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Northeastern State scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$25,542per year · 2025-2026 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Northeastern State is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 7 published awards, and one is based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
4 school sources to explore

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

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. Automatic Tuition Waiver Scholarships (Collegiate Scholars / Valedictorian Scholars / Green & White Scholars)$1,400-$2,200 per yearAutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Automatic Tuition Waiver Scholarships (Collegiate Scholars / Valedictorian Scholars / Green & White Scholars)

    $1,400-$2,200 per year

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

    GPA
    3.25 (Collegiate, Green & White); 4.0 + class rank 1 (Valedictorian)
    SAT
    1230-1250 (Collegiate); 1030-1220 (Green & White)
    ACT
    26 (Collegiate); 20-25 (Green & White)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Automatic Tuition Waiver Scholarships (Collegiate Scholars / Valedictorian Scholars / Green & White Scholars)

    Who qualifies

    Must be an Oklahoma resident; must be admitted for Summer/Fall 2026 by February 1, 2026 (admitted by December 1, 2025 for an early offer); students admitted after February 1 awarded only if funds available; ACT Superscores accepted; only one waiver per student; must meet BOTH requirements for the chosen scholarship

    How to keep it

    Stated duration is 4 years; specific renewal GPA/credit conditions are not published on the page.

    Worth knowing

    Page calls these 'Automatic Scholarships' — awarded without separate application if admitted by the deadline and qualified. Tuition waivers, in-state students only.

  2. Honors Scholarships (Baccalaureate Scholars / Oklahoma Rising Scholars / Northeastern Honors Scholars)$12,469-$14,969 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Honors Scholarships (Baccalaureate Scholars / Oklahoma Rising Scholars / Northeastern Honors Scholars)

    $12,469-$14,969 per year

    Published rangeNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.8 (Oklahoma Rising Scholars 28-ACT path)
    SAT
    1360-1380 (Baccalaureate, Oklahoma Rising alternate); 1300-1320 (Oklahoma Rising primary, Northeastern Honors)
    ACT
    30 (Baccalaureate); 28 with 3.8 GPA or 30 (Oklahoma Rising); 28 (Northeastern Honors)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Honors Scholarships (Baccalaureate Scholars / Oklahoma Rising Scholars / Northeastern Honors Scholars)

    Who qualifies

    One Honors Scholarship Application covers all three; application deadline February 1 and student must be admitted by the deadline; incoming freshmen only; Baccalaureate and Oklahoma Rising (Academic) Scholars are Oklahoma residents only; only one of the three may be received; ACT Superscores accepted; Honors Program admission requires ACT composite 28+

    How to keep it

    Stated duration is 4 years; specific renewal conditions are not published on the page.

    Worth knowing

    Each award packages a tuition waiver (up to 18 hours/semester), a $1,500/semester housing waiver (on-campus housing only), and a per-semester cash stipend ($1,750 Baccalaureate / $1,600 Oklahoma Rising / $500 Northeastern Honors). For non-Oklahoma Northeastern Honors Scholars, the waiver covers only the out-of-state portion — the student still pays in-state tuition. The 2026-2027 application is now CLOSED; the next cycle (Fall 2027) opens September 2026; late applicants may email scholarships@nsuk.edu for consideration after on-time applicants.

  3. President's Leadership Class$12,569 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    President's Leadership Class

    $12,569 per year

    Published amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.5
    SAT
    1100-1120
    ACT
    22
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for President's Leadership Class

    Who qualifies

    Separate PLC application (deadline February 1; must be admitted by the deadline); incoming freshmen only; recipients must live on campus for their first two years; leadership record emphasized

    How to keep it

    Stated duration is 4 years; specific renewal conditions are not published on the page.

    Worth knowing

    Provides a tuition waiver covering up to 18 hours per semester, a $1,200/semester housing waiver (on-campus only), and an $850/semester cash stipend. For non-Oklahoma students the waiver covers out-of-state tuition only — they remain responsible for in-state tuition (limited private funding may cover it in rare cases). The 2026-2027 application is CLOSED; next cycle opens September 2026.

  4. Breakthrough ScholarsUp to $6,000 per yearNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Breakthrough Scholars

    Up to $6,000 per year

    Variable or qualified amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    GPA
    3.0 cumulative
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Breakthrough Scholars

    Who qualifies

    Full-time (12 hours/semester); admitted to NSU by April 5th; incoming freshman for Fall 2026; graduated from a high school in Cherokee, Muskogee, Tulsa, or Wagoner counties (or Stilwell/Berryhill Direct Admission schools); 2026-2027 FAFSA on file with NSU (003161); brief statement required; preference to first-generation, low-income students; 5 hours/week of NSU office work required

    How to keep it

    Annual amounts up to $3,000 per fall and spring semester; ongoing conditions beyond the listed criteria are not published on the page.

    Worth knowing

    LAST-DOLLAR AWARD: 'The scholarship amount for each student shall not exceed the balance in their Bursar's account for tuition, fees, housing, meal plans, and books, and will be determined after all other aid has been applied.' Application for 2026-2027 has closed; Fall 2027 application opens September 1st.

  5. Quad-State Scholarships (Out-of-State)100% of the non-resident portion of tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Quad-State Scholarships (Out-of-State)

    100% of the non-resident portion of tuition

    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 Quad-State Scholarships (Out-of-State)

    Who qualifies

    Resident of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, or Texas; meet regular admission requirements; new out-of-state freshmen enter consideration via the General Scholarship Application (deadline August 1 for out-of-state scholarships)

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms not stated on the overview page opened.

    Worth knowing

    Waives the out-of-state premium only — the student still pays in-state tuition rates.

  6. Tribal Heritage Scholarship (Out-of-State)100% of the non-resident portion of tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Tribal Heritage Scholarship (Out-of-State)

    100% of the non-resident portion of tuition

    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 Tribal Heritage Scholarship (Out-of-State)

    Who qualifies

    Resident of a state other than Oklahoma; meet regular admission requirements; member of a federally recognized tribe

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms not stated on the overview page opened.

    Worth knowing

    Waives the out-of-state premium only.

  7. Non-Resident Scholarships (Out-of-State)50% of the non-resident portion of tuitionNot automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Non-Resident Scholarships (Out-of-State)

    50% of the non-resident portion of tuition

    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 Non-Resident Scholarships (Out-of-State)

    Who qualifies

    Resident of a state other than Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, or Missouri; meet regular admission requirements

    How to keep it

    Renewal terms not stated on the overview page opened.

    Worth knowing

    Halves the out-of-state premium only.

Lights up against Northeastern State's published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office.

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The fine print

Outside awardsNo published displacement order

Northeastern State'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.

What makes Northeastern State different

NSU pairs truly automatic four-year tuition waivers for in-state freshmen ($1,400-$2,200/yr) with large application-based Honors and President's Leadership Class packages worth $12,469-$14,969 per year that bundle a tuition waiver, a housing waiver, and a cash stipend.

Merit tiers71 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 Northeastern State's decision sheet

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

See what could change an award

Straight from the aid office

What Northeastern State's aid office says

Per the Student Financial Services, Northeastern State University, August 2026. How we verify

Order of reduction for outside scholarships

When a student reports an outside/private scholarship that puts them over cost of attendance, what does NSU reduce first?

If a private scholarship puts a student at their cost of attendance, the first resource NSU tries to reduce is loan offers.

“The first resource we try to reduce, if a student's private scholarship puts them at their cost of attendance, is loan offers.”

What families often miss

  1. The automatic waivers go to in-state students 'admitted for Summer or Fall 2026 by February 1, 2026' — and students admitted after that date 'will only be awarded if funds are available.' For Honors and PLC, 'Students must be admitted by the scholarship deadline.'

  2. The page states students 'can be awarded only one of the above tuition waivers' (automatic awards) and, for the Honors trio, 'Students can receive only one of the scholarships listed above.'

  3. 'Must be an Oklahoma Resident to receive these waivers. Out-of-state students are only eligible for our foundation scholarships' — plus the separate out-of-state waivers, which cancel only the non-resident PREMIUM; non-Oklahoma Honors/PLC recipients 'will still be responsible for in-state tuition.'

  4. Both applications for 2026-2027 are already closed (deadline was February 1) and open the previous September — a family browsing in late spring has missed the on-time cycle; late Honors applicants are considered only after everyone else and may not hear back until June or July.

  5. It is last-dollar: the amount 'shall not exceed the balance in their Bursar's account for tuition, fees, housing, meal plans, and books, and will be determined after all other aid has been applied' — other grants and waivers shrink it, and it also requires a FAFSA on file and 5 hours/week of office work.

  6. The $1,500 (Honors) and $1,200 (PLC) per-semester housing waivers are 'for on-campus housing only,' and PLC recipients 'must live on campus for their first two years.'

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Oklahoma residents with a 3.25+ GPA and ACT 20+ get automatic four-year waivers just by being admitted by February 1; high scorers (ACT 28-30+) who apply early to the Honors or PLC programs can win packages near $15,000/yr. Out-of-state students from AR/KS/MO/TX or tribal members can erase 100% of the non-resident tuition premium.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $25,542 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Northeastern State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$10,598
$30,001–$48,000$9,827
$48,001–$75,000$12,612
$75,001–$110,000$18,188
$110,001+$19,511
All income levels (average)$12,710

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$7,810
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$17,290
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$12,710

That works out to roughly a 41% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $21,551 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Northeastern 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
35%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
61%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$17,367 (~$184/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$45,379
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
55%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
41%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

The school does not publish a specific outside-scholarship displacement policy; confirm treatment with the aid office before counting on stacking.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Any outside aid/resources that a student may receive, such as scholarships, tuition waivers, etc., may affect the amount of aid they received through the Federal Student Aid Programs. It's very important that students inform the Office of Student Financial Services of any outside aid/resources that they may be receiving to help pay for their educational costs. Separately, the school's own award-stacking rules: Within each award family, NSU is one-award-only: a student can hold only one automatic tuition waiver, and only one of the three Honors scholarships. Freshman page: 'Students can be awarded only one of the above tuition waivers' (automatic waivers) and 'Students can receive only one of the scholarships listed above' (Honors). (per https://scholarships.nsuok.edu/Freshmen/default.aspx)

Source

Other Northeastern State scholarships worth checking

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

AmountVaries (amounts not published on the page opened)EligibilityIn-state and out-of-state students; one General Scholarship Application (in the admissions portal forms section) covers 98% of foundation scholarships; deadline March 1

Out-of-state students are 'only eligible for our foundation scholarships' among the freshman-page awards, plus the out-of-state waivers.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityListed in the freshman scholarship navigation; details on a separate page (not opened)

Family-legacy award; confirm criteria with the Scholarship Office.

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilitySee the Center for Tribal Studies scholarships page

Separate from the Tribal Heritage out-of-state waiver.

Source

Northeastern State merit aid FAQ

  • What is the deadline for NSU's automatic freshman tuition waivers?

    In-state students must be admitted for Summer or Fall 2026 by February 1, 2026. Students admitted by December 1, 2025 receive an early offer by the end of December; students admitted after February 1 are awarded only if funds remain.

  • What is the Honors and President's Leadership Class deadline?

    February 1, and the student must be admitted by that deadline. Both 2026-2027 applications are now closed; the Fall 2027 applications open in September 2026.

  • What is the deadline for foundation and out-of-state scholarships?

    The General Scholarship Application is due March 1 for foundation scholarships and August 1 for out-of-state scholarships (including out-of-state tuition waivers).

  • Do I need a separate application for the automatic waivers?

    No — qualified in-state students admitted by February 1, 2026 'will automatically be awarded one of our four-year academic waivers.' Honors, PLC, Breakthrough, foundation, and out-of-state awards each require an application.

  • Are ACT superscores accepted?

    Yes — 'Official ACT Superscores provided by ACT will be accepted for scholarship consideration' (stated for the automatic waivers, the Honors scholarships, and PLC).

  • Does the out-of-state waiver make NSU free for Texas students?

    No. The Quad-State waiver covers '100% of the non-resident portion' of tuition — the student still pays in-state tuition, fees, housing, and food.

See sources and other schools

How Northeastern State compares

  • 133 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.

    Northeastern State is in a recognizable cluster (133 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 133 of 749 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.

    Northeastern State is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.

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

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

Compare with similar schools

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