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Southern Oregon (SOU) scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$36,838per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Southern Oregon (SOU) is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 1 published award, and one is 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.

Step 1 of comparing your list

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Checking merit aid at Southern Oregon (SOU)

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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 Merit Scholarships grid (Raider Scholar, Laurels, Churchill, Siskiyou) — by residency$1,000-$12,000AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    First Year Merit Scholarships grid (Raider Scholar, Laurels, Churchill, Siskiyou) — by residency

    $1,000-$12,000

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

    GPA
    3.00+ (Oregon) up to 3.95+ for top tier; thresholds differ slightly by residency
    SAT
    Not required (test-optional)
    ACT
    Not required (test-optional)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for First Year Merit Scholarships grid (Raider Scholar, Laurels, Churchill, Siskiyou) — by residency

    Who qualifies

    Automatically considered if admitted by February 1 priority date; fall term starts only; not for resident-by-exception populations (American Samoa, North State Promise)

    How to keep it

    Renewable if recipient maintains full-time status AND good academic standing.

    Worth knowing

    GPA-only, automatic. Awards differ sharply by residency. Raider Scholar (3.95+): OR $5,000 / WUE $3,000 / Non-res $12,000. Laurels (3.75-3.949): OR $3,000 / WUE $2,000 / Non-res $10,000. Churchill: OR (3.5-3.749) $2,000 / WUE (3.25-3.749) $1,000 / Non-res (3.25-3.749) $8,000. Siskiyou (3.00-3.499): OR $1,000 / WUE n/a / Non-res n/a.

Lights up against Southern Oregon (SOU)'s published cutoffs. Not an award offer; confirm with the financial aid office.

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The fine print

Renewal ruleFirst Year Merit Scholarships grid (Raider Scholar, Laurels, Churchill, Siskiyou) — by residency: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Renewable if recipient maintains full-time status AND good academic standing. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Southern Oregon (SOU) different

SOU awards automatic, GPA-only (test-optional) merit scholarships on a published 2026-2027 grid that pays non-residents far more ($8,000–$12,000/yr) than Oregon residents ($1,000–$5,000/yr), on top of the ~$13,000 WUE tuition discount.

Merit tiers11 based on grades or scores
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Published academic criteria

Start with the thresholds.

These awards are recorded as automatic on academic criteria. Match the published grades and scores, then check residency, entering year and every additional condition.

  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 Southern Oregon (SOU)'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. Non-resident awards ($8,000–$12,000/yr) are roughly double the Oregon-resident awards ($1,000–$5,000/yr) at the same GPA — and 16 WUE states also receive the WUE tuition rate worth almost $13,000/yr.

  2. Automatic merit consideration requires applying by the February 1 priority date; later applicants are considered only if funding remains.

  3. Merit consideration is for fall term starts only and does not apply to resident-by-exception populations including American Samoa and the North State Promise program.

  4. These scholarships are renewable only if you maintain full-time status AND good academic standing.

  5. More than 80 additional scholarships are awarded only through the Southern Oregon Scholarship Application, which has an extended March 15 deadline and requires being admitted first.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

GPA-strong first-years applying by February 1 — out-of-state students benefit most (large non-resident awards plus, for the 16 WUE states, the WUE tuition rate). Test scores are not required.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $36,838 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Southern Oregon (SOU), academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$11,830
$30,001–$48,000$12,466
$48,001–$75,000$15,813
$75,001–$110,000$22,415
$110,001+$24,181
All income levels (average)$16,732

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$12,762
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$31,887
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$16,732

That works out to roughly a 39% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $27,636 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Southern Oregon (SOU) 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
43%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
68%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$20,332 (~$216/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$49,175
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
37%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
45%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships reduce loans and/or work-study first; institutional grants are only reduced if required to prevent an over-award.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Because the combination of these resources, your other financial aid typically cannot exceed the amount of your cost of attendance, otherwise your financial aid may be reduced (most often your loans but sometimes institutional funds if there is a large excess).

Source

Other Southern Oregon (SOU) scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityAll incoming and current SOU students (must be admitted to apply); general application for 80+ scholarships

Deadline extended – March 15th

Source

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityStudents who have declared a major; apply through the academic department

Several departments operate their own scholarship programs

Source

Southern Oregon (SOU) merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    Apply for fall admission by the February 1 priority date for automatic merit consideration. The Southern Oregon Scholarship Application (SOSA) deadline is extended to March 15.

  • Does SOU require test scores for merit scholarships?

    No. The 2026-2027 first-year merit grid is based on minimum GPA only.

  • How much are the awards for out-of-state students?

    Non-resident awards range from $8,000/yr (Churchill) to $12,000/yr (Raider Scholar, 3.95+ GPA). Oregon residents receive $1,000–$5,000/yr and WUE-state residents $1,000–$3,000/yr.

  • How do I keep my scholarship?

    Maintain full-time status and good academic standing.

  • What is the WUE rate?

    Residents of the 16 participating Western Undergraduate Exchange states automatically receive the WUE tuition rate upon admission — a savings of almost $13,000 per year — separate from the merit scholarship.

See sources and other schools

How Southern Oregon (SOU) compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    Southern Oregon (SOU) is in a recognizable cluster (145 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.

    Southern Oregon (SOU) 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 Southern Oregon (SOU)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

  • EOU merit aid. Oregon public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Oregon Tech merit aid. Oregon public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Portland State merit aid. Oregon public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
  • Oregon merit aid. Oregon public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.

Keep exploring Southern Oregon (SOU) merit aid

The next chapter

Where does Southern Oregon (SOU) fit in your plan?

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