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Kansas scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$30,847per year · 2025-2026 · ResidentNon-resident $49,635
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

Kansas is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 10 published awards, and 10 are based on those numbers.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
2 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. KU Excellence (non-resident)$16,000 per year ($64,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    KU Excellence (non-resident)

    $16,000 per year ($64,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.95
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for KU Excellence (non-resident)

    Who qualifies

    Non-resident/international. Automatic on GPA via the admission application; no separate scholarship application. KU uses weighted or unweighted GPA, whichever benefits the student most. National Merit Finalists naming KU add $1,000/year.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment; awarded for the first bachelor's degree or eight continuous semesters, whichever comes first.

  2. KU Distinction (non-resident)$14,000 per year ($56,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    KU Distinction (non-resident)

    $14,000 per year ($56,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.85
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for KU Distinction (non-resident)

    Who qualifies

    Non-resident, GPA 3.85–3.94. Automatic on the admission application; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment; eight continuous semesters or first degree.

  3. KU Achievement (non-resident)$12,000 per year ($48,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    KU Achievement (non-resident)

    $12,000 per year ($48,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.7
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for KU Achievement (non-resident)

    Who qualifies

    Non-resident, GPA 3.70–3.84. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  4. KU Performance (non-resident)$10,000 per year ($40,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    KU Performance (non-resident)

    $10,000 per year ($40,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.5
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for KU Performance (non-resident)

    Who qualifies

    Non-resident, GPA 3.50–3.69. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  5. KU Access (non-resident)$8,000 per year ($32,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    KU Access (non-resident)

    $8,000 per year ($32,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.25
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for KU Access (non-resident)

    Who qualifies

    Non-resident, GPA 3.25–3.49 (the non-resident floor). Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  6. Chancellor's (resident)$5,000 per year ($20,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Chancellor's (resident)

    $5,000 per year ($20,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.95
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Chancellor's (resident)

    Who qualifies

    Kansas resident, GPA 3.95+. Top resident tier. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  7. Traditions (resident)$4,000 per year ($16,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Traditions (resident)

    $4,000 per year ($16,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.85
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Traditions (resident)

    Who qualifies

    Kansas resident, GPA 3.85–3.94. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  8. Crimson & Blue (resident)$3,000 per year ($12,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Crimson & Blue (resident)

    $3,000 per year ($12,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.7
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Crimson & Blue (resident)

    Who qualifies

    Kansas resident, GPA 3.70–3.84. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  9. Rock Chalk (resident)$2,000 per year ($8,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Rock Chalk (resident)

    $2,000 per year ($8,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.5
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Rock Chalk (resident)

    Who qualifies

    Kansas resident, GPA 3.50–3.69. Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

  10. Jayhawk (resident)$1,000 per year ($4,000 total)AutomaticRenewable
    Published awardAcademic thresholds

    Jayhawk (resident)

    $1,000 per year ($4,000 total)

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

    GPA
    3.25
    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Jayhawk (resident)

    Who qualifies

    Kansas resident, GPA 3.25–3.49 (the resident floor). Automatic; no separate application.

    How to keep it

    Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment.

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

Free Merit Check

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Checking merit aid at Kansas

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The fine print

Renewal ruleKU Excellence (non-resident): renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

Maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment; awarded for the first bachelor's degree or eight continuous semesters, whichever comes first. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

What makes Kansas different

Kansas flagship with one of the cleanest published automatic merit grids in the country: a five-tier GPA-only ladder, separate for residents and non-residents, awarded with no separate application and using whichever GPA (weighted or unweighted) benefits the student most.

Merit tiers1010 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 Kansas'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 Kansas's aid office says

Per the EM Student Services, University of Kansas, August 2026. How we verify

Merit scholarship application process

Do we need to submit a separate application for KU merit scholarships?

KU merit scholarships do not require a separate application; eligibility is reviewed as part of the admissions application.

“KU merit scholarships are not a separate application. Students are reviewed for eligibility with their admissions application, and if eligible are awarded if we receive the application before December 1st.”
GPA used for scholarship evaluation

What GPA is used to evaluate merit scholarship eligibility?

Merit scholarship eligibility is evaluated using the student's cumulative 6th semester high school GPA.

“This is evaluated off of the students cumulative 6th semester GPA of high school.”
Effect of outside/local scholarships

Will earning an outside local scholarship reduce KU scholarship or financial aid amounts?

Earning a local scholarship would not reduce the KU scholarship amount or the loan offers through FAFSA.

“If he earns a local scholarship, that would not reduce the amount of scholarship received or the loan offers through FAFSA.”

What families often miss

  1. KU's automatic merit grid requires a complete application for admission by December 1, including a transcript. The award is tied to applying on time — miss the date and the guaranteed tier no longer applies, even with a qualifying GPA.

  2. KU explicitly uses either the weighted or unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, whichever benefits the student most. You do not need to pick one or worry about which is lower.

  3. The dollar amounts are very different. A 3.95+ Kansas resident gets $5,000/year (Chancellor's); a 3.95+ non-resident gets $16,000/year (KU Excellence). The non-resident awards are larger because they offset higher out-of-state tuition.

See award cutoffs and special programs

KU Excellence Scholarship — $64,000 automatic for top non-residents

KU Excellence is the top non-resident tier of KU's automatic grid: $16,000 per year ($64,000 over four years) for an out-of-state student with a 3.95+ GPA. There is no separate scholarship application — KU awards it based on the admission application alone, and uses either the weighted or unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, whichever benefits the student most. National Merit Finalists who name KU as their top choice add $1,000 per year. Renewal only requires a 3.0 KU GPA and full-time enrollment, making it one of the most predictable large automatic awards for high-GPA out-of-state students.

Source

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

GPA-strong students, especially out-of-state, who want a predictable, no-application merit number. A 3.95+ non-resident automatically lands the $16,000/year KU Excellence award; a 3.25 floor still pulls a guaranteed award. Residents get a parallel but smaller ladder ($1,000–$5,000/year).

Cost of attendance$30,847–$49,635 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$49,635
In-state, on-campus$30,847
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal

Lawrence campus, full-time undergraduate, on-campus. Tuition & fees consolidates tuition, required student/wellness fee, loan fee and infrastructure fee, residual adjusted to sum exactly to published total.

Kansas cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at Kansas, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,544
$30,001–$48,000$12,942
$48,001–$75,000$15,154
$75,001–$110,000$19,169
$110,001+$22,544
All income levels (average)$18,059

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$12,102
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$30,432
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$18,059

That works out to roughly a 32% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $26,751 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Kansas 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
69%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
86%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,000 (~$223/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$61,945
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
22%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
45%

Kansas merit aid FAQ

  • Are KU's merit scholarships automatic?

    Yes. KU says it offers 'a wide range of renewable institutional scholarships based on GPA alone,' awarded automatically from the admission application with no separate scholarship application. You just need to apply for admission by December 1 with a transcript.

  • What's the top automatic award and what GPA do I need?

    For non-residents, a 3.95+ GPA earns KU Excellence at $16,000/year ($64,000 total). For Kansas residents, a 3.95+ earns the Chancellor's award at $5,000/year. KU uses whichever of your weighted or unweighted GPA (4.0 scale) benefits you most.

  • Do test scores matter for KU's automatic scholarships?

    No. KU's published renewable freshman grid is based on GPA alone, not test scores. National Merit Finalists who name KU as their top choice add $1,000 per year on top of their GPA-based tier.

  • What does it take to keep the scholarship for four years?

    You must maintain a 3.0 KU GPA and be enrolled full-time. The award covers your first bachelor's degree or eight continuous semesters of enrollment, whichever comes first.

See sources and other schools

How Kansas compares

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

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

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring Kansas merit aid

The next chapter

Where does Kansas fit in your plan?

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