Comparison · Merit aid head-to-head

UGA vs Tennessee Merit Aid

Side-by-side merit aid comparison: automatic award tiers, stacking rules, renewal conditions, and what each school actually costs after merit aid for UGA and Tennessee.

Verified May 20265 days ago· MP

Outside scholarship treatment

These schools sit in different displacement categories. That single rule difference can swing what the family actually pays by thousands of dollars when an outside award arrives — the per-school breakdown below shows where each policy bites.

UGA

Loan-first displacement

HOPE and Zell Miller are state-funded and cannot exceed total tuition charges for the semester. UGA outside-scholarship policy reduces self-help (loans and Federal Work Study) BEFORE federal or institutional gift aid. External scholarships of $1,000+ are split evenly across fall/spring unless the donor directs otherwise.

UGA reduces loans first when outside aid arrives. That swap shows up at graduation as less debt rather than at billing as a lower invoice.

osfa.uga.edu lists Georgia HOPE Scholarship as the baseline automatic award that any outside scholarship will sit on top of.

https://osfa.uga.edu/types-of-aid/undergraduate/scholarships/external-scholarships-ugrad/

Tennessee

Cost-of-attendance cap

UT Knoxville stacks state HOPE + Tri-Star (UT Promise, Pledge, Flagship) + institutional Volunteer/Provost + outside scholarships up to the cost of attendance and UT-specified award maximums. Volunteer + Orange & White cannot combine; most other awards can stack subject to the COA cap.

Tennessee only cuts institutional aid when the COA ceiling is hit. That ceiling means stacking is upside until total aid approaches COA.

onestop.utk.edu publishes the $56,170 cost-of-attendance worksheet the math is run against.

https://onestop.utk.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/scholarships/

Automatic merit on published stats

Tiers that award automatically on the student’s GPA + test combination — no separate scholarship application required.

UGA

Georgia HOPE Scholarship
Standard percentage of in-state tuition (state-set rate; cannot exceed total tuition charges for the semester)
Initial eligibility set by the Georgia Student Finance Commission per the HOPE program rules (typically 3.00 weighted HS GPA on core curriculum) GPA
Georgia Zell Miller Scholarship
Standard undergraduate tuition rate (full in-state tuition); cannot exceed total tuition charges for the semester
Higher initial-eligibility threshold than HOPE — set by Georgia Student Finance Commission (typically 3.70 weighted HS GPA + ACT/SAT minimums) GPA

Tennessee

Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Top Tier
$18,000/year ($72,000 over four years)
4.0+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 34-36 ACT / 1490-1600 SAT
Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Middle Tier
$9,000/year ($36,000 over four years)
4.0+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 30-33 ACT / 1360-1480 SAT
Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Entry Tier
$3,000/year ($12,000 over four years)
3.8+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 28+ ACT / 1300+ SAT
In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Top Tier
$9,000/year ($36,000 over four years; $56,400 four-year total when stacked with HOPE)
3.8+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 34-36 ACT / 1490-1600 SAT
In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Middle Tier
$5,000/year ($20,000 over four years; $40,400 four-year total with HOPE)
3.8+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 30-33 ACT / 1360-1480 SAT
In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Entry Tier
$3,000/year ($12,000 over four years; $32,400 four-year total with HOPE)
3.8+ UT Weighted Core GPA GPA · 28-29 ACT / 1300-1350 SAT
Flagship Scholarship
Tuition and mandatory fees for up to 8 semesters when combined with HOPE
Provost Scholarship (National Merit and National Achievement Finalists)
$2,000/year in combination with the National Merit Scholarship

Four-year renewal rules

A four-year award is only as good as its renewal rules. A 3.0 cumulative-GPA floor is forgiving; a 3.5 major-GPA floor with full-time enrollment can quietly knock the award out by sophomore year.

UGA

5 renewable awards · 5 distinct renewal rules

Maintain a 3.00 HOPE GPA. GPA is checked at 30, 60, and 90 attempted-credit-hour benchmarks plus every Spring semester. Eligibility through 127 HOPE Attempted or Paid hours, whichever comes first. Students can only regain eligibility at the 30/60/90 benchmarks; lose eligibility at two checkpoints and you cannot regain it. UGA's +/- grades do not count in HOPE GPA; STEM courses get a 0.5 weight bonus on B/C/D grades. Award decreases below 15-credit-hour enrollment and cannot increase above 15 hours.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Georgia HOPE Scholarship
Maintain a 3.30 Zell Miller Scholarship GPA. Same 30/60/90 attempted-hour checkpoints, 127-hour cap, two-loss permanent ineligibility, and STEM weight rules as HOPE. Falling below 3.30 but above 3.00 demotes the student to HOPE.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Georgia Zell Miller Scholarship
Maintain a minimum 3.40 cumulative UGA undergraduate GPA. Take a minimum of 12 hours of classes per semester (except summer). Remain in good standing in the Morehead Honors College. Live in Myers Hall (the Honors magnet housing) during the first year.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Foundation Fellowship — In-State Package
Same 3.40 GPA, 12 hours/semester, Honors good standing, and first-year Myers Hall housing requirements as the in-state package.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Foundation Fellowship — Out-of-State Package
Same renewal requirements as in-state and OOS Fellows.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Foundation Fellowship — International Package

Tennessee

10 renewable awards · 6 distinct renewal rules

3.0 cumulative GPA at UT, federal SAP, full-time enrollment.
Applies to 5 awards
Show award names
- Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Middle Tier
- Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Entry Tier
- In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Top Tier
- In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Middle Tier
- In-State Volunteer Scholarship — Entry Tier
Maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA at UT, federal Satisfactory Academic Progress, and full-time enrollment throughout each semester.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship — Top Tier
Maintain federal Satisfactory Academic Progress and submit FAFSA annually by the UT Priority Filing Date. Available for first-year, transfer, current, and non-traditional students receiving the HOPE Scholarship.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- UT Promise Scholarship (Tennessee residents)
Federal SAP, full-time enrollment, FAFSA by UT Priority Filing Date annually.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Tennessee Pledge Scholarship
FAFSA by UT Priority Filing Date, federal SAP.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Flagship Scholarship
Maintain academic progress and full-time enrollment.
Applies to 1 award
Show award names
- Provost Scholarship (National Merit and National Achievement Finalists)

Cohort facts across our verified dataset

How each school’s policy compares to the rest of the verified 78-school dataset. Same-category schools still differ in dollar terms; these facts surface where each school sits before you choose.

UGA

26 of 78 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
UGA is in a recognizable cluster — 26 schools share this category — useful framing when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
70 of 78 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
UGA is one of them. The cohort minority (8 schools) only awards one-year scholarships — meaning the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Tennessee

30 of 78 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Tennessee is in a recognizable cluster — 30 schools share this category — useful framing when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
70 of 78 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Tennessee is one of them. The cohort minority (8 schools) only awards one-year scholarships — meaning the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
38 of 78 verified schools publish a dedicated National Merit Finalist package.
Tennessee is one of them. NMF packages typically carry their own stacking and renewal carve-outs separate from the standard automatic merit ladder — confirm those before assuming the headline NMF value is final.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against each school’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set across both schools.