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.

University of the Ozarks· Renewal Rules

Keeping University of the Ozarks’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year: minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified Jun 20268 days ago· CC

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 9 of 9
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 9
Renewal risk profile: low

Renewal risk profile

University of the Ozarks's published renewal rules cluster around a 3.0 floor with no major-GPA gating, which is survivable for the typical freshman with steady study habits. The risk is non-renewal due to enrollment status (dropping below full-time), not GPA.

Trustee Scholarship: 2.0 GPA
Hurie Scholarship: 2.0 GPA
Presidential Scholarship: 2.0 GPA
Dean's Scholarship: 2.0 GPA
Annual Fund Scholarship (add-on): See notes
Graphic Design Scholarship: See notes
Computer Science Scholarship: See notes
Hazel Carr Robson Scholarship: See notes
Teaching Excellence in Arkansas Challenge (TEACH) Loan/Scholarship: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Trustee Scholarship
$14,000 per year
Entry requirements: ≥ 3.75 (high school for entering freshmen; college for transfers) GPA
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.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/merit-scholarships/
Hurie Scholarship
$13,500 per year
Entry requirements: ≥ 3.5 & < 3.75 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers) GPA
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.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/merit-scholarships/
Presidential Scholarship
$13,000 per year
Entry requirements: ≥ 3.0 & < 3.5 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers) GPA
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.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/merit-scholarships/
Dean's Scholarship
$12,000 per year
Entry requirements: ≥ 2.50 & < 3.0 (high school for freshmen; college for transfers) GPA
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.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/merit-scholarships/
Annual Fund Scholarship (add-on)
$1,000 per year (added to each backed merit award)
To keep it: Follows the underlying merit scholarship it backs; not described as a standalone renewable award.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/merit-scholarships/
Graphic Design Scholarship
$3,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for four years.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/graphic-design-scholarship/
Computer Science Scholarship
$5,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for four years.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/computer-science-scholarship/
Hazel Carr Robson Scholarship
Full cost of attendance (tuition, room, meal plan, learning materials)
To keep it: Described as a four-year award covering the entire cost of attendance; specific renewal GPA not stated on the page.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/hazel-carr-robson-scholarship/
Teaching Excellence in Arkansas Challenge (TEACH) Loan/Scholarship
Up to $5,000 per year
To keep it: Renewable for four years.
Source: https://ozarks.edu/admissions-aid/costs-and-aid/grants-and-scholarships/teaching-excellence-in-arkansas-challenge-teach-loan-scholarship/

How families lose this aid

Assuming you have to apply or submit test scores for the merit scholarship.
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.
Counting the TEACH award as free money.
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.

Renewal questions families ask

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

669 of 751 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 renewal claim is checked against University of the Ozarks’s own published materials.

policyUniversity of the Ozarks stacking policy
coaUniversity of the Ozarks cost-of-attendance worksheet
tierTrustee Scholarship
tierGraphic Design Scholarship
tierComputer Science Scholarship
tierHazel Carr Robson Scholarship
scholarshipFrontier Scholarship
scholarshipFull-Need Tuition Scholarship Program
scholarshipEndowed Scholarships