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.

Henderson State· Renewal Rules

Keeping Henderson State’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year: minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified Jun 20268 days ago· COWORK

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 5 of 5
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 5
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Henderson State's renewal bar is achievable for steady students but isn't generous. Most awards require a cumulative GPA in the 3.0–3.4 band plus full-time enrollment. Audit the strictest tier on this school's list before assuming the four-year value is locked in.

Distinguished Freshman Scholarship: 2.0 GPA
Academic Scholarship grid — Living on Campus (freshman): 2.0 GPA
Academic Scholarship grid — Commuters (freshman): 2.0 GPA
Academic Scholarship grid — Transfers: 2.0 GPA
Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (state): See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Distinguished Freshman Scholarship
Full tuition
Entry requirements: 4.0 weighted or unweighted GPA · SAT equivalent of ACT 26 SAT · 26+ (or SAT equivalent) ACT
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.
Source: https://www.hsu.edu/future-students/financial-aid/scholarships/
Academic Scholarship grid — Living on Campus (freshman)
$1,000-$6,000 per year
Entry requirements: 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 GPA · No test score required SAT · No test score required ACT
To keep it: Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA, 66.67% completion).
Source: https://www.hsu.edu/future-students/financial-aid/scholarships/
Academic Scholarship grid — Commuters (freshman)
$750-$3,000 per year
Entry requirements: 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 GPA · No test score required SAT · No test score required ACT
To keep it: Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA).
Source: https://www.hsu.edu/future-students/financial-aid/scholarships/
Academic Scholarship grid — Transfers
$2,000-$4,500 per year
Entry requirements: 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) GPA · No test score required SAT · No test score required ACT
To keep it: Renewable academic scholarships; scholarship-specific renewal GPA not published (federal SAP minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA).
Source: https://www.hsu.edu/future-students/financial-aid/scholarships/
Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (state)
$1,000-$2,500 per semester (escalates by class level)
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.
Source: https://www.hsu.edu/future-students/financial-aid/scholarships/

How families lose this aid

Assuming your scholarship is the same whether you live on campus or commute
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.
Thinking a 4.0 GPA alone earns full tuition
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).
Counting on the full Arkansas Academic Challenge amount as a freshman
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.
Expecting a test score to help
Except for the Distinguished award, the academic scholarships are determined by GPA only (weighted or unweighted) with no test score required.

Renewal questions families ask

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.

How Henderson State compares across our verified dataset

669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Henderson State is one of them. The cohort minority (82 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 renewal claim is checked against Henderson State’s own published materials.