Augusta University Scholarships (2026–2027)

📅 2027–2028 Planning Note: The costs below reflect the most recently published figures (2026–2027). Universities typically finalize the next year’s rates in the spring, and we’ll update this page once official 2027–2028 numbers are released.

Planning tip: At large public universities, tuition, fees, and housing usually increase modestly each year (often in the 2–5% range). For early budgeting, families may want to plan for roughly $1,000–$1,500 more in-state or $2,000–$3,000 more out-of-state in total direct costs once new rates are published.

Average Federal Net Price: $13,976 — this is what families actually paid after grants and scholarships (no loans), based on the most recent federal data. Your specific cost could be significantly lower or higher depending on your financial aid eligibility and merit scholarships. New to Net Price & SAI? Read our guide.

📌 Regional Tuition & Waiver Options

🇸🇨 South Carolina Families: The $68,000 Conversation

This is the single biggest cost lever on this page. Augusta offers a South Carolina Tuition Scholarship that credits back the out-of-state tuition differential for qualified South Carolina residents enrolled as degree-seeking undergraduates in any program. Augusta puts the savings at roughly $17,000 per year, or more than $68,000 over four years.

• How you get it: apply and get admitted first. Potentially eligible students then receive the waiver application inside their Admissions Portal.
• What you send back: the completed South Carolina Waiver form plus residency documentation, emailed to admissions@augusta.edu.
• Aiken and Edgefield County: residents there qualify as border county residents, and that treatment extends to degree-seeking graduate students too.
• The catch nobody mentions: you stay classified as an out-of-state student with an out-of-state cost of attendance on paper. The fee is credited back to your student account. So your award letter may look scarier than your actual bill.

Georgia launched a statewide need-based program called DREAMS, and Augusta now lists it right alongside HOPE in its financial aid menu. Unlike HOPE, it is built around demonstrated financial need rather than grades alone. Basic eligibility is a legal Georgia resident enrolled in six or more credit hours at a Georgia public college, in an associate or bachelor’s program, with no prior bachelor’s degree, maintaining a 2.0 satisfactory academic progress GPA and a 2.0 calculated HOPE GPA. It is new enough that most families have never heard of it, and it is awarded through institutional allocations, so the FAFSA and your aid office are how you get in line.

📅 Augusta Scholarship Timeline (Simple Version)

• August 1: the application opens for the following fall.
• Late October: Early Action deadline. Decisions go out roughly two weeks later.
• December 15: final deadline for the Professional Scholars Program, if your student is going after BS/MD or BS/DMD.
• February 1: the AU Scholarship Deadline. This is the one that controls institutional money.
• May 1: National Decision Day.
• July 1: final application deadline for fall.

Parent rule of thumb: apply Early Action. It costs nothing extra, it gets your student a decision by mid-November, and it puts them in the system well before the February 1 scholarship match runs.

There is no chart here where a 29 ACT and a 3.6 GPA equal a named award for a set dollar amount. We looked, and Augusta does not publish one. What Augusta does instead is automatically consider admitted students for institutional scholarships through a matching system called Scholarship Universe. That is real, but it is not the same thing, and families coming from Alabama or Mississippi pages get tripped up by the difference.

Augusta says it plainly: students accepted after the February deadline can still access Scholarship Universe for scholarships offered by external organizations, but may not be matched to institutional scholarships. Applying in April may still get your student admitted. It may also quietly cost them every institutional dollar for that year. If money matters, get admitted before February 1.

• Students admitted through test-optional review are not eligible. Official scores are required, no exceptions.
• November and December test dates come back too late to count. Test by October at the latest.
• A student may only apply once. There is no reapplying next cycle.
• You cannot be in PSP and the Honors Program at the same time. Pick one.

Also worth knowing: Augusta states a preference for in-state, domiciled Georgia residents, and applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents at the time of application. Decisions land between mid-March and April 1.

❓ Flagship and Competitive Scholarship FAQs

Is there a big competitive merit scholarship at Augusta like the ones at Alabama or Georgia?
No. Augusta does not run a large nationally marketed competitive merit program with finalist weekends and full-ride packages. Its flagship competitive program is Augusta Promise, which is need-based.

How do you apply for Augusta Promise?
Get admitted as a first-time freshman, file the FAFSA, and make sure your HOPE or Zell Miller eligibility is in place. The Augusta Promise Committee runs a comprehensive review of candidates. Meeting the four published requirements makes a student a candidate, not a recipient.

How many Augusta Promise scholars are there?
Very few. Augusta’s own coverage of its second cohort named five scholars. Apply, but do not build a budget around it.

What does Augusta Promise cover?
It is combined with other federal and state grants and scholarships to meet the student’s financial need against full-time resident tuition, mandatory fees, standard housing, and a meal plan, with the stated goal of graduating debt free. It also includes a program coordinator, faculty and staff mentors, the AU Leadership certificate, and an annual retreat.

How do you keep it?
Eight semesters, a 3.0 cumulative college GPA, continued HOPE or Zell eligibility, an annual FAFSA, and good standing with the university.

Does Augusta participate in National Merit, QuestBridge, or Stamps?
No to all three. There is no National Merit finalist package, no QuestBridge partnership, and no Stamps program at Augusta.

🧠 Parent Strategy: Getting Admitted Is Not Applying for Money

At Augusta, the scholarship system is a second door, and it does not open until your student walks through the first one. Institutional scholarships run through Scholarship Universe, and your student cannot get in until they have been accepted by Admissions and issued a JagID.

1. Get admitted early. Early Action closes in late October with decisions about two weeks later.
2. Activate the JagID and log into Scholarship Universe the week it becomes available.
3. Complete the general profile so the matching engine can do its job.
4. Go to the intended major’s college or department page separately. Departmental awards often live there, not in the central system, and they run on their own deadlines.
5. Screenshot every confirmation.

Parent translation: if your student is admitted in March instead of January, Scholarship Universe may only show them outside scholarships. The institutional match may already be closed.

First, several of these are containers rather than single awards. The Allied Health entry covers roughly 30 named awards, the education entry about 25, and the music entry about 22. The dollar range shown is the range across the whole set, not what one student gets. Second, the largest number on this page, the $40,000 John F. Beard Award, is a graduation honor. One health sciences student is nominated and selected each year for compassionate care. There is no application, grades are not part of it, and an incoming freshman cannot plan around it. We include it because it is real, not because it is reachable.

• Music. The clearest path on this page. Every student who auditions is considered for all departmental awards, and Augusta states that incoming students are considered. There is no separate scholarship form. The tradeoff is that you re-earn it: stay a music major, hold a 2.5 GPA, and re-audition each year, with the fall applied jury doubling as the next year’s audition.
• Nuclear science. Unusual for Augusta in that freshmen and sophomores are a target rather than an afterthought. The most recent federal grant cycle deliberately shifted money toward underclassmen. U.S. citizenship required, a faculty committee interviews candidates, and recipients often hold the award repeatedly.
• Computer and cyber sciences. The SteelGate award funds three students a year at $5,000 each with a 3.0 GPA floor, weighing both merit and need. The Rattner endowment is larger and considers physical disability, demonstrated need, or prior academic achievement.
• Education. The GPA bars here are lower than families expect, with several funds sitting at 2.75 or even 2.0. Local ties matter a great deal, with multiple awards preferring graduates of Richmond County high schools. One award specifically targets elementary education students with a 3.0 who are not receiving HOPE, which makes it one of the few pieces of Augusta money built for the student the state scholarship missed.

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Can these stack with HOPE or with Augusta Promise?
Generally yes. Departmental and donor awards are meant to fill gaps that tuition-focused aid leaves open, like housing, fees, and books. Always confirm on the award letter, since a need-based package can be adjusted when new gift aid arrives.

Which of these can an incoming freshman realistically get?
Music, if they audition. Nuclear science, if they are a science or math major who can show genuine interest. Most of the rest, including the chemistry and physics awards and a large share of the allied health awards, are aimed at juniors and seniors or are nomination-only.

If no deadline is listed, when should we check?
Treat February 1 as your default, since that is Augusta’s institutional scholarship deadline. Then check the specific college or department page, because Augusta says departmental deadlines vary and are set by the individual area of study.

Do current students qualify, or is this freshman-only money?
Most of it is the opposite. These awards skew heavily toward continuing students. Several allied health awards go to students entering their final year, and the chemistry and physics awards generally require sophomore standing or higher plus a full year completed at Augusta. If your student is starting now, treat much of this as money that becomes reachable in years two through four.

How do students hear about winning?
Through Scholarship Universe and their Augusta email, or directly from the department for departmental awards. Some awards require an acceptance step after notification, so tell your student to actually read those messages.

What is the single best move for a freshman who wants this money later?
Get into a faculty lab or a department early. Several of these awards reward research involvement and faculty relationships rather than grades alone, and nomination-only awards require a faculty member who knows your student’s name.

We could not find a scholarship attached to Honors Program admission at Augusta. Honors here is an academic and mentorship program, not a funding vehicle. That is not a knock on it. Smaller classes, funded conference travel, and faculty who advise students through Goldwater and Fulbright applications are genuinely valuable. Just do not enter it expecting a check. If a family’s whole reason for choosing Augusta is an honors scholarship, that reason does not exist here.

Augusta states it plainly on both program pages. Because of the curriculum constraints of each, a student cannot participate in both the Honors Program and the Professional Scholars Program. If your student is going after BS/MD or BS/DMD, PSP is the higher-value path and Honors is the fallback. Students not accepted into PSP can then apply to the Honors Program.

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