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NDSU scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$21,915per year · 2025-2026 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

NDSU is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
3 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

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The award collection

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.

Where does your student land?

  1. First-Year Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA/test grid)$1,000-$3,000/year (maximum of four years)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    First-Year Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA/test grid)

    $1,000-$3,000/year (maximum of four years)

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.98-4.00 → $3,000/yr; 3.80-3.97 → $2,000/yr; 3.65-3.79 → $1,500/yr; 3.0-3.64 → $1,000/yr
    SAT
    Alternative top tier: 3.0+ GPA & 1370+ SAT → $3,000/yr
    ACT
    Alternative top tier: 3.0+ GPA & 30+ ACT → $3,000/yr
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for First-Year Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA/test grid)

    Who qualifies

    First-Year students admitted to NDSU who submit a final official high school transcript by July 1 are guaranteed the minimum scholarship amount.

    How to keep it

    Guaranteed minimum amount for a maximum of four years. If a student receives a renewable scholarship exceeding the guaranteed minimum, the higher award replaces (does not add to) the guaranteed minimum.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic, no separate application required for the guaranteed minimum (transcript by July 1 triggers it). Submitting the scholarship application by February 1 may qualify a student for additional one-time awards and higher-value renewable scholarships.

  2. Transfer Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA grid)$1,000-$2,000 (renewable for one additional year)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Transfer Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA grid)

    $1,000-$2,000 (renewable for one additional year)

    Published rangeAll published eligibility conditions still apply. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.5-4.0 → $2,000; 3.0-3.49 → $1,000
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Transfer Guaranteed Scholarship (automatic GPA grid)

    Who qualifies

    Transfer students with at least 12 transferable credits completed, admitted to NDSU by August 1 (fall) or December 1 (spring), working toward their first bachelor's degree. Students transferring after one semester or less may instead be considered for First-Year Guaranteed Scholarships.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for one additional year (two years total). If a student receives a renewable scholarship exceeding the guaranteed minimum, the higher award replaces (does not add to) the guaranteed minimum.

    Worth knowing

    Automatic for qualifying transfers; renewable for only one additional year (unlike the four-year first-year guarantee).

  3. National Merit Finalist Scholarship$20,000 over four years ($5,000/year for a maximum of 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    National Merit Finalist Scholarship

    $20,000 over four years ($5,000/year for a maximum of 4 years)

    Published award termsNot 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 National Merit Finalist Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Awarded to National Merit Semi-Finalists who reach Finalist status and notify the National Merit Scholarship Corporation of NDSU as their final choice. Must be admitted to NDSU by February 1.

    How to keep it

    $5,000/year for a maximum of 4 years.

    Worth knowing

    Requires designating NDSU as your National Merit final-choice school; not automatic from stats.

  4. Harry D. McGovern ScholarshipUp to full-time undergraduate base tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Harry D. McGovern Scholarship

    Up to full-time undergraduate base tuition

    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 Harry D. McGovern Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Awarded to high-achieving students with a declared STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math)-related field. Must be admitted and submit the online scholarship application by February 1.

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms not stated.

    Worth knowing

    Covers up to full-time BASE tuition only — not student fees, housing/food, or program differential tuition (engineering, pharmacy, etc., carry higher differential rates that base tuition would not cover). Not a full ride.

  5. Mildred Larson Business Presidential Scholarship$6,000 ($1,500/year for a maximum of 4 years)Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Mildred Larson Business Presidential Scholarship

    $6,000 ($1,500/year for a maximum of 4 years)

    Published award termsNot 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 Mildred Larson Business Presidential Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Awarded to high academic achieving entering freshmen with a declared major in the College of Business. Must be admitted and submit the online scholarship application by February 1.

    How to keep it

    $1,500/year for a maximum of 4 years.

    Worth knowing

    Major-restricted (College of Business); requires the online scholarship application.

Lights up against NDSU'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.

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The fine print

Outside awardsGrant-first displacement = outside wins can pay the school

NDSU reduces institutional grant before any other aid line when an outside award arrives. A $5,000 community-foundation win can leave the family bill unchanged.

What makes NDSU different

NDSU guarantees an automatic GPA-based first-year scholarship grid ($1,000-$3,000/year, no application) with a transcript-by-July-1 trigger, then layers on competitive named awards including a $20,000 National Merit Finalist scholarship and up-to-full-base-tuition STEM award. DRAFT.

Merit tiers52 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 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.

  1. Match the published criteria

    Use all requirements together, including residency and the entering class.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. 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.

Take NDSU's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. NDSU states that if you receive a renewable scholarship exceeding the guaranteed minimum, the higher award replaces the lower one (it is not added to it) — you get the larger amount, not both.

  2. The first-year Guaranteed Scholarship is only locked in if you submit a final official high school transcript by July 1.

  3. Submitting the scholarship application by February 1 is what makes you eligible for higher-value renewable scholarships and one-time awards; the named awards (National Merit, McGovern, Mildred Larson) also require admission/application by February 1.

  4. It covers up to full-time base tuition only — not student fees, housing/food, or the higher program differential tuition charged for fields like engineering, business, nursing, and pharmacy.

  5. The Transfer Guaranteed Scholarship is renewable for only one additional year (two years total), unlike the four-year first-year guarantee.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

First-year students with a 3.0+ GPA (auto-guaranteed by grid), high-stat applicants chasing higher-value named awards by the Feb 1 deadline, and STEM/Business majors targeting field-specific scholarships. DRAFT.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $21,915 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at NDSU, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at NDSU, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$9,370
$30,001–$48,000$11,343
$48,001–$75,000$11,923
$75,001–$110,000$16,082
$110,001+$18,856
All income levels (average)$15,543

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$11,110
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$15,764
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$15,543

That works out to roughly a 34% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $23,716 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

NDSU 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
64%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
78%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$23,199 (~$246/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$62,203
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
22%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
58%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

This school's guaranteed tuition award is last-dollar: outside scholarships and other gift aid are applied first, and the institutional award covers only the remaining balance of base tuition and fees - so outside awards reduce it dollar-for-dollar once gift aid approaches that threshold.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): This is a "last dollar" scholarship, meaning it is only applied after all other gift aid is applied (e.g., grants, scholarships, waivers from federal, state, institutional or external sources). ... Can I be eligible for the Tuition Award Program, but not receive a scholarship? Yes, this can happen if you meet the eligibility requirements but are receiving enough gift aid from other sources to cover the costs of base tuition and mandatory student fees.

Source

Other NDSU scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityNDSU land-grant access/affordability award; details on a dedicated page (not opened for this extract).

Access/affordability program.

Source

Amount$2,000/yearEligibilityNDSU students who receive the North Dakota Native American Scholarship may be eligible for a $2,000/year scholarship match.

Match tied to receipt of the state ND Native American Scholarship.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityAwarded on varied criteria (academic merit, major, etc.); 2026-27 application open via the NDSU Scholarship Portal.

Apply via ndsu.academicworks.com.

Source

NDSU merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    Submit a final official high school transcript by July 1 to lock in the first-year Guaranteed Scholarship. Submit the NDSU scholarship application by February 1 to be considered for higher-value renewable scholarships and one-time awards; named awards (National Merit Finalist, Harry D. McGovern, Mildred Larson Business Presidential) require admission/application by February 1. Transfers must be admitted by August 1 (fall) or December 1 (spring).

  • Do I have to apply for the Guaranteed Scholarship?

    No separate application is needed for the guaranteed minimum — it is automatic based on GPA/test scores once your final transcript is received by July 1. Higher-value and named scholarships require the online scholarship application by February 1.

  • How much is the guaranteed first-year scholarship?

    $3,000/year for a 3.98-4.00 GPA (or 3.0+ GPA with 30+ ACT / 1370+ SAT), $2,000/year for 3.80-3.97, $1,500/year for 3.65-3.79, and $1,000/year for 3.0-3.64 — each for a maximum of four years.

  • How much does NDSU cost?

    For 2025-26, the estimated full-time cost (13+ credits, tuition + fees + housing + meal plan) is $21,915 for North Dakota residents, $23,099 for Minnesota residents, $23,889 for MN/SD/IL/WI/Manitoba/Saskatchewan residents, and $26,849 for other-state residents (plus indirect costs: ~$850 books, ~$3,476 personal, ~$185 parking).

See sources and other schools

How NDSU compares

  • 19 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use grant-first displacement.

    NDSU is in the small minority (19 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • Grant-first displacement is the rarest published policy in our dataset.

    It also produces the worst family-dollar outcome on outside scholarships. NDSU sits in this small minority, so treat outside-award strategy here as conservatively as you would at a school with no published policy at all.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    NDSU 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 NDSU’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • North Dakota merit aid. North Dakota public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Minot State merit aid. North Dakota public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Central Arkansas merit aid. Arkansas public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • UCM merit aid. Missouri public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring NDSU merit aid

The next chapter

Where does NDSU fit in your plan?

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