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MSU Texas· Renewal Rules

Keeping MSU Texas’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 20264 days ago· CC

At a glance

Renewable tiers
14 of 14
One-time tiers
0
Tiers with published renewal terms
14
Renewal risk profile
low

Renewal risk profile

MSU Texas'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.

  • Freshmen Scholar (general academic merit): See notes
  • Freshmen Distinction (general academic merit): See notes
  • Freshmen Excellence (general academic merit): See notes
  • Freshmen Outstanding (general academic merit): See notes
  • Freshmen Achievement (general academic merit): See notes
  • Redwine Honors Program Scholarship: See notes
  • Priddy Foundation Scholars Program: SAP standards
  • Regents Valedictorian Scholarship: See notes
  • Regents Salutatorian Scholarship: See notes
  • ISD Valedictorian/Salutatorian Scholarship: See notes
  • Dual Credit Award: See notes
  • Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship (transfer): See notes
  • Transfer Excellence Scholarship: See notes
  • Transfer Achievement Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

  • Freshmen Scholar (general academic merit)

    $3,500 per year

    Entry requirements: 1500 SAT · 34 ACT

    To keep it: Page does not state renewal duration or a renewal GPA. The finaid page says only 'Many scholarships renew as long as you maintain the eligibility requirements, but others are term limited.' Renewal terms for the freshman merit grid are NOT published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Freshmen Distinction (general academic merit)

    $2,500 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.9 - 4.0 GPA · 1420 SAT · 31 ACT

    To keep it: Renewal duration/GPA not published for the freshman grid (see Section C).

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Freshmen Excellence (general academic merit)

    $2,000 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.79 - 3.89 GPA · 1240 SAT · 26 ACT

    To keep it: Renewal duration/GPA not published for the freshman grid (see Section C).

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Freshmen Outstanding (general academic merit)

    $1,500 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.67 - 3.78 GPA · 1160 SAT · 24 ACT

    To keep it: Renewal duration/GPA not published for the freshman grid (see Section C).

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Freshmen Achievement (general academic merit)

    $750 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.58 - 3.66 GPA · 1070 SAT · 21 ACT

    To keep it: Renewal duration/GPA not published for the freshman grid (see Section C).

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Redwine Honors Program Scholarship

    $4,000 per year

    Entry requirements: 1200 SAT · 25 ACT

    To keep it: Recipients of the Redwine Honors Scholarship and the Redwine Honors Presidential Scholarship must be enrolled in a minimum of fifteen (15) semester hours per long term, passing a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours prior to the beginning of the next academic year.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/finaid/scholarships.php

  • Priddy Foundation Scholars Program

    Full Cost of Attendance

    Entry requirements: 3.0 (minimum HS GPA) GPA

    To keep it: The award is a four-year award, pending Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), completion of 30/60/90 hours each academic year, and completion of Priddy Scholars requirements. Students must complete all required program activities and maintain a 2.5 cumulative MSU GPA.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/finaid/scholarships.php

  • Regents Valedictorian Scholarship

    $3,000 per year

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Regents Salutatorian Scholarship

    $2,000 per year

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • ISD Valedictorian/Salutatorian Scholarship

    $4,000 per year

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Dual Credit Award

    $1,000 per year

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship (transfer)

    $1,200 per year

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships.php

  • Transfer Excellence Scholarship

    $2,000 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.50 GPA

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships-transfer.php

  • Transfer Achievement Scholarship

    $1,500 per year

    Entry requirements: 3.00 GPA

    To keep it: Renewal terms not published on these pages.

    Source: https://msutexas.edu/admissions/scholarships-transfer.php

How families lose this aid

  • Thinking you need top test scores AND a top GPA AND a top rank to win freshman merit.

    Only the top $3,500 Scholar tier requires BOTH 1500/34 AND Top 5%. Every other tier ($2,500/$2,000/$1,500/$750) is satisfied by ANY ONE of test score, class rank, OR GPA — a strong GPA alone can earn the award even with no test score (MSU Texas is test-optional).

  • Expecting a transfer student to keep freshman merit.

    Transfer Excellence ($2,000) and Achievement ($1,500) are NOT stackable with freshman merit scholarships; transfers are scored on transfer GPA + 12 credit hours, on a different track.

  • Missing the priority admission deadline and losing automatic consideration.

    General merit, Regents, ISD, and PTK awards are awarded automatically only to students admitted by the priority deadline (the admissions page states June 1 for fall 2026 freshmen / July 1 for transfers; the finaid page states May 1 for freshmen — confirm the binding date with admissions). Miss it and you may lose automatic merit consideration.

Renewal questions families ask

How long do the merit scholarships last and what GPA do I need to keep them?
The pages reviewed do not publish a renewal duration or renewal GPA for the freshman merit grid — they say only that 'many scholarships renew as long as you maintain the eligibility requirements, but others are term limited.' The Priddy program is a four-year award requiring a 2.5 cumulative GPA and 30/60/90 hours per year; Redwine requires 15 hours per long term and 30 passed hours per year. Confirm freshman-grid renewal terms with the financial aid office.

How MSU Texas compares across our verified dataset

  • 669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    MSU Texas 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 MSU Texas’s own published materials.

More on MSU Texas merit aid