See what MSU Billings's published rules mean for your student's numbers. Takes 30 seconds.
The merit-aid verdict at MSU Billings
MSU Billings gives every admitted freshman an automatic, GPA-based Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship of $1,000-$3,000/year at the University Campus (with three GPA tiers down to a 2.85), and competitive students can layer the renewable Chancellor's Excellence Award on top, though that award publishes no dollar figure.
Rules that bite at MSU Billings
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from MSU Billings's own published policy, not generic advice.
renewalYellowjacket Excellence Scholarship — University Campus: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for two or four years. Students must maintain continuous full-time enrollment (12 semester hours at the University Campus) during Fall and Spring and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA (evaluated at the end of each Spring semester). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
displacementNo published displacement order
MSU Billings's policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.
Common merit-aid mistakes at MSU Billings
Those numbers only qualify you to be considered. It is a competitive award — finalists undergo mandatory interviews and must submit three letters of recommendation, an essay, and a signed four-year-degree declaration by the firm February 1st deadline.
City College Yellowjacket Excellence amounts are lower ($500-$1,000 vs $1,000-$3,000), and the lowest GPA tier (3.649-2.85) earns N/A — no award at all — at City College.
The full 2025-2026 University Campus cost of attendance for a Montana resident living on campus is $26,506 (direct + indirect costs). Off-campus students have an additional $2,704 added to Food & Housing in the COA that does not appear on the MSUB bill.
WUE is a reduced-tuition rate ($10,480 vs the much higher non-resident rate), not a cash scholarship. It lowers your bill; it does not add a check on top of other aid.
Yellowjacket Excellence renewal requires a 2.0 cumulative GPA (checked each Spring) and continuous enrollment of 12 semester hours (University Campus) / 9 (City College) each Fall and Spring. Miss either and the award does not renew; it is also not deferrable.
Who this school is for
In-state Montana and Western-state students who want a guaranteed, automatic GPA-based merit award at an affordable public university; the GPA floor is unusually low (2.85), so solid-but-not-top students still qualify for the base tier.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $26,506 for 2025-2026. Source
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at MSU Billings, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at MSU Billings, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$13,927
$30,001–$48,000
$14,387
$48,001–$75,000
$16,749
$75,001–$110,000
$18,948
$110,001+
$20,035
All income levels (average)
$16,524
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$7,280
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$22,897
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$16,524
That works out to roughly a 18% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $20,054 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
MSU Billings 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
30%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
56%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$18,209 (~$193/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$44,296
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
41%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
44%
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-$3,000 per year
Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship — University Campus
First-time, full-time, degree-seeking students seeking their first associate or bachelor's degree. GED 165-200 and HiSET 75-100 score equivalents accepted. Not deferrable.
Renewal terms
Renewable for two or four years. Students must maintain continuous full-time enrollment (12 semester hours at the University Campus) during Fall and Spring and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA (evaluated at the end of each Spring semester).
Notes
Fully automatic based on unweighted high school GPA — no scholarship application required. Apply for admission and submit official high school transcripts. The base tier reaches down to a 2.85 GPA, which is a notably low floor. City College amounts are lower (see separate tier).
Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship — City College
AutomaticRenewable
GPA
Unweighted HS GPA: Tier 1 = 3.95 and above ($1,000); Tier 2 = 3.949-3.65 ($500); Tier 3 (3.649-2.85) = N/A (no award at City College)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
First-time, full-time, degree-seeking students seeking their first associate or bachelor's degree. GED/HiSET equivalents accepted. Not deferrable.
Renewal terms
Renewable for two or four years. Students must maintain continuous enrollment (9 semester hours at City College) during Fall and Spring and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA (evaluated at the end of each Spring semester).
Notes
City College awards are smaller than University Campus and the lowest GPA tier (3.649-2.85) earns nothing at City College. Automatic on unweighted HS GPA; no scholarship application required.
Amount not published on the award p…Amount not published on the award page
Chancellor's Excellence Award
ApplicationRenewable
GPA
Minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA OR
SAT
1240
ACT
26 composite OR
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
New incoming freshman from an accredited high school; full-time, pursuing a Bachelor's degree; demonstrate leadership and a record of school/community service; three letters of recommendation; signed declaration to complete a four-year degree; essay responses and unofficial transcript for qualified applicants. Finalists undergo mandatory interviews.
Renewal terms
Renewable up to four academic years (or until completion of the Bachelor's degree) for recipients who continue to meet the continuation/renewal qualifications, provided funding is available.
Notes
Competitive, not automatic — qualification (3.5 GPA OR ACT 26 OR SAT 1240) only gets you considered; finalists interview. The award page does NOT publish a dollar amount, so no figure is asserted here. Firm deadline of February 1st. You are automatically considered based on a completed General Application.
Reduced non-resident tuition & fees…Reduced non-resident tuition & fees of $10,480/yr (vs $7,690 resident) — not a scholarship dollar award
Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) reduced tuition
ApplicationRenewable
GPA
Must meet non-Montana resident admissions standards (no separate GPA published on WUE page)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
Residents of AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, NV, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY (and CNMI). Working toward first undergraduate degree. Apply for admission to be considered.
Renewal terms
Tuition-rate benefit, not a cash award; continues while the student remains eligible and works toward their first undergraduate degree.
Notes
WUE is a reduced-TUITION program (WICHE), not a scholarship that pays cash. The $10,480 vs $7,690 figures are 2025-2026 estimated University Campus tuition & fees at 12+ credits. Not stackable as 'extra money' — it lowers the bill instead.
No published institutional rule was found on msubillings.edu describing how outside (third-party) scholarships displace MSUB merit aid, or how the Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship interacts with the Chancellor's Excellence Award. The Yellowjacket Excellence and Chancellor's Excellence pages each describe their own award without a cross-stacking statement.
The merit pages state award amounts and renewal terms but contain no outside-scholarship displacement language. Whether a student can hold both the automatic Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship and the competitive Chancellor's Excellence Award simultaneously is not stated on either official page.
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility rules.
AmountNot publishedEligibilityNew incoming freshmen who are enrolled full-time and are Montana residents.
University Honors Program award; no dollar amount, GPA, or deadline published on the honors scholarships page. Applied for via the AcademicWorks portal.
Amount$200 book scholarships up to FULL TUITIONEligibilityNew and current MSUB students.
Single general application unlocks 500+ awards. Application opens December 1st for the 2026-2027 academic year. Over $1.8 million in scholarships awarded annually.
Do I have to apply separately for the Yellowjacket Excellence Scholarship?
No. It is fully automatic based on your unweighted high school GPA. Just apply for admission and submit your official high school transcripts to admissions@msubillings.edu; the award is assigned by GPA tier (University Campus $1,000-$3,000; City College $500-$1,000).
What GPA do I need to keep my scholarship?
For Yellowjacket Excellence renewal you must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA, evaluated at the end of each Spring semester, plus continuous full-time enrollment (12 credits University Campus / 9 City College). Awards are renewable for two or four years.
What is the deadline for the Chancellor's Excellence Award?
The Chancellor's Excellence Award has a firm deadline of February 1st. You qualify with a 3.5 cumulative GPA OR an ACT composite of 26 OR an SAT of 1240, then compete (finalists interview). The award page does not publish a specific dollar amount.
Is the lowest GPA tier really 2.85?
Yes — at the University Campus, a 3.649-2.85 unweighted HS GPA earns the $1,000 Tier 3 Yellowjacket Excellence award. At City College that same tier earns N/A (no award).
How MSU Billings compares across our verified dataset
135 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.
MSU Billings is in a recognizable cluster (135 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
135 of 750 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.
MSU Billings is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
MSU Billings 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 claim is checked against MSU Billings’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
