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?
Homer Hitt (in-state and out-of-state versions)$75,000 (4-year value)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
Homer Hitt (in-state and out-of-state versions)
$75,000 (4-year value)
Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
GPA
3.5
SAT
1420
ACT
32
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Homer Hitt (in-state and out-of-state versions)
Who qualifies
Interview required (interview dates March 1-10); admissions application/acceptance deadline: Final February 1 / May 1
Worth knowing
UNO's top award; identical published criteria for in-state and out-of-state students (separate rules PDFs linked on the page). Detailed renewal terms live in the linked rules-and-regulations PDFs, which were not opened for this extraction.
Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
GPA
2.75 (with test score) OR 3.00-3.29 non-weighted cumulative GPA alone
SAT
1030
ACT
20
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for Academic
Who qualifies
Admissions application/acceptance deadline July 15
Worth knowing
Entry-level merit tier.
UNO Transfer Scholarship*Up to $2,000/year (up to $4,000 2-year value)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
UNO Transfer Scholarship*
Up to $2,000/year (up to $4,000 2-year value)
Variable or qualified amountNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
GPA
3.0 cumulative
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for UNO Transfer Scholarship*
Who qualifies
Full-time domestic transfer; admissions application/acceptance deadline July 15; (*) awarded without a FAFSA on file
Worth knowing
Companion UNO Transfer Award: up to $1,000/year (up to $2,000 2-year value) at 2.5 cumulative GPA. Phi Theta Kappa: $2,000/year (up to $4,000 2-year value) at 3.0 GPA with PTK membership, all final transcripts by July 15.
TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state awardAmount not published (on the UNO pages opened)Not automaticRenewable
Published awardOther selection criteria
TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state award
Amount not published (on the UNO pages opened)
Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.
Start with the award’s published eligibility.
RenewableCheck the conditions
Open award details for TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students) — Louisiana state award
Who qualifies
Louisiana residents; administered by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), external to UNO; preferred UNO Application for Admission completion date no later than June 1
Worth knowing
UNO uses TOPS plus UNO scholarships in incoming students' estimated packages. TOPS amounts/criteria are set by the state; UNO's page defers to LOSFA.
Free Merit Check
Check the rules that could cut this.
The free Merit Check shows which UNO award your student's numbers reach, and the rules that could change it. About 30 seconds.
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The fine print
Aid capHard $30,799 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at UNO cannot push the package past $30,799. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
What makes UNO different
DRAFT: UNO awards named merit scholarships (Academic through the $75,000 Homer Hitt) straight from the admission file with no separate application — but only to NEW students entering in Fall or Summer, and funding is limited, so meeting the cutoffs guarantees nothing.
Merit tiers8See who qualifies
Research checkedJun 2026By our research team
Selection beyond grades and scores
Start with the selection process.
These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.
Read the selection rules
Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.
Check the application dates
Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.
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.
A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.
See what could change an award+
What families often miss
UNO states institutional scholarships are only offered to new students who enroll in Fall or Summer; Spring entrants 'are unfortunately unable to receive Institutional scholarships' because funding is typically exhausted on Fall enrollees.
Continuing students (1+ semesters at UNO) 'are unfortunately not eligible for Institutional scholarships' — only departmental scholarships through their academic college.
UNO states 'All scholarships and grants are limited in funding, and meeting qualifications do not guarantee receipt of scholarship or grant.'
An offer 'must be accepted in the specified timeframe, as indicated. Failure to accept a scholarship offer within the prescribed timeframe is considered a forfeiture of the offer.'
Per the overaward policy, any award processed after packaging can exceed the COA cap and force reductions in scholarships, grants, and loans — and if funds were already disbursed, the student must repay the overaward portion. UNO tells students to contact a counselor immediately if an award isn't on their notification.
Each merit tier lists an admissions application/acceptance deadline of July 15; the Homer Hitt requires a final application by February 1, acceptance by May 1, and an interview March 1-10.
UNO strongly encourages the FAFSA 'for the best award package' — only awards marked (*) are made without a FAFSA on file, and the final package is built after FAFSA receipt.
See costs and school data+
Who this school may work for
DRAFT: Fall/Summer-entry freshmen with at least a 20 ACT/1030 SAT + 2.75 GPA (or a 3.00+ GPA alone); top students with 32 ACT/1420 SAT and a 3.5 should target the interview-based Homer Hitt; test-optional students can qualify on non-weighted GPA alone.
Published yearly cost: Approximately $30,799 for Not labeled on page (current COA page as of 2026-06-07; see Section C). Source
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at UNO, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at UNO, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$11,532
$30,001–$48,000
$10,506
$48,001–$75,000
$13,222
$75,001–$110,000
$16,942
$110,001+
$17,504
All income levels (average)
$12,384
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$9,172
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$14,008
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$12,384
That works out to roughly a 47% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $23,431 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
UNO 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
38%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
67%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$18,750 (~$199/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$47,872
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
57%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
30%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
UNO caps all aid at the cost of attendance per federal and UL System policy. Any scholarship, tuition waiver, fee exemption, or stipend processed after the initial package is built can create an 'Overaward,' which is fixed by reducing other awards (scholarships, SEOG, Perkins, Direct loans, PLUS) — and if funds were already disbursed, the student must repay the overaward portion.
Two official statements: (1) 'When combined with TOPS, waivers, fee exemptions, state aid, federal financial grants or loans, or Federal College Work Study Program and all other aid, university scholarships should not exceed the cost of attendance.' (2) The overaward policy reduces 'Scholarships, SEOG, Perkins, Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and/or Plus Loans, etc.' — no fixed reduction order is published, and private/outside scholarships are not specifically addressed.
AmountAmount not publishedEligibilitySpring entrants and continuing students are directed to their academic college for departmental scholarship opportunities
The only institutional pathway mentioned for students not eligible for new-student institutional scholarships.
Most UNO freshman merit awards list an admissions application/acceptance deadline of July 15 (no year printed on the page). The Homer Hitt's final deadline is February 1 (application) / May 1 (acceptance) with interviews March 1-10. International awards have a December 15 priority deadline. UNO's preferred admission-application completion date is June 1.
Do I need a separate scholarship application?
No. 'Most scholarships are awarded based on academic credentials and student accomplishments reviewed through the admission's process. A separate scholarship application is not required' — but send ACT/SAT scores and an official current high school transcript as soon as possible.
Can I qualify without test scores?
Yes — each tier publishes an alternative non-weighted cumulative GPA-only band (e.g., 3.90-4.00 for President, 3.00-3.29 for Academic).
Are the dollar amounts per year?
The domestic freshman awards are published as 4-Year Values (e.g., President $20,000 total over four years, not per year). Transfer and international awards are published as per-aid-year amounts with 2- or 4-year totals.
What happens if my aid exceeds the cost of attendance?
UNO cannot package above the COA. A late scholarship/waiver/stipend creates an 'Overaward,' your other aid is reduced, and if everything has already disbursed you must repay the overaward portion.
See sources and other schools+
How UNO compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
UNO is in a recognizable cluster (235 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.
UNO 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 UNO’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
