Large Texas public with a fully automatic class-rank-by-GPA merit grid (up to $12,000/year, no application) and one of the most generous National Merit Finalist packages in the country — a four-year ride worth $128,000 in-state or $177,000 out-of-state.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
Is North Texas (UNT) worth a closer look?
North Texas (UNT) is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 4 published awards, and 4 are based on those numbers.
Merit tiers44 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards15%First-year students, CDS 2023-2024
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team
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.
$8,000–$12,000 per year
UNT Excellence Scholarship — Top 1% class rank
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
3.25
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Top 1% high school class rank. $12,000/yr at 3.75-4.00 unweighted GPA, $10,000 at 3.50-3.74, $8,000 at 3.25-3.49. Automatic for first-time freshmen admitted by March 1, 2026; no separate application. Add $1,000/yr with a 1350+ SAT or 30+ ACT submitted by July 1, 2026.
How to keep it
Maintain a minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and complete a minimum of 24 UNT hours each year during fall and spring; continuous full-time enrollment required.
Top 5% class rank. $10,000/yr at 3.75-4.00 GPA, $8,000 at 3.50-3.74, $6,000 at 3.25-3.49. Automatic, no application. $1,000/yr test bonus with 1350+ SAT or 30+ ACT.
How to keep it
Minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and 24 UNT hours each year during fall and spring.
Top 10% class rank. $8,000/yr at 3.75-4.00 GPA, $6,000 at 3.50-3.74, $5,000 at 3.25-3.49. Automatic, no application. $1,000/yr test bonus with 1350+ SAT or 30+ ACT.
How to keep it
Minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and 24 UNT hours each year during fall and spring.
UNT Excellence Scholarship — Top 15%–25% class rank
Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
3.25
See who qualifies and how to keep it+
Who qualifies
Lower bands of the published grid: Top 15% pays $4,000-$6,000/yr, Top 20% pays $3,000-$5,000, Top 25% pays $2,000-$4,000, scaled by unweighted GPA band (3.25-3.49, 3.50-3.74, 3.75-4.00). Automatic, no application. $1,000/yr test bonus with 1350+ SAT or 30+ ACT.
How to keep it
Minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and 24 UNT hours each year during fall and spring.
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from North Texas (UNT)'s published information.
Renewal ruleUNT Excellence Scholarship — Top 1% class rank: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Maintain a minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and complete a minimum of 24 UNT hours each year during fall and spring; continuous full-time enrollment required. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.
Aid capHard $29,015 cost-of-attendance ceiling
Institutional aid at North Texas (UNT) cannot push the package past $29,015. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.
Straight from the aid office
What North Texas (UNT)'s aid office says
Per the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office, University of North Texas, August 2026. How we verify
UNT Excellence Scholarship eligibility
Who is awarded the UNT Excellence Scholarship?
The UNT Excellence Scholarship is awarded to all eligible entering freshmen as described on UNT's website.
“The UNT Excellence Scholarship is awarded to all eligible entering freshman as shown on our website UNT Excellence Scholarship | University of North Texas.”
GPA used for scholarship eligibility
What GPA and other factors determine eligibility for the scholarship?
Eligibility for this award is based on high school rank and unweighted GPA, with SAT scores also reviewed.
“This award is based on high school rank and unweighted gpa. The SAT scores are reviewed as well.”
Combining scholarships
Can a student combine this scholarship with external or departmental scholarships?
A student can receive the UNT Excellence Scholarship along with an external scholarship and/or a departmental scholarship.
“A student can receive this award, an external scholarship and/or a departmental scholarship.”
Renewal requirements
What GPA or requirements must be maintained to keep a renewable scholarship?
Each scholarship awarded will specify its own requirements for maintaining the award if it is renewable.
“Each scholarship awarded will explain what the requirements are to maintain the award if it is a renewable scholarship.”
What families often miss
UNT charges National Merit Finalists the in-state tuition rate even if they are non-residents, which is exactly why the out-of-state package ($177,000) is larger than the in-state one ($128,000) — the non-resident is being relieved of a bigger sticker price. An out-of-state Finalist should not rule UNT out on cost.
UNT publishes the class-rank-by-GPA dollar grid, but states that a specific class ranking, GPA, or test score does not guarantee receipt of a scholarship or a specific award level. Use the grid to estimate, not to bank on a number.
Automatic UNT Excellence Scholarship consideration applies to first-time freshmen admitted by March 1, 2026. Apply and complete your file early — a late admission can cost you the automatic merit entirely, and offers must be accepted by May 1, 2026.
See award cutoffs and special programs+
UNT Meritorious Scholarship — a full National Merit Finalist ride
UNT's Meritorious Scholarship for National Merit Finalists is one of the largest merit packages at any U.S. public university. UNT states the award 'covers tuition and mandatory fees, room and board on-campus (standard hall/double occupancy) with the 7-Day Basic meal plan and textbook expenses.' The published four-year total is $128,000 for a Texas resident ($108,000 scholarship plus a $20,000 donor award) and $177,000 for a non-resident ($157,000 plus the $20,000 donor award). The mechanism that makes the out-of-state number work: 'Non-Texas residents assessed non-resident tuition receiving this competitive scholarship are assessed tuition costs at the in-state rate for the fall, spring and the following summer terms.' To get it, you must be a National Merit Finalist who designates UNT as your number-one school of choice with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation by NMSC's published deadline. Renewal is conditional and the exact terms are sent with the official offer — get them in writing before committing.
High-stat Texas and out-of-state students who want predictable, formula-driven merit without competitive essays — and especially National Merit Finalists, for whom UNT covers tuition, fees, on-campus room and board, the meal plan, and textbooks while charging non-residents the in-state tuition rate.
Cost of attendance$29,015 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
In-state, on-campus$29,015
$12K
$12K
Tuition & fees
Housing & food
Books
Travel
Personal
Texas-resident on-campus only. Page lists resident tuition+fees and standard living/indirect allowances; non-resident on-campus total is not published as a complete official figure, so out-of-state scenario omitted. Loan fees noted as variable, not itemized.
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at North Texas (UNT), what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at North Texas (UNT), academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$12,311
$30,001–$48,000
$12,668
$48,001–$75,000
$14,473
$75,001–$110,000
$19,576
$110,001+
$22,943
All income levels (average)
$15,649
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$11,309
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$21,149
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$15,649
That works out to roughly a 40% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $26,243 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
North Texas (UNT) 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
61%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
77%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$19,250 (~$204/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$57,010
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
45%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
43%
See other scholarships and cost examples+
If your student brings another scholarship
UNT lets outside scholarships stack on top of institutional merit up to your Cost of Attendance — it only reduces aid if an outside award pushes you over COA or over your FAFSA-calculated need. You must report any external scholarship to Financial Aid and Scholarships so it can be posted.
UNT coordinates external scholarships with all other aid for the award period. Reductions are triggered only by exceeding the Cost of Attendance or your established need, not automatically — so for most students who are not already at COA, an outside award adds to the package rather than displacing the UNT Excellence Scholarship. Students must notify Financial Aid and Scholarships (FAS) to have an outside award posted.
From the North Texas (UNT) Common Data Set 2023-2024:
Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From North Texas (UNT)’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
15%of admitsget merit
Average award$5,895Covers ~20% of $29,015 cost of attendance
At North Texas (UNT), roughly 1 in 7 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $5,895 — about 20% of total cost.
As filed in North Texas (UNT)'s CDS Section H2A: of 6,516 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 1,001 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $5,895. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 3,692 of 28,304, averaging $6,783. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.
Receive institutional merit15%First-year students, Common Data Set 2023-2024
Average merit award$5,895Across recipients, Common Data Set 2023-2024
Other North Texas (UNT) scholarships worth checking
These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.
Amount$1,000 per year (added to base award)EligibilityStudents who already qualify for a UNT Excellence Scholarship and submit a minimum 1350 SAT or minimum 30 ACT to UNT by July 1, 2026. Stacks on top of the class-rank/GPA grid award.
Do I need to apply separately for UNT's automatic merit scholarship?
No. UNT says 'First-time freshmen admitted for Fall 2026 by March 1, 2026 will be automatically considered for the UNT Excellence Scholarship based on their admission application, high school transcript, and supporting documents available at the time of admission. A separate scholarship application is not required for consideration.' Your award level is set by your class rank and unweighted GPA.
How much is the UNT Excellence Scholarship worth?
It runs from $2,000 to $12,000 per year, set by a published grid of high school class rank against unweighted GPA. The top award, $12,000/year, goes to Top 1% rank with a 3.75-4.00 GPA. You can add another $1,000/year by submitting a 1350+ SAT or 30+ ACT by July 1, 2026.
What does UNT give National Merit Finalists?
A package UNT values at $128,000 over four years for Texas residents and $177,000 for non-residents. It covers tuition and mandatory fees, on-campus room and board (standard hall, double occupancy) with the 7-Day Basic meal plan, and textbooks. Non-residents are charged the in-state tuition rate. You must designate UNT as your No. 1 school with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation by its deadline.
How do I keep the UNT Excellence Scholarship each year?
Maintain a minimum cumulative UNT GPA of 3.00 and complete at least 24 UNT credit hours each year during the fall and spring semesters, with continuous full-time enrollment. Fall below either threshold and the award is at risk.
Will an outside scholarship cut my UNT merit award?
Usually not. UNT coordinates outside scholarships with your other aid and only adjusts your package if the total pushes you above your Cost of Attendance or your FAFSA-calculated need. If you have room under COA, an outside award adds to your funding. You must report the award to Financial Aid and Scholarships so it can be posted to your account.
See sources and other schools+
How North Texas (UNT) compares
235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
North Texas (UNT) 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.
North Texas (UNT) 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 North Texas (UNT)’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
