What do the top merit awards cover?

Joseph S. Clark Presidential covers tuition, fees, room & board (3.8 GPA/30 ACT/1400 SAT). Jesse N. Stone covers tuition & fees (3.6/28/1320). Both are competitive and limited in quantity, renewable four years at 15 credits/semester with 3.5 and 3.3 cumulative GPAs respectively.

How do out-of-state students cut costs?

The Jaguar Out-of-State Fee Waiver (effective Fall 2024) waives all out-of-state fees for admitted freshmen with a 2.75 final HS GPA OR 24 ACT OR 1160-1190 SAT who file a FAFSA — renewable up to 8 semesters at 12 credit hours and a 2.75 semester GPA. Children of SUBR graduates who miss those marks can apply for the Legacy Award for a 100% out-of-state fee reduction.

What does Southern cost?

The financial-aid COA page posts only a 2024-2025 Cost of Attendance document (as images/PDF); no 2026-27 COA was published at extraction time. Use the Net Price Calculator or contact Financial Aid (225-771-2790).

Southern University and A&M College · Louisiana

Southern University (Baton Rouge) scholarships and merit aid

DRAFT: Southern's two flagship competitive merit awards — Joseph S. Clark Presidential (tuition, fees, room & board at 3.8/30 ACT/1400 SAT) and Jesse N. Stone (tuition & fees at 3.6/28/1320) — are limited-quantity, carry steep 15-credit/semester renewal loads, and pair with a generous automatic out-of-state fee waiver at just 2.75 GPA or 24 ACT.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is Southern University (Baton Rouge) worth a closer look?

Southern University (Baton Rouge) may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Merit tiers4See who qualifies

Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

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Checking merit aid at Southern University (Baton Rouge)

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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.

Tuition, Fees, Room & Board

Joseph S. Clark Presidential Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue

GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1400
ACT: 30

See who qualifies and how to keep it

Who qualifies

Competitive scholarships (limited quantity); apply via the Southern University System Foundation (foundation.sus.edu/true-blue/)

How to keep it

Renewed annually for four years of undergraduate study (eight semesters, excluding summer semesters). To be eligible for renewal, recipients must be enrolled in and complete a minimum of 15 Southern University credits per semester and maintain a 3.5 Southern University cumulative GPA.

Notes

Flyer hosted on the Undergraduate Admissions site; no aid-year label on the flyer.

Source

Tuition & Fees

Jesse N. Stone Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue

GPA: 3.6
SAT: 1320
ACT: 28

See who qualifies and how to keep it

Who qualifies

Competitive scholarships (limited quantity); apply via the Southern University System Foundation

How to keep it

Renewed annually for four years (eight semesters, excluding summers). Renewal requires completing a minimum of 15 Southern University credits per semester and maintaining a 3.3 Southern University cumulative GPA.

Source

Full out-of-state fee waiver…Full out-of-state fee waiver (dollar value not published)

Jaguar Out-of-State Fee Waiver

Apply separatelyCan continue

GPA: 2.75 cumulative final high school GPA (OR test-score route)
SAT: 1160-1190 (alternative to GPA)
ACT: 24 (alternative to GPA)

See who qualifies and how to keep it

Who qualifies

Effective Fall 2024 criteria: satisfy admissions requirements; complete and submit a FAFSA; not have received the waiver more than 8 times. Transfers: 2.75 cumulative transfer GPA + FAFSA. Page states the waiver 'will be granted to all qualified incoming freshman... or new Transfer student' who meets criteria.

How to keep it

First-time students must maintain a minimum of 12 full-time credit hours each semester and a 2.75 SEMESTER (institutional, not cumulative) GPA, evaluated at end of each semester; can be retained for up to eight (8) semesters total; does not cover Summer sessions.

Notes

Older criteria (2021-Spring 2024) required 15 hours/semester and a 2.50 cumulative GPA — superseded for Fall 2024+ entrants.

Source

Out-of-state fees reduced by 100%…Out-of-state fees reduced by 100% (dollar value not published)

Presidents Legacy Award (Out-of-State Fee Waiver Supplement)

Apply separatelyCan continue

GPA: 2.7 (flyer)
SAT: 25 Writing & Language / 500 Math / 1020 Composite (flyer); scores must be met on the same test
ACT: 18 English / 19 Math / 20 Composite (flyer)

See who qualifies and how to keep it

Who qualifies

Biological parent must be a graduate of Southern University and A&M College; for freshmen/transfers who do NOT meet the standard Out-of-State Fee Waiver requirements; submit documentation via bit.ly/subrlegacy

How to keep it

Per the Out-of-State Fee Waiver page: renewed annually for four years (8 semesters, excluding summers); requires FAFSA (school code 002025), 15 completed credit hours per semester, 2.75 semester AND 2.75 cumulative GPA, and good academic/conduct standing. NOTE: the admissions flyer instead states renewal requires 12 hours full-time and a 2.5 cumulative GPA — the two sources disagree (see Section C).

Notes

Legacy-only pathway to in-state-equivalent pricing.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Southern University (Baton Rouge)'s published information.

Renewal ruleJoseph S. Clark Presidential Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewed annually for four years of undergraduate study (eight semesters, excluding summer semesters). To be eligible for renewal, recipients must be enrolled in and complete a minimum of 15 Southern University credits per semester and maintain a 3.5 Southern University cumulative GPA. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What families often miss

Treating Clark Presidential / Jesse N. Stone as automatic stat-based awards.
The flyer calls both 'competitive scholarships (limited quantity)' — meeting 3.8/30/1400 or 3.6/28/1320 does not guarantee an award, and the application runs through the Southern University System Foundation.
Planning for a 12-hour course load on the flagship merit awards.
Clark Presidential and Stone renewal both require ENROLLING IN AND COMPLETING at least 15 Southern University credits per semester (plus 3.5 / 3.3 cumulative GPAs respectively) — heavier than the 12-hour full-time minimum.
Out-of-state students skipping the FAFSA.
The Jaguar Out-of-State Fee Waiver explicitly requires completing and submitting a FAFSA, in addition to the 2.75 GPA / 24 ACT / 1160-1190 SAT eligibility.
Letting one semester dip below 2.75 on the fee waiver.
Waiver retention is evaluated EVERY semester on the SEMESTER (institutional) GPA — 'Maintain a 2.75 each semester (Institutional not Cumulative)' — not on the cumulative average.
Expecting the fee waiver in summer or beyond year four.
'Fee waiver does not cover Summer session and can be retained for up to eight (8) semesters total.'
Mixing scores across test dates for the Legacy Award.
The flyer states 'Scores have to be met on the same test' — superscoring across administrations does not qualify.
Trusting a single source for Legacy renewal terms.
The flyer says renewal needs 12 hours and a 2.5 cumulative GPA; the admissions waiver page says 15 hours and 2.75 semester+cumulative GPAs. Get the current terms in writing.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

DRAFT: Top students (3.8/30+) chasing the limited Clark Presidential full package; out-of-state students benefit most — a 2.75 GPA OR 24 ACT triggers a full out-of-state fee waiver, and children of SUBR graduates can get out-of-state fees cut 100% via the Legacy Award even below those stats.

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Southern University (Baton Rouge), academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income	Average net price paid
$0–$30,000	$19,047
$30,001–$48,000	$19,395
$48,001–$75,000	$22,288
$75,001–$110,000	$25,292
$110,001+	$26,069
All income levels (average)	$20,077

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Total cost of attendance (sticker), AY 2021-22: $26,341
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23: $9,922
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23: $17,272
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22: $20,077

That works out to an average 24% discount off the sticker price above — both figures come from the same federal AY 2021-22 Scorecard report, not a number the school itself published.

Southern University (Baton Rouge) is a public school; Scorecard's net price and cost of attendance figures cover 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: 27%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort: 60%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers: $29,251 (~$310/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21): $43,371
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22: 83%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22: 86%

How to read these numbers

Net price and cost of attendance reflect only first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV financial aid — not Southern University (Baton Rouge)'s full student body.
Published tuition is the catalog sticker price for all students, not a Title IV-only figure.
Graduation rate reflects the entire first-time, full-time, degree-seeking cohort — not only students who received Title IV aid.
Retention rate reflects all first-time, full-time, bachelor's-seeking students — not only Title IV aid recipients.
Median debt reflects only completers who took out federal student loans — not Southern University (Baton Rouge)'s full graduating class, and not limited to first-time, full-time students.
Median earnings reflect Title IV aid recipients who entered college and were working (not enrolled) roughly a decade later — not necessarily the graduating cohort, and not a recent graduate's paycheck.
Pell grant and federal loan participation covers first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students only.
Net price blends need-based aid and merit aid together — it is not a merit-specific estimate. It shows what similar-income families actually paid on average after every kind of aid, not what a strong-stats student could win in merit dollars alone. Treat it as cost context, not a merit forecast — a MeritPlaybook models merit aid specifically for your student’s own stats, which this net-price figure cannot do.

None of this is current-year data — the U.S. Department of Education reports it on a delay, and different figures below come from different reporting years. Net price and cost of attendance are academic year 2021-22 figures. Published tuition reflects the 2022-23 academic year. Graduation rate reflects the Fall 2016 entering, full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking cohort; completion measured within 150% of normal time (~6 years for a bachelor's degree). IPEDS Graduation Rates component (C150_4). Retention reflects the Fall 2021 full-time, first-time, bachelor's-seeking cohort retained into the following fall. IPEDS Fall Enrollment component (RET_FT4). Median debt reflects the NSLDS FY2020 and FY2021 pooled completer cohorts (GRAD_DEBT_MDN, GRAD_DEBT_MDN10YR_SUPP). Median earnings reflect the Treasury-matched cohort entering college in AY2009-10 or AY2010-11, earnings measured 10 years later in calendar years 2020 and 2021, inflation-adjusted to 2022 dollars (MD_EARN_WNE_P10).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

See other scholarships and cost examples

Other Southern University (Baton Rouge) scholarships worth checking

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

College of Sciences and Engineering Scholarships

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityProspective scholars apply via a Google-form application with supporting documentation; submission procedures, requirements and deadlines set by the College

Departmental scholarships are applied for through the prospective college per the admissions flyer.

Source

Scholarship Universe / Scholarship Bank (clearinghouse)

AmountAmount not published (varies)EligibilityVaries; the Office of Student Financial Aid serves as a clearinghouse for departmental and third-party outside scholarships

Students directed to subr.scholarshipuniverse.com, the Financial Aid 'Scholarship Bank' newsletter PDF, and a linktr.ee of opportunities.

Source

Southern University (Baton Rouge) merit aid FAQ

What is the scholarship deadline?
No deadline is published on the pages opened. Clark Presidential and Jesse N. Stone applications run through the Southern University System Foundation (foundation.sus.edu/true-blue/); departmental scholarships have deadlines set by each college. Ask the Scholarship Coordinator (225-771-3000).
What do the top merit awards cover?
Joseph S. Clark Presidential covers tuition, fees, room & board (3.8 GPA/30 ACT/1400 SAT). Jesse N. Stone covers tuition & fees (3.6/28/1320). Both are competitive and limited in quantity, renewable four years at 15 credits/semester with 3.5 and 3.3 cumulative GPAs respectively.
How do out-of-state students cut costs?
The Jaguar Out-of-State Fee Waiver (effective Fall 2024) waives all out-of-state fees for admitted freshmen with a 2.75 final HS GPA OR 24 ACT OR 1160-1190 SAT who file a FAFSA — renewable up to 8 semesters at 12 credit hours and a 2.75 semester GPA. Children of SUBR graduates who miss those marks can apply for the Legacy Award for a 100% out-of-state fee reduction.
What does Southern cost?
The financial-aid COA page posts only a 2024-2025 Cost of Attendance document (as images/PDF); no 2026-27 COA was published at extraction time. Use the Net Price Calculator or contact Financial Aid (225-771-2790).

See sources and other schools

How Southern University (Baton Rouge) compares

665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Southern University (Baton Rouge) 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 University (Baton Rouge)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Merit tiersJoseph S. Clark Presidential Scholarship
Merit tiersJaguar Out-of-State Fee Waiver
Scholarship pageCollege of Sciences and Engineering Scholarships
Scholarship pageScholarship Universe / Scholarship Bank (clearinghouse)

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Keep exploring Southern University (Baton Rouge) merit aid

Southern University (Baton Rouge) four-year renewal rules. GPA floors, credit-hour pace, and the renewal cliffs that knock awards out by sophomore year.