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University of the Ozarks · Arkansas

University of the Ozarks scholarships and merit aid

University of the Ozarks awards every admitted student an automatic, GPA-based merit scholarship from $12,000 to $14,000 per year (no application, no test scores), and a $1,000 Annual Fund add-on pushes most awards higher.

Verified Jul 20262 months ago

The short answer

Is University of the Ozarks worth a closer look?

University of the Ozarks awards automatic merit on admission. University of the Ozarks does not publish a GPA or test chart, so you cannot self-calculate the dollars.

Merit tiers94 based on grades or scores
First-year students with school awards25%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
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.

$14,000 per year

Trustee Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
≥ 3.75 (high school for entering freshmen; college for transfers)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

No application required; awarded automatically upon acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no ACT/SAT used.

How to keep it

To retain and renew, recipients must carry an average course load of 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and remain in good academic and disciplinary standing. Renewable for up to four years.

Notes

Top tier of the automatic merit grid. A separate $1,000 Annual Fund Scholarship is added to each merit award that it backs, so the effective award is often $15,000.

Source

$13,500 per year

Hurie Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
≥ 3.5 & < 3.75 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years; must carry an average 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and stay in good academic and disciplinary standing.

Notes

Second tier of the automatic grid. Eligible for the +$1,000 Annual Fund Scholarship add-on.

Source

$13,000 per year

Presidential Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
≥ 3.0 & < 3.5 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years; must carry an average 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and stay in good academic and disciplinary standing.

Notes

Third tier of the automatic grid. Eligible for the +$1,000 Annual Fund Scholarship add-on.

Source

$12,000 per year

Dean's Scholarship

Based on grades or scoresCan continue
GPA
≥ 2.50 & < 3.0 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
See who qualifies and how to keep it
Who qualifies

No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.

How to keep it

Renewable for up to four years; must carry an average 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and stay in good academic and disciplinary standing.

Notes

Lowest tier of the automatic grid; the grid bottoms out at a 2.50 GPA. Eligible for the +$1,000 Annual Fund Scholarship add-on.

Source

$1,000 per year…$1,000 per year (added to each backed merit award)

Annual Fund Scholarship (add-on)

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Applied to merit scholarships that the Annual Fund Scholarship backs; no separate student application described.

How to keep it

Follows the underlying merit scholarship it backs; not described as a standalone renewable award.

Notes

Not a separate award you apply for — it is a $1,000 bump layered on top of a backed automatic merit scholarship, so a Trustee award can effectively reach $15,000/year.

Source

$3,000 per year

Graphic Design Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Must major in graphic design; awarded based on artistic potential and dedication to the field. Application deadline April 1st for the fall semester.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years.

Notes

Explicitly a stackable award — stacks on top of the automatic GPA-based institutional merit scholarship.

Source

$5,000 per year

Computer Science Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Must major in Computer Science. Application deadline April 1st for the fall semester.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years.

Notes

Explicitly a stackable award — stacks on top of the automatic GPA-based institutional merit scholarship.

Source

Full cost of attendance…Full cost of attendance (tuition, room, meal plan, learning materials)

Hazel Carr Robson Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Exclusively for individuals who have resided in Rogers County (Oklahoma) for at least three years upon high school graduation. Highly restricted by residency.

How to keep it

Described as a four-year award covering the entire cost of attendance; specific renewal GPA not stated on the page.

Notes

Geographically restricted full-ride; the page gives no dollar figure (it covers full COA) and no application/deadline detail — contact Rebecca Willems (rwillems@ozarks.edu, 479-970-3842).

Source

Up to $5,000 per year

Teaching Excellence in Arkansas Challenge (TEACH) Loan/Scholarship

Apply separatelyCan continue
See who qualifies
Who qualifies

Education major or minor; competitive application demonstrating commitment to teaching. Initially awarded as a LOAN that converts to a scholarship if the graduate teaches at least four years in Arkansas.

How to keep it

Renewable for four years.

Notes

Loan-to-scholarship (forgiveness) mechanism, not a straight grant — counts as merit only if you complete four years of Arkansas teaching after graduation. May be combined with other loan or scholarship programs up to the total cost of attendance.

Source

See what could change an award

Rules that could change the answer

These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from University of the Ozarks's published information.

  • Aid capHard $42,000 cost-of-attendance ceiling

    Institutional aid at University of the Ozarks cannot push the package past $42,000. Big outside wins can mathematically reduce institutional grant once the ceiling is reached.

What families often miss

  1. The automatic merit grid (Trustee/Hurie/Presidential/Dean's) is set 'solely on GPA' and 'the admission application is all you need' — no separate scholarship app and no ACT/SAT. The discipline awards (Graphic Design, Computer Science) and competitive awards (Frontier, TEACH) DO require their own application.

  2. Tuition & fees are $25,700 and the full 2025-2026 cost of attendance is $42,000 (on-campus). Even the top $14,000 Trustee award plus the $1,000 Annual Fund add-on ($15,000) leaves a large gap before room, meals, books, and indirect costs.

  3. It is need-based, restricted to six Arkansas counties, and only covers the direct cost of tuition AFTER federal and state aid (including subsidized loans) is applied — it does not pay room, board, or books, and you must qualify for the Arkansas Challenge Scholarship and Pell.

  4. The TEACH 'Loan/Scholarship' is initially a LOAN of up to $5,000/year; it only converts to a scholarship if you teach at least four years in Arkansas after graduating. If you don't, you may owe it back.

  5. It covers full cost of attendance but is restricted to people who have lived in Rogers County for at least three years before high school graduation — a narrow geographic eligibility, not an open merit competition.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

Students who want a guaranteed, no-application, GPA-only merit award at a small Presbyterian liberal-arts college — especially mid-to-high GPA applicants (the grid starts at a 2.50 GPA) and graphic-design or computer-science majors who can stack a discipline scholarship on top.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $42,000 for 2025-2026. Source

Cost and graduation facts

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

Average annual net price by family income at University of the Ozarks, academic year 2021-22
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$14,664
$30,001–$48,000$14,551
$48,001–$75,000$19,291
$75,001–$110,000$18,632
$110,001+$22,836
All income levels (average)$17,360

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$25,950
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$17,360

That works out to roughly a 55% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $38,666 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
51%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
69%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$20,875 (~$221/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$44,384
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
50%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
55%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

University of the Ozarks explicitly labels its discipline scholarships (Graphic Design, Computer Science) as 'stackable' on top of the automatic GPA-based institutional merit scholarship, and the TEACH award 'can be combined with other loan or scholarship programs up to the total cost of attendance.' No published policy was found stating how third-party OUTSIDE/private scholarships displace institutional merit aid.

The Graphic Design and Computer Science scholarships are each described as a '$X stackable scholarship.' The TEACH program 'can be combined with other loan or scholarship programs up to the total cost of attendance,' indicating a cost-of-attendance ceiling on combined aid. The Frontier Scholarship is described as 'a supplementary grant that is awarded in conjunction with federal, state, institutional and all other aid.' No dedicated outside-scholarship displacement page was located.

Source

More school data

From the University of the Ozarks Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated figures):

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From University of the Ozarks’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
25%of admitsget merit
Average award$12,758Covers ~30% of $42,000 cost of attendance

At University of the Ozarks, roughly 1 in 4 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $12,758 — about 30% of total cost.

As filed in University of the Ozarks's CDS Section H2A: of 228 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 58 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $12,758. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 334 of 781, averaging $13,400. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

The 2025-2026 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.

Receive institutional merit25%First-year students, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Average merit award$12,758Across recipients, Common Data Set 2025-2026 (school-estimated)

Source: Common Data Set 2025-2026 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other University of the Ozarks scholarships worth checking

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

AmountCovers tuition, books, and room and board (no dollar figure published)EligibilityHS GPA of 3.2 or higher; FAFSA filed; adjusted gross income (AGI) under $92,000. Requires participation in the for-credit Frontier Leadership Seminar across freshman fall and spring.

Need-aware (income cap) supplementary grant 'awarded in conjunction with federal, state, institutional and all other aid'; renewable up to four years (12 credit hours/semester, 2.0 GPA, good standing). Application reportedly opens Dec 15 and closes Jan 30 (per the grants index page — confirm with admissions).

Source

AmountDirect cost of tuition after all federal and state aid (incl. Direct Subsidized Loans) is applied; does not cover room, board, or booksEligibilityNEED-BASED. Residents of Johnson County (original) plus Logan, Franklin, Madison, Newton, and Pope counties (AR); must qualify for the Arkansas Challenge Scholarship and Federal Pell Grant based on FAFSA.

Need-based gap-tuition program, not pure merit. Last-dollar tuition coverage layered after federal/state aid.

Source

AmountVaries (the University reports awarding nearly $1.7 million per year in endowed scholarships)EligibilityNo separate application; the admission counselor and financial aid staff identify possible matches.

Donor-funded; criteria vary by fund. Not a single award.

Source

University of the Ozarks merit aid FAQ

  • Do I have to apply separately for the merit scholarship?

    No. The automatic merit scholarship ($12,000-$14,000/year depending on GPA) is awarded upon acceptance using only your admission application — 'the admission application is all you need.' Discipline scholarships (Graphic Design, Computer Science) and competitive awards (Frontier, TEACH) require their own application.

  • Is the merit scholarship based on test scores?

    No. 'Merit scholarships are based solely on GPA' — high-school GPA for entering freshmen and college GPA for transfers. No ACT or SAT is used for the automatic grid.

  • What GPA do I need to keep my scholarship?

    To renew, you must carry an average course load of 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and remain in good academic and disciplinary standing. Merit scholarships are renewable for up to four years.

  • Can I stack scholarships?

    Yes for the discipline awards — the Graphic Design ($3,000) and Computer Science ($5,000) scholarships are explicitly 'stackable' on top of the automatic GPA-based merit scholarship, and the TEACH award can be combined with other programs up to the total cost of attendance.

See sources and other schools

How University of the Ozarks compares

  • 235 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.

    University of the Ozarks 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.

    University of the Ozarks 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 University of the Ozarks’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

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