Required only for Trustee (33+) and Regents (28-32); other tiers need no test
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Academic Achievement Scholarships (GPA ladder)
Who qualifies
Awarded automatically when admitted; minimum 2.75 GPA. (Page reflects the Fall 2025 entry cycle.)
How to keep it
Renewable for a maximum of four consecutive years (eight consecutive semesters) with full-time enrollment; awards requiring specific grades or Honors College participation are reviewed at the end of each academic year.
Worth knowing
Automatic GPA ladder awarded at admission. Trustee and Regents additionally require test scores; the same 3.80-4.00 GPA without a test score yields Provost ($5,000).
Presidential FellowshipFull tuition, on-campus housing (double-occupancy rate), and a meal planNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Presidential Fellowship
Full tuition, on-campus housing (double-occupancy rate), and a meal plan
Published coverage or packageNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Presidential Fellowship
Who qualifies
Awarded to high-achieving students; competitive. Requires the Murray State General Scholarship Application submitted by December 1 (Fall 2025 cycle). FAFSA required.
How to keep it
Eligible for renewal (four-year awards = eight consecutive semesters with full-time enrollment and meeting conditions).
Worth knowing
Covers tuition + double-occupancy housing + meal plan — not the full cost of attendance (excludes indirect costs). Earlier deadline (Dec 1) than other scholarships.
Marvin D. Mills ScholarshipTuition up to the in-state rate, housing and diningNot automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Marvin D. Mills Scholarship
Tuition up to the in-state rate, housing and dining
Variable or qualified amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Marvin D. Mills Scholarship
Who qualifies
Competitive leadership scholarship. Requires the General Scholarship Application.
How to keep it
Eligible for renewal (see Student Financial Services for guidelines).
Worth knowing
Covers tuition only up to the in-state rate (so out-of-state recipients still owe the non-resident premium), plus housing and dining.
Blue & Gold Leadership Awards$2,000-$6,000Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Blue & Gold Leadership Awards
$2,000-$6,000
Published rangeNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Blue & Gold Leadership Awards
Who qualifies
Competitive leadership scholarships at two levels (Gold and Blue). Requires the General Scholarship Application.
How to keep it
Both Gold and Blue leadership scholarships are eligible for renewal.
Worth knowing
Leadership-based; two award levels.
Lights up against Murray State's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office. Award terms and residency rules change; some awards differ for in-state and out-of-state students. Always confirm at the school’s source page.
Free Merit Check
Check the rules that could cut this.
The free Merit Check shows which Murray State award your student's numbers reach, and the rules that could change it. About 30 seconds.
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“it told me what to ask and what the renewal GPA looked like, which I was not going to find on my own”Melissa
The fine print
Renewal ruleAcademic Achievement Scholarships (GPA ladder): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for a maximum of four consecutive years (eight consecutive semesters) with full-time enrollment; awards requiring specific grades or Honors College participation are reviewed at the end of each academic year. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $27,008 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at Murray State cannot push the package past $27,008. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
What makes Murray State different
Murray State awards an automatic GPA-based Academic Achievement ladder ($1,000-$10,000/year) at admission, tops it with the full-tuition-plus-housing Presidential Fellowship, and caps every award at the cost of attendance — winning an outside scholarship can trigger a reduction of your Murray State award.
Merit tiers41 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards25%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJun 2026By our research team
More than one award path
Separate the two paths.
Some awards use published academic thresholds. Others have different selection criteria. A score chart does not describe every award at this school.
Match the published criteria
Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.
Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
Know what happens next year
Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.
The fine print / Three questions to carry forward
Before you count on it.
Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.
Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.
Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award+
What families often miss
The only published freshman scholarship page is the Fall 2025 cycle (General Scholarship Application deadline Feb 3, 2025; Presidential Fellowship Dec 1, 2024). Confirm 2026-27 amounts and deadlines with Student Financial Services.
All undergraduates receiving Murray State scholarships/waivers/discounts must submit the FAFSA every year they're awarded.
Trustee ($10,000) and Regents ($8,000) require test scores (33+ / 28-32 ACT); a 3.80-4.00 GPA without a test score tops out at Provost ($5,000).
Outside awards are counted in your total package and must be reported; Murray State may reduce your institutional award so the total (with tuition adjustments and outside scholarships) doesn't exceed your cost of attendance.
The Presidential Fellowship covers tuition + double-occupancy housing + a meal plan (not full COA), and the Marvin D. Mills award covers tuition only up to the in-state rate (out-of-state recipients still owe the non-resident difference) plus housing and dining.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
Students with at least a 2.75 GPA get an automatic annual award; high-stat students (3.80-4.00 GPA with a 28+ ACT) climb to $8,000-$10,000 and can compete for the full-tuition Presidential Fellowship.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $27,008 for 2025-2026. Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Murray State, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Murray State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$6,242
$30,001–$48,000
$6,347
$48,001–$75,000
$8,104
$75,001–$110,000
$12,811
$110,001+
$15,450
All income levels (average)
$9,096
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$9,900
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$19,836
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$9,096
That works out to roughly a 61% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $23,485 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Murray 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
61%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
76%
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)
$44,737
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
43%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
43%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
FAFSA is required every year. University general-fund awards are capped at billed direct costs (tuition + required fees + semi-private room + basic meal plan). Total Murray State scholarship aid combined with tuition adjustments AND outside scholarships may not exceed the cost of attendance; external awards must be reported and Murray State may reduce institutional awards to stay within COA/need.
The policies page caps general-fund awards at billed tuition/fees, a semi-private room, and a basic meal plan; states the total MSU award plus tuition adjustments or outside scholarships 'may not exceed a student's cost of attendance'; and reserves the right to adjust awards to utilize external resources. Outside scholarships are counted in the total package and must be reported to the Bursar.
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Murray State’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
25%of admitsget merit
Average award$12,890Covers ~48% of $27,008 cost of attendance
At Murray State, roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $12,890 — about 48% of total cost.
As filed in Murray State's CDS Section H2A: of 1,552 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 385 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $12,890. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 1,368 of 6,139, averaging $11,200. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit25%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025
Average merit award$12,890Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025
AmountAmount not published hereEligibilityParticipants in Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts/Entrepreneurs, Governor's Scholars Program, or Commonwealth Honors Academy
Renewable; for Kentucky Governor's-program alumni.
After admission, complete the Murray State General Scholarship Application and the FAFSA. For the Fall 2025 cycle the General Scholarship Application deadline was February 3, 2025 (Presidential Fellowship December 1, 2024).
Are the Academic Achievement Scholarships automatic?
Yes — they're awarded when you're admitted, based on GPA (Trustee and Regents also require ACT/SAT), with a minimum 2.75 GPA, and are renewable for up to four years.
Can I keep my full award if I win an outside scholarship?
Not necessarily — outside awards must be reported and are counted in your total package; Murray State may reduce your institutional award so the combined total stays within your cost of attendance.
See sources and other schools+
How Murray State compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Murray 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.
Murray 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 Murray State’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
