Alabama vs Ole Miss

Alabama

Worth optimizing for if your student is high-stat out-of-state. The 2026 ladder has two mid-tiers many families miss, and the biggest test-prep payoff sits at 29 and 30 ACT.

Alabama is the strongest published merit play in the country for out-of-state applicants: predictable, formula-driven, automatic. UA's 2026 out-of-state table includes two mid-rungs many families miss — Capstone ($8,000 at 27 ACT) and Foundation in Excellence ($15,000 at 29 ACT) — so the ladder steps $6,000 / $8,000 / $10,000 / $15,000 / $24,000 / $28,000 from 25 to 32 ACT at a 3.5 GPA. The biggest single move is 29 to 30 ACT, worth +$9,000/yr (Foundation in Excellence to UA Scholar), followed by 28 to 29 at +$5,000/yr. Everything on the table is automatic with admission — but only official, single-test-date scores count (UA does not superscore for scholarships), and the December 4 priority deadline gates both the automatic tiers and the separate holistic competitive awards (UA Competitive Admissions, UA Competitive Achievement). One long-standing worry has a published answer: UA's own FAQ states external scholarships do NOT reduce UA scholarships; the cost-of-attendance cap applies to institutional funds, with outside sources explicitly excluded. The stacking trap at Alabama is internal — its big competitive packages (Academic Elite, Alabama Prestige) replace lesser UA awards rather than adding to them.

Ole Miss

The cleanest cliff math in the SEC. Best for 3.75+ GPA non-residents and Mississippi residents who hit 29+ ACT.

Ole Miss publishes the most detailed merit chart of any SEC school, and it's also the most cliff-edged. Two thresholds dominate the math. For non-residents: at 32 ACT / 3.75 GPA, the Academic Merit scholarship hits $20,160/yr, which exactly equals the non-resident fee. Crossing that line effectively converts Ole Miss into in-state pricing for an OOS family. For Mississippi residents: the 1848 Award doubles from $2,000 to $4,000 the moment a 3.5+ GPA student crosses 29 ACT, a more valuable single-test-point gain than most peer schools offer at the entry level. Above 33 ACT, the resident scholarship is capped at year-one tuition, so chasing a higher score buys $0. The under-published trap is the January 10 Entering Freshman Scholarship Application deadline; that's when the door to the Women's Council, Stamps, and Provost competitive awards closes, separately from any admissions deadline.

Alabama

• Presidential Elite Scholar

  Tuition value for 8 semesters + 1 year on-campus housing + $1,500/yr supplemental + $2,000 one-time research/study-abroad allowance

  4.0+ GPA · 36 ACT / 1600 SAT

• Presidential Scholarship

  $28,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 32–36 ACT / 1420–1600 SAT

• UA Scholar

  $24,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 30–31 ACT / 1360–1410 SAT

• Foundation in Excellence (out-of-state)

  $15,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 29 ACT / 1330–1350 SAT

• UA Collegiate Scholarship

  $10,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 28 ACT / 1300–1320 SAT

• Capstone Scholarship (out-of-state)

  $8,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 27 ACT / 1260–1290 SAT

• Crimson Legends Scholarship

  $6,000/year

  3.5+ GPA · 25–26 ACT / 1200–1250 SAT

• Presidential Elite Scholar (Alabama residents)

  Tuition value for 8 semesters + 1 year on-campus housing + $1,500/yr supplemental + $2,000 one-time research/study-abroad allowance

  4.0+ GPA · 36 ACT / 1600 SAT

• Presidential Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  Full in-state tuition

  3.5+ GPA · 30–36 ACT / 1360–1600 SAT

• Foundation in Excellence (Alabama residents)

  $9,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 29–36 ACT / 1330–1600 SAT

• Collegiate Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  $8,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 28–29 ACT / 1300–1350 SAT

• Capstone Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  $7,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 27–28 ACT / 1260–1320 SAT

• UA Legends Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  $6,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 26–27 ACT / 1230–1290 SAT

• Crimson Achievement Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  $5,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 25–26 ACT / 1200–1250 SAT

• UA Recognition Scholarship (Alabama residents)

  $4,000/year

  3.0+ GPA · 24–25 ACT / 1160–1220 SAT

Ole Miss

• Academic Merit Scholarship (Mississippi residents)

  $1,000–$10,278/year based on ACT and GPA (see notes for full chart)

  3.0+ GPA · 23+ ACT / 1130+ SAT

• 1848 Award (Mississippi resident supplement)

  $2,000/year at 3.5 GPA + 23–28 ACT; $4,000/year at 3.5 GPA + 29+ ACT

  3.5+ GPA · 23+ ACT

• Academic Merit Scholarship (non-residents)

  $3,000–$20,160/year based on GPA × ACT grid (see notes for full chart)

  3.0+ GPA · 24+ ACT / 1160+ SAT

• Academic Success Non-Resident Scholarship

  $12,000 total ($3,000/year)

  3.75+ GPA

• STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship

  $8,000 total ($2,000/year toward the non-resident fee)

  3.5+ GPA · 28+ ACT

Alabama

19 renewable awards · 4 distinct renewal rules

• Renewable for up to 8 semesters with a cumulative 3.0 UA GPA AND completion of at least 67% of cumulative UA credit hours attempted

  Applies to 15 awards

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  • Presidential Elite Scholar
  • Presidential Scholarship
  • UA Scholar
  • Foundation in Excellence (out-of-state)
  • UA Collegiate Scholarship
  • Capstone Scholarship (out-of-state)
  • Crimson Legends Scholarship
  • Presidential Elite Scholar (Alabama residents)
  • Presidential Scholarship (Alabama residents)
  • Foundation in Excellence (Alabama residents)
  • Collegiate Scholarship (Alabama residents)
  • Capstone Scholarship (Alabama residents)
  • UA Legends Scholarship (Alabama residents)
  • Crimson Achievement Scholarship (Alabama residents)
  • UA Recognition Scholarship (Alabama residents)

• Renewable per UA's standard stewardship policy: cumulative 3.0 UA GPA AND completion of at least 67% of cumulative UA credit hours attempted

  Applies to 2 awards

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  • UA Competitive Achievement Scholarship
  • Alabama Prestige Scholarship (Alabama residents)

• Package runs through 5 years / 10 semesters, covering undergrad plus one year of graduate or law

  Applies to 1 award

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  • National Merit Finalist Award

• Renewable per UA's standard competitive-scholarship stewardship: cumulative 3.0 UA GPA AND completion of at least 67% of cumulative UA credit hours attempted

  Applies to 1 award

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  • UA Competitive Admissions Scholarship (out-of-state)

Ole Miss

8 renewable awards · 5 distinct renewal rules

• Renewable over 4 years

  Applies to 3 awards

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  • Academic Success Non-Resident Scholarship
  • STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship
  • National Merit Finalist First-Choice Scholarship

• Renewable for up to 8 consecutive semesters

  Applies to 2 awards

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  • Academic Excellence National Merit Scholarship (Mississippi residents)
  • Academic Excellence National Merit Scholarship (non-residents)

• Renewable for up to 8 consecutive fall/spring semesters per Ole Miss's published terms

  Applies to 1 award

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  • Academic Merit Scholarship (Mississippi residents)

• Renewable with the underlying Academic Merit Scholarship

  Applies to 1 award

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  • 1848 Award (Mississippi resident supplement)

• Renewable for up to 8 consecutive fall/spring semesters. Fee-specific: scholarship amount is tied to the non-resident fee and does not automatically increase with tuition hikes beyond the year-one amount.

  Applies to 1 award

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  • Academic Merit Scholarship (non-residents)

Alabama

• 14 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use no-displacement displacement.

  Alabama is in the small minority (14 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.

  Alabama 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.

• 63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.

  Alabama is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.

Ole Miss

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

  Ole Miss 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.

  Ole Miss 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.

• 63 of 749 verified schools publish a marginal-value cliff table we can quantify.

  Ole Miss is one of them. Most schools won't tell families what one ACT point is actually worth. At the schools that do, a strategic retake is sometimes mathematically more valuable than test-optional positioning.