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TAMU-Corpus Christi scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$29,486per year · 2026-2027 · cost of attendance
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

TAMU-Corpus Christi is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 2 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.

Step 1 of comparing your list

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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. 2026-2027 Institutional Scholarships (Presidential, Achieve, Islander)$1,500-$4,000AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    2026-2027 Institutional Scholarships (Presidential, Achieve, Islander)

    $1,500-$4,000

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

    GPA
    3.25-4.00 weighted (tiered)
    SAT
    SAT 1160-1300+ (alternative path)
    ACT
    ACT 24-28+ (alternative path)
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for 2026-2027 Institutional Scholarships (Presidential, Achieve, Islander)

    Who qualifies

    ApplyTexas application by February 1; high school transcript postmarked by February 1; FAFSA filed annually by March 1; used for tuition and mandatory fees

    How to keep it

    Maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA at end of each academic year; complete 12 credit hours each Fall and Spring AND 30 TAMU-CC credit hours each academic year (fall, spring, summer); no break in enrollment; up to eight consecutive (fall/spring) semesters.

    Worth knowing

    Each tier qualifies via weighted GPA + class rank OR weighted GPA + test score. Presidential: $4,000/yr ($16,000 total); Achieve: $3,000/yr ($12,000); Islander: $1,500/yr ($6,000). Available to TX residents and non-residents (non-residents only if funds available). FAFSA is required.

  2. Morris L. Lichtenstein Jr. Endowed Scholarship$12,750AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Morris L. Lichtenstein Jr. Endowed Scholarship

    $12,750

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

    SAT
    SAT 1390 and up
    ACT
    ACT 32 and up
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Morris L. Lichtenstein Jr. Endowed Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Top 7% high school rank; ApplyTexas application and transcript/test scores postmarked by February 1; FAFSA by March 1

    How to keep it

    Maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA each academic year; complete 12 credit hours each Fall/Spring and 30 credit hours each academic year; FAFSA annually by March 1.

    Worth knowing

    $12,750/year, $51,000 total. The ApplyTexas admission application serves as the scholarship application.

Lights up against TAMU-Corpus Christi'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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  • “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

Outside awardsNo published displacement order

TAMU-Corpus Christi'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 TAMU-Corpus Christi different

TAMU-CC's automatic freshman merit grid ($1,500–$4,000/yr for tuition and mandatory fees) requires both strong stats AND a FAFSA filed by March 1, with a separate stat-based Lichtenstein award worth $12,750/yr.

Merit tiers22 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 TAMU-Corpus Christi'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. Even though these are merit awards, the page requires students to submit a FAFSA each year by March 1 to apply for and keep institutional scholarships.

  2. The institutional scholarships are 'to be used for tuition and mandatory fees' ($1,500–$4,000/yr) — they do not cover housing, food, or the rest of the ~$29,486 in-state cost of attendance.

  3. Non-residents are eligible only 'if funds are available'; awards are limited to funding availability.

  4. The ApplyTexas application AND the high school transcript (and test scores for Lichtenstein) must be submitted/postmarked by February 1 to be eligible.

  5. Renewal requires a 3.0 GPA AND completing 30 TAMU-CC credit hours each academic year (fall, spring, summer), not just full-time fall/spring enrollment.

  6. Texas law lets a non-resident who wins a competitive University scholarship of $1,000 or more (a scholarship competed for against Texas residents and awarded by a scholarship committee) pay the resident tuition rate. Two catches: the automatic Presidential/Achieve/Islander grid is stat-based, not competitive, so it likely does not by itself trigger the waiver, and the number of waivers is committee-limited. A non-resident targeting resident tuition should ask the TAMU-CC Business Office which specific competitive scholarships qualify.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

High-GPA, well-ranked Texas freshmen who apply via ApplyTexas by February 1 and file the FAFSA by March 1; top-stat students (32 ACT, top 7%) should target the large Lichtenstein endowed scholarship.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $29,486 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at TAMU-Corpus Christi, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$11,445
$30,001–$48,000$11,961
$48,001–$75,000$14,180
$75,001–$110,000$19,479
$110,001+$23,426
All income levels (average)$15,225

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$9,748
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$20,794
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$15,225

That works out to roughly a 40% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $25,210 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

TAMU-Corpus Christi 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
40%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
58%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$23,000 (~$244/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$51,865
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
48%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
43%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

the published policy only explains that if a student's loans or other grants are reduced after reporting a private scholarship, the student may file a Cost of Attendance Change Request Form to seek an increase in their COA or maximum aid limit. It does not state the trigger condition or order for reductions. Confirm the actual displacement policy with the financial aid office.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): What happens if my other aid is reduced due to my private scholarship? If your loans or other grants are reduced, you may complete a Cost of Attendance Change Request Form. This form is to be used by the student to request an increase in their COA (or maximum aid limit).

Source

Other TAMU-Corpus Christi scholarships worth checking

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

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityStudents encouraged to submit a FAFSA each academic year

Referenced on the incoming-freshmen page without specific amounts

Source

TAMU-Corpus Christi merit aid FAQ

  • What is the scholarship deadline?

    Submit your ApplyTexas application (and high school transcript) by February 1 — the priority deadline is October 1 — and file a FAFSA by March 1 each year. The ApplyTexas application serves as the scholarship application.

  • How much are the freshman merit scholarships?

    Presidential $4,000/yr ($16,000), Achieve $3,000/yr ($12,000), Islander $1,500/yr ($6,000) — all applied to tuition and mandatory fees.

  • What is the Lichtenstein Scholarship?

    A $51,000 total ($12,750/year) endowed scholarship for students with ACT 32+/SAT 1390+ and a top 7% high school rank.

  • How do I keep my scholarship?

    Maintain a 3.0 overall GPA, complete 12 credit hours each fall and spring plus 30 TAMU-CC credit hours each academic year, file the FAFSA by March 1, and have no break in enrollment — renewable up to eight semesters.

  • Do non-residents qualify?

    Yes, but only if funds are available; awards are limited to funding availability.

  • Can out-of-state students pay in-state tuition at TAMU-CC?

    Possibly, through the competitive scholarship tuition waiver: a non-resident who receives a competitive TAMU-CC University scholarship of $1,000 or more (competed for against Texas residents and awarded by a committee) may be charged the resident tuition rate. The number of waivers is limited, and the automatic freshman merit grid is stat-based rather than competitive, so confirm which awards qualify with the Business Office.

See sources and other schools

How TAMU-Corpus Christi compares

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

    TAMU-Corpus Christi 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.

    TAMU-Corpus Christi 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.

    TAMU-Corpus Christi 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 TAMU-Corpus Christi’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring TAMU-Corpus Christi merit aid

The next chapter

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