Get merit aid25%First-year students, CDS 2025-2026 (school-estimated)
Last verifiedJul 2026Analyst CC
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The merit-aid verdict at University of the Ozarks
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.
Rules that bite at University of the Ozarks
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from University of the Ozarks's own published policy, not generic advice.
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.
Common merit-aid mistakes at University of the Ozarks
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Who this school is 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.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $42,000 for 2025-2026. Source
Federal cost and outcome data
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 income
Average 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%
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
$14,000 per year
Trustee Scholarship
AutomaticRenewable
GPA
≥ 3.75 (high school for entering freshmen; college for transfers)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
No application required; awarded automatically upon acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no ACT/SAT used.
Renewal terms
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.
≥ 3.5 & < 3.75 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.
Renewal terms
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.
≥ 3.0 & < 3.5 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.
Renewal terms
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.
≥ 2.50 & < 3.0 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers)
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
No application; automatic on acceptance. Based solely on GPA — no test scores.
Renewal terms
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.
$1,000 per year…$1,000 per year (added to each backed merit award)
Annual Fund Scholarship (add-on)
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Applied to merit scholarships that the Annual Fund Scholarship backs; no separate student application described.
Renewal terms
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 $15,000/year.
Full cost of attendance…Full cost of attendance (tuition, room, meal plan, learning materials)
Hazel Carr Robson Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Exclusively for individuals who have resided in Rogers County (Oklahoma) for at least three years upon high school graduation. Highly restricted by residency.
Renewal terms
Described as a four-year award covering the entire cost of attendance; specific renewal GPA not stated on the page.
Notes
Geographically restricted full-ride; the page gives no dollar figure (it covers full COA) and no application/deadline detail — contact Rebecca Willems (rwillems@ozarks.edu, 479-970-3842).
Teaching Excellence in Arkansas Challenge (TEACH) Loan/Scholarship
ApplicationRenewable
View requirements+
Eligibility
Education major or minor; competitive application demonstrating commitment to teaching. Initially awarded as a LOAN that converts to a scholarship if the graduate teaches at least four years in Arkansas.
Renewal terms
Renewable for four years.
Notes
Loan-to-scholarship (forgiveness) mechanism, not a straight grant — counts as merit only if you complete four years of Arkansas teaching after graduation. May be combined with other loan or scholarship programs up to the total cost of attendance.
University of the Ozarks explicitly labels its discipline scholarships (Graphic Design, Computer Science) as 'stackable' on top of the automatic GPA-based institutional merit scholarship, and the TEACH award 'can be combined with other loan or scholarship programs up to the total cost of attendance.' No published policy was found stating how third-party OUTSIDE/private scholarships displace institutional merit aid.
The Graphic Design and Computer Science scholarships are each described as a '$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.
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.
Lesser-known scholarships at University of the Ozarks
Named awards that don’t always surface on the main financial aid page. Each one has its own eligibility 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).
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.
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.
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.
How University of the Ozarks compares across our verified dataset
241 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
University of the Ozarks is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
University of the Ozarks 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 University of the Ozarks’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
