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Louisiana State University · Louisiana

LSU scholarships and merit aid

A public flagship university that uses holistic scholarship review with no published automatic merit tiers or stat-to-dollar grids, awarding Stamps and President's Alumni Scholars at full cost of attendance at the top and university scholarships ranging from $500 to a full ride, with the Louisiana TOPS program ($7,463 to $12,000 per year by ACT tier) as the most predictable aid source for in-state students.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is LSU worth a closer look?

LSU is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

See our full reasoning

Worth optimizing for only if your student can land a full-COA honors award. The stat-based merit is too thin to plan around.

LSU does not publish a GPA/ACT-to-dollar grid like its SEC peers, so families cannot predict a guaranteed merit floor before applying. The only stat-automatic award is the Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship, and it is tiny: a 24-25 ACT earns $500/yr, 26-27 earns $750/yr, and 28+ earns $1,000/yr. The full ACT range there is a doubling ($500 to $1,000/yr), but the dollars are negligible against a $36,844 in-state or $53,520 out-of-state cost of attendance. The real money lives in two competitive full-COA awards, Stamps and President's Alumni Scholars, both gated by Ogden Honors College and a hard December 15 priority deadline with no published stat thresholds. Stacking follows a federal cost-of-attendance cap; LSU does not publish the order in which outside awards are reduced, so call Financial Aid at 225-578-1301 before relying on outside scholarships.

Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards20%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
Memorial Tower at Louisiana State University

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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 you landAutomatic merit aid by ACT compositeEach bar marks the ACT score range that qualifies for the tier.
Louisiana Tiger Legacy ScholarshipACT 24-25: $500/year
ACT 24+

Not on this ladder: Stamps Scholarship, President's Alumni Scholars Award, University Scholarships (multiple named awards) — application required, holistic, or scored on a different axis.

View as table
TierACT compositeAward
Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship24+ACT 24-25: $500/year; ACT 26-27: $750/year; ACT 28+: $1,000/year
Full cost of attendance for four ye…Full cost of attendance for four years (approximately $33,000/year in-state, $50,000/year out-of-state), plus up to $14,000 for enrichment experiences, a $1,100 one-time laptop stipend, and up to $1,550/year via President's Future Leaders in Research Program

Stamps Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Competitive. Strong record of high academic achievement, leadership, and service. Nominated through admissions, no published stat thresholds. Candidates must submit Common Application materials by the December 15 scholarship priority deadline. Selected in consultation with the Ogden Honors College.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years. Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year.

Notes

One of only two full-COA awards at LSU. Ogden Honors College admission is the gateway; recommended profile is 3.5 GPA and 30 ACT composite with 30 ACT English.

Source

Full cost of attendance for four ye…Full cost of attendance for four years (approximately $33,000/year in-state, $50,000/year out-of-state), plus $2,000 study abroad stipend and up to $1,550/year via President's Future Leaders in Research Program

President's Alumni Scholars Award

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Competitive. Same holistic review as Stamps. Selected in consultation with Ogden Honors College. December 15 scholarship priority deadline.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years. Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year.

Source

$500 to a full ride per year. Named…$500 to a full ride per year. Named awards include Academic Award, Academic Scholars Award, Flagship Scholars Award, Tiger Excellence Scholars Award, Tiger Nation Scholarship, Transformation Merit Award, Tiger Alumni Legacy Scholarship, and LSU Alumni Association's Global Leaders Award. Individual amounts not published on lsu.edu.

University Scholarships (multiple named awards)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Holistic scholarship review process weighing academic transcripts, test scores (if submitted), family background, achievements, letters of recommendation, involvement, legacy, and financial need. No separate scholarship application; the admission application by December 15 doubles as the scholarship application. LSU is test-optional through at least Fall 2026.

How to keep it

All require 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year, checked at end of spring semester. One academic year of probation to restore GPA if it drops below 3.0.

Notes

LSU does not publish a GPA/ACT/SAT-to-dollar grid like Alabama, Auburn, or Ole Miss. Dollar amounts for individual named awards are not disclosed on lsu.edu. The holistic approach means families cannot predict a guaranteed merit floor before applying.

Source

ACT 24-25: $500/year…ACT 24-25: $500/year; ACT 26-27: $750/year; ACT 28+: $1,000/year

Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
ACT
24+
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

The closest thing to automatic stat-based merit at LSU, but the amounts are modest ($500-$1,000/year). Available to freshmen and transfer students.

How to keep it

Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year. Three sub-tiers: Excellence, Superior, and Merit.

Notes

These are very small awards compared to the automatic tiers at peer SEC schools. At Alabama, a 30 ACT earns $28,000/year out-of-state; at LSU, a 28+ ACT earns $1,000/year.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from LSU's published information.

  • Cutoff cliffOne ACT point can move the award by +$250/yr ($750 − $500)

    LSU publishes a tier ladder where crossing ACT 24-25 → 26-27 (Tiger Legacy) changes the marginal value by +$250/yr ($750 − $500). A 1.5x step. Real but trivial against a $36,844 in-state COA.

  • Aid capHard $56,122 cost-of-attendance ceiling

    Institutional aid at LSU cannot push the package past $56,122. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

Straight from the aid office

What LSU's aid office says

Per Financial Aid and Scholarships, Louisiana State University, August 2026. How we verify

One application, both decisions

Is there a separate scholarship application at LSU?

No. The office confirmed the Common Application serves both admission and scholarship review, and that scholarship awarding runs through a holistic read rather than a published stat grid.

“LSU uses a holistic review process for scholarships, and the Common Application is used for both admissions and scholarship review.”
Financial need is weighed

What does LSU actually weigh when awarding scholarship money?

A long list, and one entry on it is unusual for a merit conversation: demonstrated financial need sits alongside transcripts, test scores, recommendations, leadership, and service. Families treating LSU merit as a pure stats calculation are modeling the wrong process.

“Several factors are weighed in the scholarship awarding process, including, but not limited to: academic transcripts, standardized test scores, family background, achievements in and out of the classroom, letters of recommendation from an academic source, involvement, leadership, service, and demonstration of financial need.”
Scholarship priority deadline

Which deadline matters for scholarship money?

The office named December 1 as the scholarship priority deadline.

“December 1 is the scholarship priority deadline for LSU.”

Worth confirmingThe same office wrote again on August 11, 2026 and gave a different date — December 15 — stating that all of LSU's deadlines align with each other and that December 15 is the correct one. That is the office correcting itself, not two dates governing two things, so the earlier December 1 answer is recorded here rather than removed. Until LSU's own published pages settle it, treat December 1 as the safe date to work to and confirm the honors route separately with Ogden.

Scholarship priority deadline, corrected

Which date is right — December 1, or the December 15 attached to Ogden Honors?

Asked directly about the discrepancy, the office named December 15 and said its deadlines all align with one another. This is the later and more considered of the two answers, but it contradicts the same office in writing six days earlier, so neither date is safe to treat as settled on its own.

“LSU's merit scholarship priority deadline is December 15th. All of LSU's deadlines align with each other, so the correct date should be December 15th.”

Worth confirmingDirectly contradicts the December 1 the same office gave on August 5, 2026, shown above. Both are official written answers and neither has been withdrawn. Apply by the earlier date, December 1, and you satisfy both.

Outside scholarships

Does an outside scholarship replace LSU aid or lower the bill?

It lowers the bill until the federal cost-of-attendance ceiling is reached. The office's wording is conditional — external money should not displace LSU scholarships unless total aid exceeds cost of attendance — so the practical risk is concentrated in students already near a full-cost package.

“External scholarships should not displace LSU scholarships unless the student exceeds their Cost of Attendance.”

What families often miss

  1. LSU uses holistic scholarship review with no published GPA/ACT/SAT-to-dollar table. The only stat-indexed awards with published thresholds are the modest Louisiana Tiger Legacy scholarships ($500-$1,000/year). Families who expect a guaranteed amount based on a 30 ACT the way they would at Alabama ($28,000/year OOS) will be disappointed at LSU ($1,000/year).

  2. There is no separate scholarship application at LSU. The Common Application for admission doubles as the scholarship application. Applying after December 15 sharply reduces merit award chances. Many families treat it as a regular deadline and apply later.

  3. TOPS is a state-funded program worth $7,463 to $12,000/year depending on the ACT-indexed tier. It stacks with LSU institutional aid subject to the COA cap. Some families focus exclusively on LSU institutional aid and forget to file the LOSFA application by July 1 or fail to meet the ACT and GPA requirements for the higher TOPS tiers.

See award cutoffs and special programs

What LSU actually pays by profile

Only the Louisiana Tiger Legacy tier ties dollars to stats. The two full-COA awards are competitive and holistic, with no published stat thresholds.

Student profileLikely outcome
In-state · ACT 24-25 (Tiger Legacy)Louisiana Tiger Legacy — $500/yrEntry rung of the only stat-automatic award. Requires 3.0 GPA + 24 credits to renew.
In-state · ACT 26-27 (Tiger Legacy)Louisiana Tiger Legacy — $750/yrMiddle sub-tier. +$250/yr over the 24-25 rung.
Any · ACT 28+ (Tiger Legacy)Louisiana Tiger Legacy — $1,000/yrTop automatic rung, still modest. At Alabama a 28+ earns far more; here it caps at $1,000/yr.
Competitive · ~3.5 GPA / 30 ACT (Ogden Honors)Stamps Scholarship — full cost of attendanceNot automatic. Holistic, Ogden Honors gateway, December 15 priority deadline. Recommended profile 3.5 GPA, 30 ACT.
Competitive · Ogden Honors holistic reviewPresident's Alumni Scholars — full cost of attendanceSecond full-COA award, same holistic process and December 15 deadline.

The only computable cliffs at LSU

Every step below is an arithmetic delta between two published Louisiana Tiger Legacy sub-tiers. The full-COA awards (Stamps, President's Alumni Scholars) have no published stat thresholds, so no cliff can be computed for them.

ThresholdMarginal value
ACT 24-25 → 26-27 (Tiger Legacy)+$250/yr ($750 − $500)A 1.5x step. Real but trivial against a $36,844 in-state COA.
ACT 26-27 → 28+ (Tiger Legacy)+$250/yr ($1,000 − $750)Top automatic step, roughly a 1.33x bump.
ACT 24-25 → 28+ (Tiger Legacy, full range)+$500/yr ($1,000 − $500)Doubling across the whole automatic ladder, but still only $1,000/yr at the top.
See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Families of Louisiana residents where TOPS (state-funded, stackable) is the largest predictable merit lever, and out-of-state families who need to understand that LSU's holistic review means there is no guaranteed scholarship floor based on stats alone. Unlike Alabama, Auburn, or Ole Miss, you cannot calculate an LSU merit offer before applying. The Ogden Honors College is the gateway to the full-COA awards (Stamps, President's Alumni) and there is no downside to applying.

Cost of attendance$39,446–$56,122 for 2026-2027Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$56,122
In-state, on-campus$39,446
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Personal
  • Travel

On-campus residence hall. Official page shows 2026-27; input total/year were 2025-26. Both residency scenarios captured.

LSU cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at LSU, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$13,056
$30,001–$48,000$15,696
$48,001–$75,000$20,223
$75,001–$110,000$23,878
$110,001+$26,489
All income levels (average)$19,151

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$11,954
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$28,631
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$19,151

That works out to roughly a 45% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $34,705 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

LSU 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
69%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
85%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$20,500 (~$217/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$61,251
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
35%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
37%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

LSU does not publish a dedicated stacking or outside-scholarship displacement policy on lsu.edu. Total aid from all sources cannot exceed cost of attendance (federal requirement). TOPS (state-funded) stacks with institutional aid subject to the COA cap.

No stand-alone outside-scholarship policy page exists on lsu.edu. The listed financial aid policies cover Satisfactory Academic Progress, Scholarship Retention, Resignation, Repeated Coursework, Enrollment Status, and Special Circumstances, but none address outside scholarship displacement mechanics. The CDS confirms that cost of attendance is the maximum amount of financial aid and scholarships a student can receive, implying a COA cap exists per federal regulations, but the specific order of reduction when outside awards push total aid above COA is not published. Contact Financial Aid at 225-578-1301 for case-specific guidance.

Source

More school data

From the LSU Common Data Set 2024-2025:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From LSU’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
20%of admitsget merit
Average award$7,583Covers ~14% of $56,122 cost of attendance

At LSU, roughly 1 in 5 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $7,583 — about 14% of total cost.

Where you standACT composite landscapeThe mid-50% admit band shows where most admitted students score. The merit zone shows the score range that qualifies for at least one automatic merit tier.

Merit starts at ACT 24+, inside the 24–30 admit band. A typical admit already qualifies for at least entry-tier merit.

SAT mid-50%1180–132025th / 75th percentile
ACT mid-50%24–3025th / 75th percentile
Receive institutional merit20%First-year students
Average merit award$7,583Across recipients

Source: Common Data Set

Other LSU scholarships worth checking

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

AmountState-funded: Excellence tier (31+ ACT, 3.5 GPA) $12,000/year; Honors (27+ ACT, 3.5 GPA) $8,263/year; Performance (23+ ACT, 3.25 GPA) $7,863/year; Opportunity (20+ ACT, 2.5 GPA) $7,463/yearEligibilityLouisiana residents only. Must meet ACT/GPA requirements and file FAFSA plus LOSFA application by July 1. Requires FAFSA code and LOSFA registration.

TOPS is not an LSU institutional scholarship, but it is the single largest predictable aid source for in-state students and stacks with LSU merit. Many families focus on institutional aid and forget to file the LOSFA application by the July 1 deadline.

Source

Amount$1,500 per year ($750 per semester)EligibilityRequires 3.5 high school GPA, 3.5 STEM Pathways GPA, and Gold STEM Seal endorsement.

Source

Amount$1,000 per year (renewable up to $4,000 over four years)EligibilityRequires 3.0 high school GPA and one year of FIRST Robotics participation.

Source

LSU merit aid FAQ

  • Does LSU guarantee a specific scholarship amount based on GPA and test scores?

    No. Unlike some SEC peers, LSU uses holistic review for all university-administered merit scholarships. There is no published automatic tier grid. The only stat-indexed awards with published thresholds are the modest Louisiana Tiger Legacy scholarships ($500-$1,000/year based on ACT) and TOPS (state-funded, $7,463-$12,000/year). Everything else is holistic, and the range is $500/year to a full ride.

  • What is the deadline for scholarship consideration, and is there a separate application?

    December 15 is the scholarship priority deadline. There is no separate scholarship application; the Common Application for admission is the scholarship application. Some departmental scholarships (Engineering, Business, Music) require additional applications through their college or the Blackbaud Award Management portal.

  • How much does an out-of-state student actually pay at LSU after typical merit aid?

    Out-of-state COA is $53,520 (2025-2026). The average non-need institutional merit award for freshmen is $7,583, bringing the average net OOS cost to roughly $46,000. Only the Stamps and President's Alumni Scholars awards cover full COA for out-of-state students (approximately $50,000/year value). About 20% of freshmen receive some non-need institutional merit.

  • Can my student receive both TOPS and LSU institutional merit aid?

    Yes. TOPS is a Louisiana state program and stacks on top of LSU institutional aid, subject to the federal cost-of-attendance cap. However, LSU does not publish a specific stacking or displacement policy explaining what happens when total aid exceeds COA. Contact Financial Aid at 225-578-1301 for your specific scenario.

  • Why should my student apply to the Ogden Honors College?

    All Ogden Honors College applicants are automatically considered for the Stamps Scholarship and President's Alumni Scholars Award, the only full-COA merit awards LSU offers ($33,000-$50,000/year depending on residency). Admission is recommended for students with a 3.5 GPA and 30 ACT composite with 30 ACT English. There is no downside to applying.

See sources and other schools

How LSU compares

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

    LSU 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.

    LSU 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.

  • 63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.

    LSU is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.

Sources used on this page

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

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring LSU merit aid

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