Montana State (Bozeman land-grant — NOT U of Montana) runs two automatic GPA grids — resident Premier ($1,000-$4,000/yr) and non-resident Achievement ($7,000-$16,000/yr) — both tuition-only, both requiring 15 credits/semester and continued residency to renew.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is Montana State worth a closer look?
Montana State is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.
Merit tiers52 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards20%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
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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.
$1,000-$4,000
Montana Premier Scholarship (resident automatic grid)
Montana resident freshmen; automatic on the self-reported cumulative HS GPA via the admission application; first bachelor's degree only
How to keep it
Renewable for four years; must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or greater, enroll for a minimum of 15 credits per semester, maintain RESIDENT status, and maintain continuous enrollment.
Notes
TUITION ONLY. Automatic, no separate application. Cannot stack with the MUS Honors or Presidential Scholarship (higher value honored).
Non-resident freshmen from all states; automatic on self-reported HS GPA (weighted or unweighted); first bachelor's degree only
How to keep it
Renewable for four years; must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or greater, enroll for a minimum of 15 credits per semester, maintain NON-RESIDENT status, and maintain continuous enrollment. Offers are specific to the 2026-2027 freshman class and cannot be deferred to a different term.
Notes
TUITION ONLY. Automatic, no separate application; initial packages sent starting in October. This grid is tagged for the 2026-2027 academic year and is non-deferrable.
Approximately $21,000 off non-resid…Approximately $21,000 off non-resident tuition (1.5x the in-state tuition rate)
Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Scholarship
Apply separatelyCan continue
GPA
Minimum cumulative 3.0 HS GPA to apply; recipients routinely have 3.8+
SAT
Not required
ACT
Not required
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Students from WUE states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, NV, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY, CNMI); competitive; must be admitted first and apply via Cat $cholarships by Jan 8, 2026. ~1,000 offers/year.
How to keep it
Renewable four years with a 2.5 cumulative GPA, 15+ credits/semester, non-resident status, and continuous enrollment. Exact value set in May at the Board of Regents meeting.
Notes
MSU's second-highest-value award; value equals 1.5x in-state tuition (~$21,000 off non-resident tuition in Fall 2025). NOT stackable with Achievement Awards — the greater-value award is granted. The 2026-27 WUE application is now closed.
Amount not published…Amount not published (on pages opened)
Presidential Scholarship (Honors College)
Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies+
Who qualifies
MSU's most prestigious academic scholarship, offered by the Honors College (competitive)
How to keep it
Renewal requires a 3.5 minimum cumulative GPA AND 32 completed credit hours per academic year, with continuous full-time enrollment and active Honors College membership. Do not confuse this with the Provost Scholarship's lower bar (3.3 GPA, 30 credits/yr) or the automatic Premier/Achievement grids' bar (2.5 GPA, 15 credits/semester) — MSU publishes three different renewal thresholds on three different pages.
Notes
Referenced on both the resident and non-resident scholarship pages as the most prestigious award; the dollar amount and initial GPA/test thresholds are still not published on the pages opened, so they remain unconfirmed here. Renewal terms ARE published on the Honors College Scholarships FAQ (verified 2026-08-06). Premier cannot stack with the Presidential (higher value honored).
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Montana State's published information.
Renewal rulePresidential Scholarship (Honors College): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewal requires a 3.5 minimum cumulative GPA AND 32 completed credit hours per academic year, with continuous full-time enrollment and active Honors College membership. Do not confuse this with the Provost Scholarship's lower bar (3.3 GPA, 30 credits/yr) or the automatic Premier/Achievement grids' bar (2.5 GPA, 15 credits/semester) — MSU publishes three different renewal thresholds on three different pages. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $29,086 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Montana State cannot push the package past $29,086. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Straight from the aid office
What Montana State's aid office says
Per the Financial Aid & Education Office, Montana State University, August 2026. How we verify
Use of ACT/SAT scores
Do test scores factor into admission or merit scholarship consideration?
MSU is not currently using ACT/SAT scores for admission.
“We are not currently using ACT/SAT scores for admission.”
Basis for merit scholarship award
How is the merit scholarship initially determined and confirmed?
Merit scholarships are initially awarded based on the student's self-reported high school GPA, then confirmed once a final transcript is received.
“Our merit scholarships are initially awarded based on the student’s self-reported high school GPA, then confirmed once we have a final transcript.”
Stacking outside scholarships
Can outside scholarships be combined with MSU's merit scholarships?
Outside scholarships can be stacked with MSU merit scholarships, unless the outside scholarship is tuition-only and covers his full tuition amount.
“Outside scholarships are stackable with our merit scholarships unless they are for tuition only and cover his full tuition amount.”
Retention requirements variability
Are the credit/GPA retention requirements the same for everyone?
Retention requirements can vary depending on which cohort the student is awarded into and his starting term.
“Retention requirements can vary depending on which cohort he’s been awarded and his starting term.”
Typical renewal requirements
What credits and GPA are typically needed to keep the scholarship?
Typically, students must enroll in a minimum of 30 credits per year and maintain a cumulative college GPA of 2.5 to keep the scholarship.
“Typically, however, students are required to enroll in a minimum of 30 credits per year and maintain a cumulative college GPA of 2.5.”
Losing and appealing the scholarship
What happens if the retention requirements aren't met, and can it be regained?
If the requirements are not met, the student may lose the scholarship, but can appeal to regain it the following year if there is a justifiable cause.
“If those requirements are not met, the student may lose the scholarship, but can appeal to regain it in the following year if there is a justifiable cause.”
WUE scholarship competitiveness
Is the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) award automatic for eligible out-of-state students?
The WUE award is not automatically awarded and is highly competitive at MSU.
“If you are from a state participating in our Western Undergraduate Exchange (*WUE*), please read that additional information carefully, as it is not automatically awarded and is highly competitive on our campus.”
What families often miss
Both automatic grids are explicitly 'designated for tuition only' — they do not apply to housing, food, or mandatory fees, so a large headline number still leaves a big housing/food bill.
Renewal requires enrolling in a minimum of 15 credits per semester (plus a 2.5 cumulative GPA and continuous enrollment); 12 credits is full-time for other purposes but is NOT enough to keep the scholarship.
Premier cannot stack with the MUS Honors or Presidential Scholarship (higher value honored), and WUE is not stackable with the Achievement Award (greater value granted). Only the Treasure State First-Gen award stacks on Premier.
Premier requires maintaining RESIDENT status and Achievement requires maintaining NON-RESIDENT status; a change in residency classification can end the award.
Achievement Award offers are specific to the 2026-2027 freshman class and cannot be deferred to a different term.
They are different institutions with different scholarship programs; montana.edu is the land-grant MSU in Bozeman.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
A GPA-strong freshman — resident (Premier) or non-resident (Achievement) — who can carry 15 credits a semester; high-GPA Western-state students should chase the competitive WUE award, MSU's second-highest-value scholarship.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $29,086 for 2025-2026. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Montana State, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Montana State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$17,797
$30,001–$48,000
$18,570
$48,001–$75,000
$21,977
$75,001–$110,000
$24,732
$110,001+
$25,905
All income levels (average)
$22,499
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$8,460
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$33,287
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$22,499
That works out to roughly a 13% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $25,905 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Montana State 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
57%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
79%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$22,500 (~$239/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$53,263
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
17%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
37%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
Outside scholarships only trigger an aid adjustment if total aid would exceed the cost of attendance (or the student's aid eligibility cap); below that ceiling, awards are not displaced.
Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Please note that federal financial aid regulations require that the financial aid awards you receive cannot exceed the cost of attendance. It is possible, therefore, that outside scholarships could result in changes to your current award package. It is critical to report additional resources as soon as you become aware of them. Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: The resident Premier Scholarship cannot stack with the MUS Honors or Presidential Scholarship (the higher-value award is honored). WUE is not stackable with the Achievement Award (the greater-value award is granted). The Treasure State First-Gen award DOES stack on top of a Premier Scholarship. (per https://www.montana.edu/admissions/scholarships/residents/index.html)
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Montana State’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$2,857Covers ~10% of $29,086 cost of attendance
At Montana State, roughly 1 in 5 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $2,857 — about 10% of total cost.
As filed in Montana State's CDS Section H2A: of 3,612 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 734 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $2,857. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 2,132 of 12,884, averaging $2,466. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit20%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Average merit award$2,857Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025
WUE: January 8, 2026 (now closed for 2026-27). Cat Scholarships (departmental): February 1, 2026. The automatic Premier/Achievement awards have no separate application — apply for admission with a self-reported GPA; non-resident packages begin going out in October. FAFSA priority filing date is generally December 1.
Are test scores required?
No — MSU is test-optional for admission and scholarship consideration; a self-reported cumulative GPA is what drives the automatic awards. ACT/SAT may be submitted for math/writing placement only.
What is the cost of attendance?
2025-26 estimated COA: resident $29,086/year (tuition/fees $8,946; food/housing $14,580; books $1,450; misc $4,110) and non-resident $53,922/year (tuition/fees $33,782). These do not include health insurance.
See sources and other schools+
How Montana State compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Montana State 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.
Montana State 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 claim is checked against Montana State’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
