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Lamar award rules

Will the scholarship last four years at Lamar?

We pulled the school’s grade, credit, and time limits into one place so you can see what it takes to keep the award.

Verified Jun 20263 months ago

The short answer

4 of 4 published awards are listed as renewable.

The exact rule can change by award. Check the award your student may receive before you count on the same amount every year.

What to do

Find the award name in the full research below. Save its grade, credit, and deadline rules with your college plan.

See every award rule, common mistake, and source

At a glance

Renewable tiers
4 of 4
One-time tiers
0
Tiers with published renewal terms
4
Renewal risk profile
low

Renewal risk profile

Lamar's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

  • Presidential Scholarship: See notes
  • Southeast Texas Legends Scholars: See notes
  • Smith-Hutson Scholars: See notes
  • Automatic Academic Scholarship ladder (Cardinal Elite, Academic Excellence, Distinguished, University Scholars): See notes

Renewal terms by tier

  • Presidential Scholarship

    $100,000

    Entry requirements: 4.40+ GPA (5.0 weighted scale) and Class Rank Top 10% GPA · 1330-1600 (alternative to GPA/rank) SAT · 29-36 (alternative to GPA/rank) ACT

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on the pages reviewed (the headline figure appears to be a multi-year total; disbursement schedule not stated).

    Source: https://www.lamar.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/incoming-freshmen-scholarship.html

  • Southeast Texas Legends Scholars

    $100,000

    Entry requirements: 4.40+ GPA (5.0 weighted) and Class Rank Top 10% GPA · 1330-1600 (alternative) SAT · 29-36 (alternative) ACT

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on the pages reviewed (headline figure appears to be a multi-year total).

    Source: https://www.lamar.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/incoming-freshmen-scholarship.html

  • Smith-Hutson Scholars

    $74,000

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published (headline figure appears to be a multi-year total).

    Source: https://www.lamar.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/incoming-freshmen-scholarship.html

  • Automatic Academic Scholarship ladder (Cardinal Elite, Academic Excellence, Distinguished, University Scholars)

    $8,000-$40,000

    Entry requirements: Cardinal Elite 4.25+ & Top 10%; Academic Excellence 3.95+ & Top 25%; Distinguished 3.65-3.94 & Top 25%; University 3.50-3.64 & Top 50% (5.0 weighted scale) GPA · Cardinal Elite 1330-1600; Academic Excellence 1200-1320; Distinguished 1080-1190; University 1010-1070 SAT · Cardinal Elite 29-36; Academic Excellence 25-28; Distinguished 21-24; University 19-21 (as an alternative to GPA/rank) ACT

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published (headline figures appear to be multi-year totals).

    Source: https://www.lamar.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/incoming-freshmen-scholarship.html

How families lose this aid

  • Ignoring the class-rank requirement

    Most tiers require a class rank (Top 10%/25%/50%) in addition to the GPA, OR a qualifying test score — though rank is waived for homeschool students and high schools that don't rank.

  • Using an unweighted GPA to check eligibility

    The grid GPA cutoffs are calculated on a 5.0 weighted scale, so an unweighted GPA will understate where you fall.

Renewal questions families ask

How is GPA calculated for these scholarships?
High school GPA is calculated on a 5.0 weighted scale; class rank requirements do not apply to homeschool students or schools that do not rank.

How Lamar compares across our verified dataset

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

    Lamar 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 renewal claim is checked against Lamar’s own published materials.

More on Lamar merit aid