Arkansas vs LSU

Arkansas

Worth optimizing for if your student lives in one of the nine NRTA states. The catch is geography, not stats: cross the state line and your automatic award can drop by thousands.

Arkansas runs the most accessible automatic out-of-state ladder of any SEC public flagship: the New Arkansan NRTA kicks in at just a 3.20 GPA. For residents of the nine NRTA states (GA, IL, KS, LA, MS, MO, OK, TN, TX), the ladder runs 70% (~$14,738/yr) at 3.20, 80% (~$16,843) at 3.60, and 90% (~$18,948) at 3.80. The biggest single threshold move is not a GPA step but the state line: a 3.20-3.59 student inside the nine states gets the 70% NRTA (~$14,738) while the same student from the other 41 states gets only the 50% Extended tier (~$10,527) - a $4,211/yr gap the data itself calls Arkansas's single biggest geographic discontinuity. Above that, the $20,000 Bodenhamer/Sturgis/Honors fellowships (3.90 GPA, 1430 SAT / 32 ACT) stack on NRTA. Arkansas applies a cost-of-attendance overaward cap, so once stacked awards approach COA, additional dollars are reduced - run the COA math before chasing outside money. Fellowship final deadline: February 1 (priority November 15).

LSU

Worth optimizing for only if your student can land a full-COA honors award. The stat-based merit is too thin to plan around.

LSU does not publish a GPA/ACT-to-dollar grid like its SEC peers, so families cannot predict a guaranteed merit floor before applying. The only stat-automatic award is the Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship, and it is tiny: a 24-25 ACT earns $500/yr, 26-27 earns $750/yr, and 28+ earns $1,000/yr. The full ACT range there is a doubling ($500 to $1,000/yr), but the dollars are negligible against a $36,844 in-state or $53,520 out-of-state cost of attendance. The real money lives in two competitive full-COA awards, Stamps and President's Alumni Scholars, both gated by Ogden Honors College and a hard December 15 priority deadline with no published stat thresholds. Stacking follows a federal cost-of-attendance cap; LSU does not publish the order in which outside awards are reduced, so call Financial Aid at 225-578-1301 before relying on outside scholarships.

Arkansas

• New Arkansan NRTA — 90% Tier (9 eligible states)

  Pays 90% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition (~$18,948/year, $75,792 over four years at the 2025-26 rates)

  3.80+ cumulative high school GPA on a 4.0 scale GPA

• New Arkansan NRTA — 80% Tier (9 eligible states)

  Pays 80% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition (~$16,843/year, $67,372 over four years)

  3.60-3.79 cumulative high school GPA GPA

• New Arkansan NRTA — 70% Tier (9 eligible states)

  Pays 70% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition (~$14,738/year, $58,952 over four years)

  3.20-3.59 cumulative high school GPA GPA

• Extended States NRTA — 80% Tier

  Pays 80% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition (~$16,843/year)

  3.60+ cumulative high school GPA GPA

• Extended States NRTA — 50% Tier

  Pays 50% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition (~$10,527/year)

  3.20-3.59 cumulative high school GPA GPA

• Chancellor's Merit Scholarship (National Merit Finalists)

  $12,000/year ($48,000 over four years)

LSU

• Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship

  ACT 24-25: $500/year; ACT 26-27: $750/year; ACT 28+: $1,000/year

  24+ ACT

Arkansas

10 renewable awards · 9 distinct renewal rules

• 24+ credit hours/year and 2.75+ cumulative GPA at U of A.

  Applies to 2 awards

  Show award names

  • New Arkansan NRTA — 80% Tier (9 eligible states)
  • New Arkansan NRTA — 70% Tier (9 eligible states)

• Complete 24 or more credit hours per academic year and maintain a 2.75+ cumulative GPA. The NRTA Renewal page details specific term-by-term hour requirements. Renewable for 4 years (5 years for Architecture students).

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • New Arkansan NRTA — 90% Tier (9 eligible states)

• Same renewal terms as the main NRTA: 24+ hours/year, 2.75+ GPA.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Extended States NRTA — 80% Tier

• 24+ hours/year, 2.75+ GPA.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Extended States NRTA — 50% Tier

• Cumulative 3.00 GPA and 27 hours earned by the end of the second semester of each academic year, and 30 hours earned in each subsequent academic year. Renewable for 4 years or 8 semesters total. For programs with degree plans longer than 4 years, extra semester(s) of funding may be available.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Bodenhamer Fellowship

• Cumulative 3.00 GPA and 27 hours earned by the end of the second semester of each academic year, and 30 hours earned in each subsequent academic year. Renewable for 4 years or 8 semesters total.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Sturgis Fellowship

• Cumulative 2.75 GPA and 30 hours earned by the end of the second semester of each award year. 4 years or 8 semesters total (5 years for Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture).

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Chancellor's Merit Scholarship (National Merit Finalists)

• Same renewal as Chancellor's Merit: 2.75 GPA + 30 hours/year. Renewable 4 years (5 years for Architecture).

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Chancellor's Scholarship

• Cumulative 3.00 GPA, 27 hours by end of Year 1, 30 hours/year subsequently. Renewable 4 years (5 for Architecture).

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Honors College Fellowship

LSU

4 renewable awards · 3 distinct renewal rules

• Renewable for four years. Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year.

  Applies to 2 awards

  Show award names

  • Stamps Scholarship
  • President's Alumni Scholars Award

• All require 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year, checked at end of spring semester. One academic year of probation to restore GPA if it drops below 3.0.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • University Scholarships (multiple named awards)

• Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA and 24 credit hours per year. Three sub-tiers: Excellence, Superior, and Merit.

  Applies to 1 award

  Show award names

  • Louisiana Tiger Legacy Scholarship

Arkansas

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

  Arkansas 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.

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

  Arkansas 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.

  Arkansas 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.

LSU

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

  LSU 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.

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

  LSU 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.

  LSU 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.