sample

Jordan’s playbook

Same student.
Four schools.
Four very different bills.

An illustrative student profile, with a school order, scholarship research and a to-do list. Open the sample to see how it works.

Open the sample playbook