Mississippi State · Mississippi

Mississippi State Merit Aid

Public SEC land-grant with a GPA-based non-resident scholarship that pays $12,000–$22,000/year depending on GPA band and test score, plus a resident ACT-by-GPA grid topping out at $10,500/year for 33+ ACT students with a 3.6+ GPA. The non-resident scholarship now covers roughly 80% of non-resident tuition and fees at the top cell.

Verified Apr 2026Analyst pt-browser

Merit tiers42 automatic on stats

Avg merit award$6,544CDS 2025-2026

Last verifiedApr 2026Analyst pt-browser

Who this school is for

Mississippi State works for two very different families. Non-residents with a 3.30+ 9-11 GPA qualify for the Freshman Non-Resident Academic Scholarship, which pays $12,000/year at the 3.30-3.59 GPA floor, $16,000/year at 3.60-4.09, and $18,000/year at 4.10+. A 31+ ACT (or 1390+ SAT) pushes the 3.60-4.09 band up to $20,000/year and the 4.10+ band up to $22,000/year. Mississippi residents with a 3.0 GPA and a 21 ACT qualify for the Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship, which scales up to $10,500/year at the 3.6+ GPA + 33-36 ACT top cell. Students who score 34+ ACT additionally receive a one-year scholarship valued at the cost of their share of a double-occupancy residence hall. National Merit Finalists who name Mississippi State as first-choice receive a four-year on-campus housing scholarship that stacks on top of the tuition package. Families targeting the Presidential Endowed Scholarship (tuition, room, board, plus a $12,000 enrichment allowance) need ACT or SAT scores on file by December 1 for competitive review — Presidential Endowed is not stat-automatic, and it is worth an order of magnitude more than the automatic top tier.

Institutional merit aid tiers

Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.

$1,000–$10,500/year based on HS GPA × ACT grid (see notes for full chart)

Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship (Mississippi residents)

AutomaticRenewable for up to 8 semesters with a 3.0 cumulative college GPA and continuous full-time enrollment (12 credit hours per semester at MSU)

RequirementsGPA 3.0+ · ACT 21+ · Mississippi resident. Scores from the February test date of senior year are the last accepted. Superscores within the same test type (ACT or SAT) are accepted; ACT and SAT subscores cannot be mixed.

Full 2025-2026 resident chart by HS GPA × ACT band. 3.0–3.29 GPA: 21–24 ACT = $1,000/yr; 25–29 ACT = $2,000; 30–32 ACT = $3,000; 33–36 ACT = $4,000. 3.30–3.59 GPA: 21–24 ACT = $1,500; 25–29 ACT = $2,500; 30–32 ACT = $5,000; 33–36 ACT = $6,000. 3.6+ GPA: 21–24 ACT = $3,500; 25–29 ACT = $5,000; 30–32 ACT = $8,000; 33–36 ACT = $10,500. Students scoring 34+ ACT (or SAT equivalent) additionally receive a one-year scholarship valued at the cost of their portion of a double-occupancy residence hall room on top of the FAES amount.

Source

$12,000/year at 3.30–3.59 GPA; $16,000/year at 3.60–4.09 GPA (rises to $20,000/year at 31+ ACT / 1390+ SAT); $18,000/year at 4.10+ GPA (rises to $22,000/year at 31+ ACT / 1390+ SAT)

Freshman Non-Resident Academic Scholarship

AutomaticRenewable for up to 8 semesters with a 3.0 cumulative college GPA and continuous full-time enrollment (12 credit hours per semester at MSU)

RequirementsGPA 3.30+ · Non-resident. The 3.60–4.09 GPA and 4.10+ GPA bands receive a $4,000/year test-score bonus at a 31+ ACT or 1390+ SAT superscore. No separate ACT/SAT threshold is published for the base $12,000 tier. Students scoring 34+ ACT (or SAT equivalent) additionally receive a one-year scholarship valued at the cost of their portion of a double-occupancy residence hall room. Superscores within the same test type are accepted.

Full 2025-2026 non-resident chart by HS GPA × test-score band. 3.30–3.59 GPA: $12,000/yr (no test-score bonus tier). 3.60–4.09 GPA: $16,000/yr base; $20,000/yr at 31+ ACT or 1390+ SAT. 4.10+ GPA: $18,000/yr base; $22,000/yr at 31+ ACT or 1390+ SAT. At the top cell the $22,000/yr award covers roughly 80% of the $27,637 non-resident tuition and fees line for 2025-2026. Mississippi State's Non-Resident Military Tuition Waiver (NRMTW, valued at $17,435/year) is awarded in place of the Non-Resident Academic Scholarship when the NRMTW value exceeds the scholarship amount.

Source

Tuition + meal plan + on-campus housing for 4 years + $12,000 one-time enrichment allowance (approximately $107,000 total package value)

Presidential Endowed Scholarship Package

ApplicationRenewable for up to 8 semesters subject to continuous full-time enrollment and the published GPA terms

RequirementsGPA 3.75+ · SAT 1330+ · ACT 30+ · Competitive review, not automatic. ACT or SAT scores must be submitted to Mississippi State by December 1 for Presidential Endowed consideration. The 3.75+ GPA floor applies to the core or overall high school GPA.

Mississippi State's top merit package. The $12,000 enrichment allowance is designated for study abroad, undergraduate research, or other professional development. The 2025 entering class received 19 Presidential Endowed awards. Non-residents who earn the Presidential Endowed package also receive the Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship covering 100% of the non-resident portion of tuition, so out-of-state recipients effectively pay the resident rate before Presidential tuition coverage applies.

Source

On-campus housing scholarship (approximately $8,456/year, ~$33,824 over 4 years). Non-residents additionally receive a Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship covering 100% of the non-resident tuition portion.

National Merit Finalist Scholarship Package

ApplicationRenewable for up to 8 semesters with continuous on-campus residency and the published GPA terms

RequirementsNamed National Merit Finalist status AND list Mississippi State as first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The MSU NMF package is structured around a four-year on-campus housing award. Non-resident NMFs who name MSU as first-choice also pick up the full non-resident tuition portion through the Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship, pushing the total NMF package for out-of-state students well beyond the resident figure. The housing award requires continuous on-campus residency to renew.

Source

Outside scholarship stacking policy

Mississippi State caps total aid at Cost of Attendance. The published policy warns that institutional scholarships may be adjusted or canceled if outside awards push a student over COA, and MSU does not publish a loan-first or grant-first displacement order.

MSU's Student Financial Aid office policy states that federal, state, institutional, and outside scholarship aid combined may not exceed Cost of Attendance. If outside scholarships or additional aid push the total package above COA, institutional scholarships may be adjusted or canceled. Unlike some SEC peers, MSU does not publicly specify whether loans, grants, or institutional dollars are reduced first. Because the sequence isn't published, families should notify SFA of every outside award as soon as it is confirmed so the office can apply reductions thoughtfully rather than retroactively adjusting institutional merit at billing.

Source

Common Data Set snapshot

From the Mississippi State Common Data Set 2025-2026:

SAT mid-50%1000–123025th / 75th percentile

ACT mid-50%21–2925th / 75th percentile

Average merit award$6,544Across recipients

Source: Common Data Set

Common mistakes at Mississippi State

Assuming test-optional admission means test-optional merit.
Mississippi State admits students without ACT or SAT scores for admission review, but the resident Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship ladder AND the Presidential Endowed Scholarship Package require submitted scores. Test-optional applicants lose access to the automatic resident merit grid (21 ACT floor) and cannot be considered for Presidential Endowed (30 ACT floor). Non-resident applicants can still receive the GPA-tiered Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship without scores, but the Presidential Endowed pathway is unavailable.
Missing the December 1 Presidential Endowed deadline.
Presidential Endowed is the only MSU package that pays full tuition, room, board, and an enrichment allowance. It is competitive rather than stat-automatic, and the review pool closes when December 1 ACT/SAT scores are on file. High-stats families who wait until the spring automatic merit cycle still receive the stat-automatic scholarships, but they lose the Presidential Endowed pathway entirely. Presidential Endowed is worth an order of magnitude more than the automatic top tier.
Not reporting outside scholarships to SFA until the bill posts.
Mississippi State does not publish a loan-first or grant-first displacement order. If outside scholarships push a family over COA, institutional scholarships may be adjusted or canceled per SFA policy, and without a published priority order families can't predict which bucket gets reduced. Reporting every outside award to SFA as it's confirmed lets the office sequence the reductions thoughtfully instead of cutting institutional merit retroactively at billing.

Mississippi State merit aid FAQ

What's the floor to be considered for Mississippi State automatic merit?
Mississippi residents need a 3.0 9th-11th grade GPA and a 21 ACT (or the SAT equivalent) for the Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship ladder. Non-residents need a 3.30 9th-11th grade GPA for the Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship package — MSU does not publish a separate ACT floor at this award level, so GPA is the binding constraint for the non-resident package. Both programs treat scores within the same test type as superscorable.
Will an outside scholarship reduce my Mississippi State aid?
Only if the total aid package exceeds Cost of Attendance. MSU applies federal, state, institutional, and outside scholarship dollars against a single COA cap. Unlike some SEC peers, MSU does not publish a loan-first or grant-first displacement order, so notifying the Student Financial Aid office about every outside award early lets them sequence reductions instead of pulling institutional scholarships at billing.
Where are the big breakpoints in the resident Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship grid?
The 3.6 GPA breakpoint and the 30 ACT breakpoint are the two biggest. A 3.6+ GPA student at 21–24 ACT ($3,500/yr) already pays more than a 3.0–3.29 GPA student at 33–36 ACT ($4,000/yr), so GPA band matters more than a few ACT points for most families. Moving from 30–32 ACT to 33–36 ACT inside the 3.6+ GPA band takes a student from $8,000/yr to $10,500/yr, and students scoring 34+ ACT additionally receive a one-year housing scholarship valued at the cost of their share of a double-occupancy room.
Is the Presidential Endowed Scholarship automatic?
No. Presidential Endowed is a competitive review package limited to students with a 3.75+ core or overall HS GPA and a 30+ ACT (or 1330+ SAT) whose scores are on file with MSU by December 1. The 2025 entering class received 19 Presidential Endowed awards. Families who meet the stats floor should treat December 1 as a hard deadline — the automatic merit ladder pays a fraction of the Presidential Endowed package value.
How does Mississippi State handle National Merit Finalists?
Named National Merit Finalists who list Mississippi State as first-choice with NMSC receive a four-year on-campus housing scholarship (approximately $8,456/year). Non-resident NMFs additionally receive a Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship covering 100% of the non-resident tuition portion, which pushes the total out-of-state NMF package well above the resident figure. The housing award requires continuous on-campus residency to renew.