University of Central Arkansas Scholarships (2026–2027)
← Back to college scholarships hub • See Arkansas aid & Grants
Last Updated on August 15, 2026- Tuition, housing, and average family net price
- Automatic merit ranges and qualifier benchmarks
- Flagship and hidden-gem awards
- Honors and stacking strategy
📊 Admissions Snapshot
- Acceptance Rate: ~90%
- Middle 50% ACT: 19–25
- Middle 50% SAT: 940–1130
- Average GPA: 3.6
UCA takes about nine out of ten applicants, and there are two ways in. A 3.0 high school GPA gets your student admitted with no test scores at all. Below that, they need a 17 ACT (or 930 SAT) plus a 2.5 GPA. Applications are processed on a rolling basis and the Fall 2027 application opened August 1, 2026, so there is no reason to wait. UCA does superscore the ACT and SAT, but only for admission decisions. Scholarship money at UCA is decided entirely on GPA, and test scores never enter the formula.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 University of Central Arkansas at a Glance
- Junior year is the year that decides the money. UCA reads GPA off the 6th or 7th semester transcript. Senior grades will not move your student up a tier.
- Part of every award only pays if your student lives on campus. Each academic scholarship is split into a tuition piece and a housing piece. Commuters forfeit $1,000 to $1,500 a year.
- Out-of-state families: living on campus is worth about $8,000 more. Living in UCA housing with a 2.5+ GPA also triggers the in-state tuition rate. So does having a permanent address in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, or Louisiana.
- Two different deadlines, three months apart. The top award (Achievement) and all Honors money close January 25. The lower tiers close May 3. A student chasing the 4.0 tier is on a much earlier clock.
- 15 hours every single semester, checked on the 8th class day. This is the most common way families lose the scholarship in year two. Dropping to 12 hours ends it.
- Honors funding does not stack on top of your academic award. It replaces it and lifts the total to the published Honors number. A 4.0 Honors College admit receives $10,500, not $17,000.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — University of Central Arkansas is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 19–25; SAT: 940–1130.
Average net price? About $15,456/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — institutional waivers available.
UCA Commitment: https://uca.edu/commitment/future/
UCA Entering Freshman Scholarships 2026-2027: https://uca.edu/scholarships/entering-freshman/
UCA AcademicWorks: https://uca.academicworks.com/
UCA Scholarships: https://uca.edu/scholarships/
UCA Nursing Department: https://uca.edu/nursing/scholarships/
UCA Music Department: https://uca.edu/music/scholarships/
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at University of Central Arkansas 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.
| Category (2026–2027) | In-State | Out-of-State |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition & Mandatory Fees (2 semesters) | $11,384 | $19,394 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $11,988 | $11,988 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $23,372 | $31,382 |
Average Federal Net Price: $15,456 — 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
UCA is unusual: most nonresident undergraduates can qualify for the in-state rate. Out-of-state tuition adds roughly $8,010 per year, and UCA waives it in several very common situations.
- Live in UCA housing. Entering freshmen with a 2.5+ high school GPA who live on campus qualify for the out-of-state tuition scholarship. Undergraduate transfers need a 2.0.
- Border states. Undergraduates whose permanent address is in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, or Louisiana are waived.
- Arkansas Act 844 qualifiers.
- Alumni family. Children and grandchildren age 26 or under of dues-paying UCA Alumni Association members.
- Military and veteran categories, plus all online coursework and all summer coursework.
This matters twice over. UCA freshman academic scholarships only apply to in-state tuition charges, so for an out-of-state family the waiver is what makes the merit money actually work. Verify current terms on UCA''s In-State Tuition Opportunities page and Board Policy 630 fee schedule.
💵 The Out-of-State Math, Done For You
On paper, a nonresident pays about $8,010 more per year in tuition. In practice, most nonresident freshmen at UCA never pay it. Here is what that looks like for a family from Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, or Missouri whose student lives on campus:
| Published out-of-state direct cost | $31,382 |
| Out-of-state tuition waived (border state or on-campus housing) | −$8,010 |
| Future Leaders automatic award (3.50 GPA floor) | −$2,000 |
| Working number for a 3.5 student from a border state | $21,372 |
Swap in the Achievement tier for a 4.0 student and that number drops to about $16,872. This is the whole reason UCA shows up on out-of-state lists in the first place.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at the University of Central Arkansas
Can an out-of-state student really get in-state tuition at UCA?
Yes, and it is not a narrow exception. UCA publishes a list of ways to receive the in-state rate regardless of residency. The two that matter most to families: living in university housing with at least a 2.5 high school GPA, and having a permanent address in a state that touches Arkansas (Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana). Alumni family members, several military and veteran categories, and Arkansas Act 844 qualifiers are also covered. Online and summer coursework is always billed at the in-state rate.
Why does UCA keep saying “live in university housing”?
Because two separate benefits hang on it. Living on campus is what unlocks the out-of-state tuition waiver for a nonresident, and it is also the condition for receiving the housing portion of any freshman academic scholarship. A student who commutes or moves off campus can lose both at once. Run the numbers before assuming an apartment is cheaper.
What is actually in the $23,372 in-state total?
Tuition and mandatory fees of $11,384, plus $11,988 for on-campus housing and meals. Those are the charges that land on your student’s UCA bill. Books, transportation, and personal spending are estimated separately by the financial aid office and add roughly $7,865 more for a student living on campus.
Why does UCA charge $11,384 when the fee schedule lists a per-hour rate?
UCA bills by the credit hour, at $372.70 per hour for in-state undergraduates in fall and spring, plus a handful of flat per-semester fees. The $11,384 figure assumes 15 hours per semester. That is not an accident. Every UCA academic scholarship requires 15 enrolled hours, so 15 is the number to budget against.
Is the average net price of $15,456 realistic?
It is the federal average across all aided students after grants and scholarships, which means it blends high-need students paying very little with full-pay families. An Arkansas family who qualifies for UCA Commitment will land well below it. A family with no need and a 3.4 GPA will land above it. Use UCA’s net price calculator for your own number.
Will tuition go up before my student graduates?
Almost certainly, though UCA’s increases have been modest. The more useful thing to know is that the academic scholarship amounts are fixed dollar figures, not percentages. A $6,500 Achievement award stays $6,500 while the bill creeps up, so your share grows a little each year. Budget for that.
https://uca.edu/financialaid/cost-of-attendance/
https://uca.edu/studentaccounts/tuition-and-fee-rates/
https://uca.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition-opportunities/
https://uca.edu/studentaccounts/fee-waivers/
📅 UCA Timeline for Fall 2027 Entering Freshmen
- August 1, 2026: Admission application opens.
- September 1, 2026: Schedler Honors application opens.
- October 1, 2026: FAFSA opens. So do the UCA Commitment application, the UCA Foundation scholarship application, the Arkansas Academic Challenge application, and housing.
- January 25, 2027: Achievement Scholarship, Honors College and Honors Program, and Foundation scholarship deadlines. This is the big one.
- February 1, 2027: Priority FAFSA deadline. Orientation registration opens.
- April 1, 2027: Priority housing deadline.
- May 3, 2027: University, Future Leaders, and Momentum scholarship deadlines. Also the UCA Commitment deadline.
Parent rule of thumb: if your student has any shot at a 4.0 or at Honors, your family’s real deadline is January 25, not May 3.
Automatic Merit Scholarships — University of Central Arkansas
🆕 A Fourth Tier Is Coming: the “Momentum” Scholarship
UCA has added a scholarship called Momentum to its Fall 2027 deadline table, grouped with University and Future Leaders under the May 3 deadline. As of this writing UCA has not published the GPA cutoff or the dollar amount, only the fact that it exists and when it closes.
What that probably means for you: a new entry point below the current 3.50 floor, or a tier aimed at a specific student profile. Nothing to do about it yet except note the May 3 date and check UCA’s entering freshman page once the 2027-2028 chart posts, usually in late summer.
Keeping the money is a numbers game your student has to play every single term. UCA checks enrollment at 4:30 p.m. on the 8th day of class each fall and spring.
- 15 UCA credit hours enrolled every fall and spring. Not 12. Not “full-time.”
- 11 hours earned per semester.
- 27 hours earned in year one, then 30 per year after that.
- A cumulative GPA floor that varies by tier (Achievement 3.25, University 3.00, Future Leaders 2.75 by year two).
A student who drops one three-hour class in week three of the fall semester can lose the award for the year. Summer hours count toward the annual earned total, which is the escape hatch most students never learn about.
Automatic Merit — FAQs (University of Central Arkansas)
Do ACT or SAT scores affect the scholarship at all?
No. UCA’s freshman academic scholarships are awarded on high school GPA alone. Your student can be admitted test-optional with a 3.0 and still receive Future Leaders at 3.50 or Achievement at 4.00 without ever sending a score. Test scores matter for admission below a 3.0, and UCA superscores for that purpose, but they never touch the merit grid.
Which transcript does UCA actually use?
The 6th or 7th semester cumulative GPA, meaning the end of junior year or the middle of senior year. If your student is graduating early, UCA will consider a 4th or 5th semester transcript instead. The practical takeaway is that junior year determines the tier, so a student sitting at 3.72 in the spring of junior year has one semester to reach 3.75 and pick up an extra $2,500 a year.
Why do the top and bottom tiers have different deadlines?
Achievement closes January 25 along with everything Honors-related. University and Future Leaders stay open until May 3. UCA does this because the January date is the competitive window for its most selective money. If your student is anywhere near a 4.0, treat January 25 as your only deadline.
Are these guaranteed if my student hits the GPA?
Functionally yes, but UCA’s own language is careful. The policy says institutional scholarships are awarded based on academic performance and available funds. In practice these are published grid awards and students who meet the GPA and the deadline receive them. The realistic risk is a late transcript, not a funding shortfall.
Why is my student’s award smaller than the published number?
Because part of every tier is a housing award. Achievement is $5,000 tuition plus $1,500 housing. University is $3,500 plus $1,000. Future Leaders is $1,000 plus $1,000. If your student commutes or moves off campus, the housing half disappears. For Future Leaders that cuts the award in half.
Can these stack with the Arkansas Academic Challenge scholarship?
Yes. The state lottery scholarship, federal Pell, UCA institutional merit, and outside scholarships all combine up to the cost of attendance. Arkansas families in particular should stack the Academic Challenge award on top of a UCA tier and then check whether UCA Commitment covers whatever tuition balance is left.
https://uca.edu/scholarships/entering-freshman/
https://uca.edu/scholarships/
https://uca.edu/scholarships/policies/
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
The one genuinely competitive award at UCA is the Schedler Honors College scholarship, which does require essays, references, and an interview. Because it sits inside the Honors College, we cover it in its own section below rather than here.
That is less of a knock than it sounds. UCA’s design philosophy is the opposite of the flagship model: instead of a handful of enormous awards for a handful of students, it publishes a transparent GPA grid that a lot of students clear. For most families that is the better deal, because it is predictable a year in advance instead of a lottery ticket.
✅ What Actually Stacks at UCA
| Aid Type | Stacks with Merit? | UCA Parent Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman Academic Tier (Achievement / University / Future Leaders) |
One only | Your student gets exactly one tier, the highest their GPA earns. These do not combine with each other. |
| Schedler Honors award | Replaces and lifts | This is the one families get wrong. Honors funding supplements the academic tier up to $10,500 or $9,500 total. It is an upgrade, not an addition. A 4.0 Honors College admit receives $10,500, not $17,000. |
| Out-of-state tuition waiver | Yes, and it is separate | The waiver is not a scholarship. It changes which tuition rate your student is billed at. Merit money then applies on top of the in-state rate. |
| UCA Commitment | Last-dollar | Applies after everything else and covers whatever tuition and academic fees remain. Arkansas residents only, income capped at $100,000. |
| Arkansas Academic Challenge (lottery) | Yes | State money layers cleanly on top of UCA institutional money. Arkansas families should be filing both applications. |
| Foundation and departmental awards | Yes | These are the true gap fillers. Separate application through the Foundation portal, October 1 to January 25. |
| Army ROTC, band, athletics | Usually | Generally stack up to cost of attendance, but always read the award letter for replacement language. |
This institution does not offer designated Competitive scholarships at this time.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
Is there any full-ride at UCA?
Not in the traditional sense. Nothing at UCA covers tuition, housing, meals, and books in one award. The closest thing is a stack: UCA Commitment covering tuition and academic fees for an income-eligible Arkansas student, plus the housing portion of a freshman academic tier, plus Pell and the state lottery scholarship. For some families that combination gets very close to zero out of pocket, but it is built from four pieces, not handed over as one prize.
Is UCA a National Merit or Stamps partner?
No to both. UCA does not publish a National Merit Finalist package and is not a Stamps Scholars partner institution. If National Merit is your student’s play, that money is elsewhere in the region.
So what is the most competitive thing my student can apply to at UCA?
The Schedler Honors College. Eighty seats a year, two essays, two references, and an interview for finalists, worth $10,500 annually. The Honors Program tier takes another forty at $9,500. That is where the selective energy at this university lives, and the deadline is January 25.
My student writes well and interviews well. Is that wasted here?
Not at all, it just gets pointed at different targets. Put those skills into the Schedler application, the UCA Foundation portal (many donor awards ask for a personal statement), and outside scholarships. The essay work that would go into a flagship competition elsewhere goes into those three at UCA.
https://uca.edu/scholarships/entering-freshman/
https://uca.edu/honors/apply/
https://uca.academicworks.com/
The Schedler Honors College at UCA
This is the part of UCA that punches well above the university’s weight. The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College was founded in 1982, making it the first honors college in Arkansas and one of the first in the country. It is also one of very few honors colleges anywhere with its own department of full-time tenured faculty, rather than borrowing instructors from other departments a semester at a time. There is a dedicated honors residence hall and a separate honors center with classrooms, faculty offices, and a student lounge.
About 415 students are enrolled across the two tracks, and roughly 80 percent go on to graduate or professional school. The Honors College puts more than $200,000 a year into study abroad and experiential learning grants, which is money entirely separate from the scholarship figures below.
- Schedler Honors College: 80 students per year, $10,500 annually.
- Schedler Honors Program: 40 students per year, $9,500 annually. This was called the University Scholars Program until 2023, so older articles and the 2025-2026 chart use that name.
Same application, same review, same 3.75 GPA floor. The committee places admitted students into one track or the other. Your student does not choose.
- Minimum GPA: 3.75 cumulative, read from the 6th or 7th semester transcript
- Application opens: September 1
- Deadline: January 25 for admission to UCA and every Honors document
- Required: two essays, two references, and an interview for finalists
Honors Scholarships & Fellowships
Honors money does not add on top of the freshman academic tier. UCA’s own language is that an accepted student’s academic scholarship is “supplemented by honors funding to the total amounts shown.” So a 4.0 student admitted to the Honors College receives $10,500 total, not $6,500 plus $10,500. Their Achievement award is absorbed into the Honors number.
The real value of Honors for a 4.0 student is $4,000 a year, plus the private room, plus the stipend flexibility, plus everything non-financial. For a 3.75 student it is a $6,000 jump. That is why Honors matters more to a strong-but-not-perfect applicant than to a valedictorian.
- $5,000 toward tuition and fees
- $1,500 toward housing (only if your student lives in UCA housing)
- About $2,000 as a private room upgrade. The published number is an estimate equal to the Tier 1 versus Tier 3 housing difference, and UCA covers the full actual cost even if that gap widens. Only applies while living in Honors housing.
- $2,000 annual stipend for Honors College, $1,000 for Honors Program. This is flexible money, which is unusual.
Honors — FAQs (University of Central Arkansas)
Is Honors admission automatic for a high GPA?
No. The 3.75 GPA is the door, not the decision. Your student submits a separate application with two essays and two references, and finalists interview. The committee weighs academic record and course rigor, leadership and service, essay quality, references, and interview performance. With 120 total seats across both tracks, this is the one genuinely selective thing at UCA.
What separates the students who get in?
Essays that show curiosity beyond the transcript. Every applicant has the GPA. What moves a file is a student who can write about something they actually thought hard about, backed by references who clearly know them. Generic “I have always wanted to help people” essays do not survive a pool where everyone has a 3.9.
Does my student have to live in Honors housing?
Not to be admitted, but the private room upgrade is worth roughly $2,000 a year and only pays while they live there. Combined with the $1,500 housing award, that is about $3,500 riding on the housing decision. For an out-of-state student, on-campus housing also triggers the in-state tuition rate, so the stakes are higher still.
Can out-of-state students apply?
Yes, and it is a strong play. A nonresident Honors admit living on campus gets the in-state tuition rate plus the $10,500 package, which lands the direct-cost number well under $13,000 a year.
What if my student is admitted to Honors as a current UCA student?
There are entry routes for students already enrolled, including a Track II path into the Honors College and an honors-to-honors transfer path into the Honors Program. The scholarship terms differ from the freshman award, so contact the Honors College at honors@uca.edu directly.
How is renewal different from the regular scholarship?
This trips people up: the academic portion and the honors portion renew under separate rules, and your student must meet both. The honors side expects 15 enrolled hours, 11 earned per semester, 27 earned in year one and 30 per year after, a 3.25 GPA, plus the Honors College’s own coursework requirements including the capstone track. Missing one set does not necessarily cost both, but it costs one.
Are there other Honors funds beyond the scholarship?
Yes, and they are substantial. The Honors College distributes more than $200,000 annually through TAG travel abroad grants, ELF experiential learning funds, and URGE undergraduate research grants. These have funded student trips across all seven continents. They are separate applications, available once your student is enrolled.
https://uca.edu/honors/
https://uca.edu/honors/apply/
https://uca.edu/honors/scholarship-faq/
https://uca.edu/scholarships/entering-freshman/
⭐ College Specialty
UCA opened in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, which is a formal way of saying it was built to train the state’s teachers. Nearly 120 years later that DNA is still visible, but the campus has grown well past it. Today the thing UCA is genuinely known for is health care: it puts more students into physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, and nursing than any other four-year school in Arkansas.
College of Health and Behavioral Sciences — UCA offers more health services and medical education programs than any other four-year institution in the state. The Doctor of Physical Therapy program ranks nationally, and the university also runs occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, athletic training, kinesiology, health sciences, nursing, and psychology and counseling under one roof. If your student is aiming at a clinical career and wants a straight line from freshman year to a professional doctorate without transferring, this is the reason to look at UCA.
- Nursing: The School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, running BSN through Doctor of Nursing Practice. One thing to plan for: admission to UCA as a pre-nursing major does not guarantee admission to the nursing major, which starts in the summer of year three and has its own application due in the fall of sophomore year.
- Education: The original mission and still one of the largest teacher preparation pipelines in Arkansas, covering early childhood, elementary, literacy, and special education. If your student wants to teach in an Arkansas classroom, this is a well-worn path with strong district relationships.
- Business, including something unusual: The AACSB-accredited College of Business covers the expected ground in accounting, finance, marketing, and management information systems. It also offers a full BBA in Insurance and Risk Management, available on campus, online, or hybrid. Very few universities offer that as an undergraduate major, and it feeds directly into an industry that hires aggressively and pays well straight out of school.
- Psychology and the sciences: Psychology is one of the largest majors on campus and connects into UCA’s doctoral programs in school psychology and communication sciences and disorders. The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics anchors the pre-health track that feeds the clinical programs above.
- Honors as a differentiator: The Schedler Honors College is the oldest in Arkansas and one of the few in the country with its own tenured faculty. For a student who wants a small-college academic experience attached to a mid-sized public price tag, it is the most distinctive thing UCA has.
One honest note on fit: UCA is in Conway, about 30 miles from Little Rock, with roughly 9,900 students and a 14 to 1 student-faculty ratio. It is a college town, not a big-city campus and not a research powerhouse. That is a feature for some families and a dealbreaker for others. Visit before deciding.
🔗 Official University of Central Arkansas Links
Everything on this page traces back to the sources below. Deadlines and dollar figures change, and UCA typically posts the next year’s scholarship chart in late summer. Use these pages for final confirmation before your family commits to anything.
-
Undergraduate Admissions:
https://uca.edu/admissions/ -
Freshman Application Requirements & Test-Optional Path:
https://uca.edu/admissions/apply/freshman/ -
Scholarships Home & Deadline Table:
https://uca.edu/scholarships/ -
Entering Freshman Academic Scholarships (the GPA grid):
https://uca.edu/scholarships/entering-freshman/ -
Scholarship Policies & Renewal Requirements:
https://uca.edu/scholarships/policies/ -
UCA Commitment (last-dollar tuition for Arkansas families):
https://uca.edu/commitment/future/ -
Schedler Honors College:
https://uca.edu/honors/ -
UCA Foundation Scholarship Portal:
https://uca.academicworks.com/ -
Additional Departmental Scholarships (the long list):
https://uca.edu/scholarships/additional-uca-scholarships/ -
In-State Tuition Opportunities (out-of-state families start here):
https://uca.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition-opportunities/ -
Fee Waiver Categories & Eligibility:
https://uca.edu/studentaccounts/fee-waivers/ -
Tuition & Fee Rates (official fee schedule PDFs):
https://uca.edu/studentaccounts/tuition-and-fee-rates/ -
Cost of Attendance:
https://uca.edu/financialaid/cost-of-attendance/ -
Tuition & Fees Calculator:
https://uca.edu/studentaccounts/calculator/ -
Institutional Research (Bear Facts & enrollment data):
https://uca.edu/ir/facts-and-figures/bear-facts/