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The University of Texas at Austin · Texas

UT Austin scholarships and merit aid

Texas flagship public university with effectively no automatic stat-based merit ladder for out-of-state applicants. The Forty Acres Scholars Program (full ride) and Texas Exes Entering Freshman scholarships are the real merit pathways — both require additional applications or interest-form completion by separate deadlines.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago· CA-1

The short answer

Is UT Austin worth a closer look?

UT Austin may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

See our full reasoning

If you're chasing automatic merit dollars, UT Austin is not the school. If you're chasing the Forty Acres Scholars Program full ride, it has to be on your November-1 list.

UT Austin does not publish a stat-banded out-of-state automatic merit ladder. The school admits high-stat applicants from across the country and expects most non-Texas families to pay close to out-of-state sticker. The two genuine merit paths are (1) the Forty Acres Scholars Program (full ride, ~15 scholars per year, considered automatically but tied to the Nov 1 preferred / Dec 1 final UT application deadline) and (2) the Texas Exes Entering Freshman Scholarships portal (300+ named and chapter scholarships, $500-$20,000, separate Feb 15 application). For Texas residents, in-state tuition + Top 10% / Pell aid is the real value proposition — out-of-state families should model UT Austin at close to sticker for budgeting purposes and look at Texas A&M, SMU, or TCU for matched merit scenarios.

Merit tiers3See who qualifies
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

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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.

Full-ride merit scholarship — cover…Full-ride merit scholarship — covers cost of attendance plus enrichment opportunities

Forty Acres Scholars Program

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See who qualifies
Who qualifies

U.S. citizen or permanent resident. In-state and out-of-state students eligible. High school seniors applying to UT Austin. Transfer and international students are NOT eligible. Auto-considered upon Common App / ApplyTexas submission, but practical deadlines apply: Nov 1 preferred, Dec 1 final.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years contingent on program participation and academic standing.

Notes

Administered by Texas Exes alumni association. UT Austin's only published full-ride merit program. Replaces the historical standalone Forty Acres application — students are now considered automatically through the UT application, but the November 1 / December 1 dates are firm.

Source

Range $500 to $20,000 — most awards…Range $500 to $20,000 — most awards are partial

Texas Exes Entering Freshman Scholarships (Named & Chapter)

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Who qualifies

Application required at texasexes.academicworks.com by February 15. Open to admitted UT Austin first-year students (in-state and out-of-state). Most named scholarships and chapter scholarships are awarded automatically based on the Entering Freshman application; some have additional criteria.

Notes

Texas Exes awards roughly $4 million per year to 650+ students across 300+ scholarships. The application is THE secondary action UT applicants should take if they want any meaningful merit consideration beyond Forty Acres.

Source

Variable…Variable; mostly need-based with some merit component for in-state applicants

UT Austin Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA) general scholarships

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Who qualifies

Requires completion of the Scholarship Interest Form in MyStatus by January 15. Most awards are need-aware. Includes partnerships with the Terry Foundation and Finis Welch Foundation that offer full cost-of-attendance awards for students with demonstrated financial need.

Source

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. UT does not run an Alabama-style stat-banded ladder for out-of-state students. The school's posture is that strong applicants compete for limited Forty Acres and Texas Exes funds rather than receiving a guaranteed dollar amount based on GPA/test scores. Out-of-state families budgeting against an imagined automatic merit award typically overestimate their UT aid by $15,000-$30,000 per year.

  2. Forty Acres applicants no longer fill out a standalone form, but the eligibility window is still tied to the UT application date: November 1 preferred, December 1 final. Regular Decision applicants who submit later are technically still admissible to UT but typically miss the Forty Acres selection window.

  3. These are the two practical levers that move UT aid for most applicants. The Scholarship Interest Form (in MyStatus, due January 15) opens you to OSFA awards and partner foundations like Terry and Finis Welch. The Texas Exes Entering Freshman application (due February 15) is THE entry point into the 300+ named and chapter scholarships. Skipping either means leaving real money on the table.

  4. A non-resident who receives a competitive UT academic scholarship of $1,000 or more administered and awarded by the university can become eligible to pay resident tuition. But at UT Austin this waiver is not automatic and is extremely limited. UT's own guidance is that being a scholarship recipient 'does not guarantee a waiver; it simply makes them eligible' should the student complete a separate waiver application and the scholarship committee rank it highly enough, and UT tells out-of-state students to plan on paying out-of-state tuition for all four years because undergraduate waivers are extremely limited across campus. Treat it as a rare bonus, not a plan, and budget near sticker.

See award cutoffs and special programs

Forty Acres Scholars Program — UT's only full-ride merit pathway

The Forty Acres Scholars Program is administered by the Texas Exes alumni association and is the only published full-ride merit scholarship at UT Austin. Roughly fifteen scholars enter per year. The selection process now runs automatically through the standard UT application (Common App or ApplyTexas) — there is no separate Forty Acres standalone application. To be in the running, students must submit their UT application by the preferred deadline of November 1 (final deadline December 1). The program offers academic, leadership, professional, and cultural enrichment in a cohort model, and is open to in-state and out-of-state U.S. citizens and permanent residents — but NOT to transfer or international applicants.

Source

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Texas residents with HOPE/Top 10% admission and a strong scholarship-application game; out-of-state and international applicants who understand UT Austin will not give them an automatic merit tier and are still willing to pay closer to sticker. If your goal is a published $20k-$30k automatic merit award, UT Austin is not the right list-builder — Alabama, SLU, or Trinity TX are.

Cost of attendance$32,508–$64,204 for 2026-27Each 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$64,204
In-state, on-campus$32,508
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Travel
  • Books
  • Personal

Published tuition is a range by college; used the low end (base programs) so components match the published low-end total. Resident on/off campus and Non-resident scenarios.

UT Austin cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at UT Austin, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$12,553
$30,001–$48,000$14,297
$48,001–$75,000$17,207
$75,001–$110,000$24,406
$110,001+$30,082
All income levels (average)$19,857

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$11,688
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$44,908
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$19,857

That works out to roughly a 36% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $31,247 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

UT Austin 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
89%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
97%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$20,500 (~$217/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$75,121
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
26%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
27%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

UT Austin applies a federal/state COA cap with a loan-first reduction ordering. Outside scholarships first fill unmet need; once total aid hits cost of attendance or financial need, UT reduces loans before any other aid type. Outside scholarship displacement is documented on the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid policy page.

UT publishes the policy directly: federal and state regulations do not allow a student's aid to exceed cost of attendance, or in some cases financial need. When outside scholarships push the package over the cap, UT reduces loans first, then other aid types if necessary. Students must report scholarships received directly. Late-arriving outside scholarships can trigger displacement adjustments even after disbursement — UT recommends sending checks before the 10-day-before-semester window. A small carve-out exists: an aid package containing only Pell, UT departmental or athletic scholarships, outside scholarships, and laptop/textbook credits can exceed COA.

Source

Other UT Austin scholarships worth checking

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

AmountFull cost of attendance for students with demonstrated financial needEligibilityThrough partnership with UT Austin — need-based with merit component. Indicate interest through the Scholarship Interest Form in MyStatus.

One of UT's most generous partner-foundation awards. Requires completion of the Scholarship Interest Form by January 15.

Source

AmountFull cost of attendance for students with demonstrated financial needEligibilityPartner foundation working with UT Austin OSFA. Indicate interest via the Scholarship Interest Form.

Source

AmountFoundation-administered scholarship distributed through UT AustinEligibilityAwards announced alongside other foundation scholarships during the spring notification cycle.

Source

UT Austin merit aid FAQ

  • Does UT Austin have automatic merit scholarships for out-of-state students?

    No. UT Austin does not publish a stat-banded automatic merit ladder. The two genuine merit pathways are the Forty Acres Scholars Program (full ride, ~15 awards/year, considered automatically based on the UT application but tied to a Nov 1/Dec 1 deadline) and the Texas Exes Entering Freshman scholarships ($500-$20,000, separate Feb 15 application).

  • How do I apply to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?

    You don't apply separately. Forty Acres now considers applicants automatically based on the UT Austin application via Common App or ApplyTexas. To be in the selection pool, submit the UT application by the preferred deadline of November 1 (final December 1). Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, in-state or out-of-state, NOT transfer or international.

  • What's the Scholarship Interest Form?

    A form in MyStatus, available after you submit your UT application, that signals you'd like to be considered for institutional scholarships and partner-foundation awards (Terry, Finis Welch, Haraldson). Due January 15. Skipping it removes you from the OSFA awarding pool — UT does not auto-include students who haven't completed the form.

  • Will an outside scholarship reduce my UT aid?

    It can, when total aid pushes past cost of attendance or financial need. UT's published rule: 'Federal and state requirements do not allow a student's financial aid to exceed the Cost of Attendance (COA) or in some cases, financial need. ... In most cases, loans will be reduced before any other type of aid.' Below the cap, outside scholarships fill unmet need without displacing grant/scholarship aid.

  • When are scholarship decisions announced?

    OSFA awards: February-April. Texas Exes scholarships including Forty Acres: spring notification cycle. Partner-foundation awards (Terry, Finis Welch, Haraldson): announced from the foundations directly through the awarded school or department.

  • Can out-of-state students get in-state tuition at UT Austin through a scholarship?

    Rarely. A non-resident who receives a competitive UT academic scholarship of $1,000 or more awarded by the university can be eligible for the resident tuition rate, but UT states that a scholarship 'does not guarantee a waiver; it simply makes them eligible' after a separate waiver application that the scholarship committee must rank highly enough. UT advises out-of-state students to plan on paying out-of-state tuition for all four years because undergraduate waivers are extremely limited across campus. Do not build a budget around it.

See sources and other schools

How UT Austin compares

  • 147 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    UT Austin is in a recognizable cluster (147 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

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

    UT Austin is one of them. The cohort minority (82 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 UT Austin’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

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