What is the Tier One Scholarship at UH?

The Tier One Scholarship is UH's most prestigious academic merit award. It covers full tuition and mandatory fees for four years (five for Architecture), on-campus housing and meal plan for the first two years, a one-time $1,000 undergraduate research stipend, a one-time $2,000 study abroad stipend, an out-of-state tuition waiver worth ~$40,000 over four years for non-Texas residents, and priority registration. Selection requires the November 3 application + a January Tier One Invitational interview.

Is the Tier One Scholarship available to out-of-state students?

Yes. Out-of-state Tier One recipients receive the same package as Texas residents plus an out-of-state tuition waiver worth approximately $40,000 over four years. Tier One bundles the largest OOS waiver, but it is not the only way to reach a resident tuition rate at UH (see the competitive scholarship tuition waiver below).

Do out-of-state students need Tier One to get in-state tuition at UH?

No. Under UH's competitive scholarship tuition waiver, a non-Texas resident who receives a qualifying competitive UH scholarship totaling $1,000 or more per year can be charged the resident (in-state) tuition rate. Tier One includes a large OOS waiver (~$40,000 over four years), but other qualifying competitive awards such as Distinguished or Cullen Leadership can also unlock the resident rate. The waiver applies to your UH tuition and is not portable to other Texas public universities; confirm your specific award qualifies with UH Student Business Services.

Houston· Renewal Rules

Keeping Houston’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year: minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified Jul 20266 days ago· CB-1

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 5 of 5
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 5
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

Houston's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

Tier One Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
National Merit Scholarship (UH first-choice): See notes
Academic Excellence Scholarship: Full-time enrollment
Distinguished Scholarship: See notes
Cullen Leadership Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Tier One Scholarship
Full tuition and mandatory fees for four years (five years for Architecture) + on-campus housing and meal plan for the first two years + $1,000 one-time undergraduate research stipend + $2,000 one-time study abroad stipend + out-of-state tuition waiver (~$40,000 over 4 years) for non-Texas residents
Entry requirements: 1400 SAT composite improves selection chances SAT · 30 ACT composite improves selection chances ACT
To keep it: Renewable for up to 8 undergraduate semesters (10 for architecture). Renewal contingent on Tier One renewal requirements (full-time enrollment + academic standing).
Source: https://www.uh.edu/tieronescholars/
National Merit Scholarship (UH first-choice)
Full UH National Merit package (combines UH + NMSC funding); specific composition varies
To keep it: Renewable up to 8 semesters (10 for architecture) per UH merit renewal terms.
Source: https://www.uh.edu/scholarships
Academic Excellence Scholarship
Not publicly disclosed in a per-year tier table
To keep it: Renewable up to 8 undergraduate semesters (10 for architecture) with full-time enrollment and required academic standing.
Source: https://www.uh.edu/scholarships
Distinguished Scholarship
Not publicly disclosed in a per-year tier table
To keep it: Renewable up to 8 undergraduate semesters (10 for architecture).
Source: https://www.uh.edu/scholarships
Cullen Leadership Scholarship
Not publicly disclosed in a per-year tier table
To keep it: Renewable up to 8 undergraduate semesters (10 for architecture).
Source: https://www.uh.edu/scholarships

How families lose this aid

Out-of-state applicants assuming they need Tier One to get in-state tuition rates.
The UH out-of-state tuition waiver is not a Tier One exclusive. Per UH's Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, a non-Texas resident who receives a qualifying competitive UH scholarship totaling $1,000 or more per year can be charged the resident (in-state) tuition rate, a savings of thousands per semester. Tier One bundles and quantifies a large OOS waiver (~$40,000 over four years), but other qualifying competitive awards such as Distinguished or Cullen Leadership can also unlock resident tuition. Two caveats: the waiver applies to your UH tuition and is not portable to other Texas public universities, and whether a specific award qualifies (especially auto-awarded stat scholarships) should be confirmed with UH Student Business Services.

Renewal questions families ask

What is the Tier One Scholarship at UH?: The Tier One Scholarship is UH's most prestigious academic merit award. It covers full tuition and mandatory fees for four years (five for Architecture), on-campus housing and meal plan for the first two years, a one-time $1,000 undergraduate research stipend, a one-time $2,000 study abroad stipend, an out-of-state tuition waiver worth ~$40,000 over four years for non-Texas residents, and priority registration. Selection requires the November 3 application + a January Tier One Invitational interview.
Is the Tier One Scholarship available to out-of-state students?: Yes. Out-of-state Tier One recipients receive the same package as Texas residents plus an out-of-state tuition waiver worth approximately $40,000 over four years. Tier One bundles the largest OOS waiver, but it is not the only way to reach a resident tuition rate at UH (see the competitive scholarship tuition waiver below).
Do out-of-state students need Tier One to get in-state tuition at UH?: No. Under UH's competitive scholarship tuition waiver, a non-Texas resident who receives a qualifying competitive UH scholarship totaling $1,000 or more per year can be charged the resident (in-state) tuition rate. Tier One includes a large OOS waiver (~$40,000 over four years), but other qualifying competitive awards such as Distinguished or Cullen Leadership can also unlock the resident rate. The waiver applies to your UH tuition and is not portable to other Texas public universities; confirm your specific award qualifies with UH Student Business Services.

Rules that bite at Houston

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook, derived from Houston's own tier rules and not generic advice.

renewalTier One Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for up to 8 undergraduate semesters (10 for architecture). Renewal contingent on Tier One renewal requirements (full-time enrollment + academic standing). A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Houston compares across our verified dataset

669 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Houston is one of them. The cohort minority (81 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
133 of 750 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Houston is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder; confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Houston’s own published materials.

policyHouston stacking policy
tierTier One Scholarship
tierNational Merit Scholarship (UH first-choice)
scholarshipHonors College Scholarship