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Henderson State scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$28,272per year · 2025-2026 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Henderson State is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and 4 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jun 2026
2 school sources to explore

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

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Checking merit aid at Henderson State

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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. Distinguished Freshman ScholarshipFull tuitionAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Distinguished Freshman Scholarship

    Full tuition

    Published coverage or packageAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    4.0 weighted or unweighted
    SAT
    SAT equivalent of ACT 26
    ACT
    26+ (or SAT equivalent)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Distinguished Freshman Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    First-time freshman, living on campus track. The only freshman award that requires a test score. U.S. citizens only (non-U.S. citizens/international students are not eligible).

    How to keep it

    Renewable academic scholarship (scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published on these pages; federal SAP requires a 2.0 cumulative GPA). Recipients also receive automatic admission to the Honors College.

    Worth knowing

    Top award — full tuition (not full cost of attendance). Deadline February 1. Same 4.0 GPA without the 26 ACT maps instead to the Chancellor award ($6,000).

  2. Academic Scholarship grid — Living on Campus (freshman)$1,000-$6,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Academic Scholarship grid — Living on Campus (freshman)

    $1,000-$6,000 per year

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

    GPA
    Chancellor 4.0 = $6,000; Centurium 3.5-3.99 = $4,500; Red & Gray 3.1-3.49 = $2,500; Reddie Spirit 2.0-3.09 = $1,000
    SAT
    No test score required
    ACT
    No test score required
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Academic Scholarship grid — Living on Campus (freshman)

    Who qualifies

    First-time freshmen living on campus. Weighted or unweighted cumulative HS GPA. U.S. citizens only.

    How to keep it

    Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA, 66.67% completion).

    Worth knowing

    Automatic GPA grid for residential students (no test required). The Distinguished (full tuition) award is listed separately.

  3. Academic Scholarship grid — Commuters (freshman)$750-$3,000 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Academic Scholarship grid — Commuters (freshman)

    $750-$3,000 per year

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

    GPA
    Chancellor 4.0 = $3,000; Centurium 3.5-3.99 = $2,500; Red & Gray 3.1-3.49 = $1,250; Reddie Spirit 2.0-3.09 = $750
    SAT
    No test score required
    ACT
    No test score required
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Academic Scholarship grid — Commuters (freshman)

    Who qualifies

    First-time freshmen who commute (no on-campus housing). No Distinguished/full-tuition tier for commuters. U.S. citizens only.

    How to keep it

    Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA).

    Worth knowing

    Commuter awards are roughly half the residential amounts at each GPA band, and there is no full-tuition (Distinguished) commuter award.

  4. Academic Scholarship grid — Transfers$2,000-$4,500 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Academic Scholarship grid — Transfers

    $2,000-$4,500 per year

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

    GPA
    Excellence 3.5-4.0 = $4,500; Success 3.0-3.49 = $4,000; Merit 2.0-2.99 = $2,000 (all require 12+ earned hours)
    SAT
    No test score required
    ACT
    No test score required
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Academic Scholarship grid — Transfers

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students with 12+ hours earned. U.S. citizens only.

    How to keep it

    Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA).

    Worth knowing

    Distinct transfer grid keyed to college GPA and 12+ earned hours.

  5. Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (state)$1,000-$2,500 per semester (escalates by class level)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (state)

    $1,000-$2,500 per semester (escalates by class level)

    Published rangeNot 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 Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (state)

    Who qualifies

    Arkansas residents (state lottery scholarship program); available to new, current, first-time, or re-enrolling students. Separate state application/eligibility through the Arkansas Academic Challenge Program.

    How to keep it

    Continues by class level: Freshman $1,000/semester, Sophomore $2,000/semester, Junior $2,000/semester, Senior $2,500/semester (traditional). Non-traditional amounts step by earned hours.

    Worth knowing

    State award hosted at Henderson; the freshman-year amount ($1,000/semester) is the lowest, increasing in later years.

Lights up against Henderson 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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The fine print

Aid capHard $28,272 cost-of-attendance ceiling

Institutional aid at Henderson State cannot push the package past $28,272. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What makes Henderson State different

Henderson awards automatic GPA-only academic scholarships (no test score required) on separate grids for on-campus residents, commuters, and transfers — but commuters receive about half what residents get, and only the test-gated Distinguished award reaches full tuition.

Merit tiers54 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJun 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 Henderson 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. Commuter amounts are about half the residential amounts at every GPA band (e.g., a 4.0 Chancellor is $6,000 on campus but $3,000 as a commuter), and the full-tuition Distinguished award is not available to commuters.

  2. Full tuition (Distinguished) requires a 4.0 GPA AND a 26+ ACT/SAT equivalent and a February 1 deadline; a 4.0 without the test score maps to the Chancellor award ($6,000 on campus).

  3. The page states non-U.S. citizens and international students are not eligible for admissions academic scholarships.

  4. The Academic Challenge award is only $1,000/semester in the freshman year and steps up to $2,000 and then $2,500/semester in later years.

  5. Except for the Distinguished award, the academic scholarships are determined by GPA only (weighted or unweighted) with no test score required.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Test-optional applicants who can lean on GPA: a 4.0 with a 26 ACT lands full tuition and Honors admission, while strong-GPA students living on campus get materially more than commuters.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $28,272 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Henderson State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$23,386
$30,001–$48,000$23,208
$48,001–$75,000$25,051
All income levels (average)$23,405

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$8,244
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$10,620
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$23,405

That works out to roughly a 15% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $27,385 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Henderson State is a public school; Scorecard's net price figure covers 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
37%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
62%
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)
$43,459
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
66%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
53%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

No specific institutional stacking/displacement policy was published on the pages reviewed. The financial-aid pages state only that the federally defined Cost of Attendance sets the maximum total aid (loans, grants, scholarships, fee-waivers) a student may receive.

The Costs & Fees page explains that Cost of Attendance 'is used by the school to determine the maximum amount of financial aid (loans, grants, scholarships, fee-waivers, etc.) a student may receive for that award year.' No rule specific to how private/outside scholarships displace Henderson awards was found.

Source

Other Henderson State scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not published (varies by donor award)EligibilityApply annually; funded by private donors, alumni, faculty, staff, organizations, corporations

See hsu.edu/foundationscholarships.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityAll HSU students (music and non-music majors); audition required (Instrumental/Band, Vocal/Choral, Keyboard, String)

Talent-based.

Source

AmountAmount not published (varies)EligibilityPerformance-based, at the discretion of each sport's coaching staff

Amounts determined by coaches based on athletic ability and team needs.

Source

Henderson State merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    The Distinguished Freshman Scholarship has a February 1 deadline; other academic scholarships are evaluated automatically from your admission GPA.

  • Do I need an ACT or SAT score?

    No, except for the Distinguished Freshman Scholarship (which requires a 26+ ACT or SAT equivalent). All other academic scholarships are based on weighted or unweighted cumulative high school GPA with no test score required.

  • Are the scholarship amounts different for commuters?

    Yes. On-campus residents receive higher amounts than commuters at each GPA band, and only on-campus students are eligible for the full-tuition Distinguished award.

See sources and other schools

How Henderson State compares

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

    Henderson 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.

    Henderson 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 Henderson State’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Henderson State merit aid

The next chapter

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