LSU New Orleans Scholarships (2026–2027)
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Last Updated on September 10, 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: ~83%
- Middle 50% ACT: 22
- Middle 50% SAT: 1075
- Average GPA: 3.4
If you have been researching the University of New Orleans, you are in the right place. On July 1, 2026, the school moved from the University of Louisiana System back to the LSU System and took the name LSU New Orleans. It had been LSU New Orleans once before, from 1958 to 1974.
What did not change: the lakefront campus, the Privateers, the degree programs, and the scholarship chart. The award names your student sees on the offer letter are the same ones they saw last year.
What to watch: the university website moved to lsuneworleans.edu, so old bookmarks and third-party scholarship listings still pointing at uno.edu may be stale. And because the LSU System is working through a transition plan for the campus, it is worth confirming that your student’s intended major is still offered before you commit a deposit.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 LSU New Orleans at a Glance
- Meeting the numbers does not guarantee the money. The university says plainly that scholarship funding is limited and that meeting the published criteria does not guarantee an award. Apply by the December 15 priority date and treat the chart as eligibility, not entitlement.
- Fall or summer entry only. Institutional scholarships go to students starting in fall or summer. Spring starters are not eligible for institutional aid at all, because funding is typically exhausted on the fall class.
- You get one shot at this. Continuing students, meaning anyone who has already completed a semester, are not eligible for institutional scholarships. After freshman year the only institutional money left is departmental. If your student passes on the award now, it does not come back later.
- Non-weighted GPA is the one that counts. Every tier on the chart is scored on non-weighted cumulative GPA. The 4.3 on your student’s weighted transcript is not the number being used.
- Outside scholarships can claw back existing aid. If an award lands after the package is built, the financial aid office reduces other aid to stay inside cost of attendance. If funds were already disbursed, the family repays the difference. Report outside awards early, not late.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — LSU New Orleans is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 22; SAT: 1075.
Average net price? About $11,147/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — institutional waivers available.
LSU New Orleans Scholarships and Awards page: https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at LSU New Orleans 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) | $9,829 | $14,665 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $13,934 | $13,934 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $23,763 | $28,599 |
Average Federal Net Price: $11,147 — 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
The out-of-state premium here is small. Non-residents pay $14,665 in tuition and fees against $9,829 for Louisiana residents. That is a gap of about $4,836 a year, which is unusually narrow for a public research university and is often smaller than a single merit award.
Out-of-State Promise Scholarship. Non-resident freshmen with a 26 ACT or 1230 SAT plus a 3.0 GPA, or a 3.60 to 3.89 non-weighted GPA on its own, are considered for $4,000 a year ($16,000 over four years). For many out-of-state families this covers most of the non-resident gap on its own.
Academic Common Market. LSU New Orleans participates in the SREB Academic Common Market, which lets students from member states pay in-state rates for approved majors not offered at home. You must be certified by your own state's ACM coordinator before enrolling, and approval is tied to the specific major.
Scholarships and waivers do not stack without limit. Institutional scholarships combined with waivers and state tuition programs cannot exceed full tuition and eligible fees, and total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance.
💡 The Out-of-State Number That Surprises People
At most public universities, crossing the state line doubles tuition. Here it does not. Louisiana residents pay $9,829 in tuition and fees. Non-residents pay $14,665. That is a difference of about $4,836 a year, and there is a dedicated Out-of-State Promise Scholarship worth $4,000 a year that many non-resident students qualify for on GPA alone.
Parent math: for a student from Mississippi, Alabama, or Texas with a 3.6 GPA, the out-of-state penalty at LSU New Orleans can shrink to a few hundred dollars a year. That is worth putting on the comparison spreadsheet next to your in-state flagship.
🏠 On Campus vs Off Campus Changes the Whole Picture
The university publishes two full cost-of-attendance budgets. Living in a residence hall with a dining plan is budgeted at $13,934 for room and board. Living off campus is budgeted at $4,297, because the university only counts the portion it expects a student to spend beyond what they would spend anyway.
That gap is not a discount, it is a budgeting assumption, and it matters because your student’s cost of attendance sets the ceiling on how much total aid they can receive. A lower budget can mean less room for stacking.
FAQ: Cost of Attendance at LSU New Orleans
How much more do out-of-state students pay?
About $4,836 a year in tuition and fees, which is one of the narrowest in-state to out-of-state gaps at any public research university in the region. Room, board, books, and transportation are budgeted identically for residents and non-residents.
Can an out-of-state student get in-state tuition here?
There is no blanket path, but two things narrow the gap substantially. The Out-of-State Promise Scholarship pays $4,000 a year to non-resident freshmen with a 26 ACT or 1230 SAT plus a 3.0 GPA, or a 3.60 to 3.89 GPA on its own. Separately, LSU New Orleans participates in the SREB Academic Common Market, which lets students from member states pay in-state rates for approved majors that are not offered at home. ACM requires certification from your own state’s coordinator before you enroll, and it is tied to the specific major.
Why does the university advertise a different net price than the federal figure?
Because they measure different things. The federal average net price of $11,147 is calculated for first-time, full-time students receiving aid, using an older reporting year. The university’s own figure of roughly $12,258 is a current-year average in-state cost after grants and scholarships. Both are averages, and neither is your number. Run the net cost calculator with your actual financials.
Why are books and transportation listed but not billed?
The university only invoices tuition, fees, and housing or dining if you use them. Books, travel, and personal expenses are estimates that go into the cost of attendance figure because federal aid rules require them. They affect how much aid your student can receive, but no one sends you a bill for them.
What is TOPS and does my student qualify?
The Taylor Opportunity Program for Students is Louisiana’s state scholarship for Louisiana residents, administered by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance rather than by the university. For an in-state family, TOPS plus an institutional merit award is the combination that makes this school genuinely inexpensive. TOPS is an outside entity, so apply through LOSFA, not through the university.
Will these costs go up before my student enrolls?
Usually a little each year. Public universities in Louisiana typically move tuition and housing in modest single-digit increments. Institutional scholarship amounts, by contrast, are fixed for the length of the award as long as renewal requirements are met, which means the award covers a slightly smaller share of the bill each year.
Does the LSU System change affect what we pay?
Not for the current cycle. Tuition rates and the scholarship chart published for 2026-2027 stand as posted. Longer term, system-level tuition policy is set above the campus, so confirm rates each spring rather than assuming this year’s numbers carry forward.
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/cost-of-education
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/tuition-fees
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards
📅 LSU New Orleans Scholarship Timeline (Simple Version)
- December 15: Fall priority scholarship deadline. This is the date that matters. Applications complete by December 15 are considered for scholarships and grants.
- February 1: Homer Hitt acceptance deadline, with a secondary May 1 date. Finalist interviews run March 1 to 10.
- April 1: FAFSA priority filing for fall.
- July 15: Final admissions application and acceptance deadline to still receive an admissions-based scholarship.
- August 7: Last day to apply for fall admission at all. No scholarship attached at this point.
Parent rule of thumb: December 15 is your deadline, not July 15. July is when the door closes on late acceptances. December is when the money is actually being handed out, while the fund still has something in it.
Automatic Merit Scholarships at LSU New Orleans
Two things make this chart friendlier than most. First, every tier has a GPA-only path, so a student who never tested well can still qualify on grades alone. Second, LSU New Orleans superscores both the ACT and the SAT, so your student’s best section scores across test dates are combined. A lot of schools with automatic merit do not do that.
A lot of schools will tell you that if your student hits the numbers, the award is theirs. LSU New Orleans does not say that. The official language is that scholarship funding is limited and that meeting the qualifications does not guarantee receipt of a scholarship or grant. Read that as: the chart tells you which tier your student is eligible for, and December 15 tells you whether there is still money in it.
Note: All tiers are scored on non-weighted cumulative GPA. Students receive the single highest tier they qualify for. These awards do not stack against each other, but they do layer with Louisiana TOPS, federal grants, and departmental awards, subject to the rule that institutional scholarships plus waivers plus state tuition programs cannot exceed full tuition and eligible fees.
Automatic Merit FAQs (LSU New Orleans)
What is the actual deadline for automatic merit?
December 15 for fall entry. That is the domestic undergraduate priority scholarship deadline, and meeting it is what puts an application into scholarship and grant consideration. July 15 is a later acceptance date, not a strategy.
Does my student need a test score?
No. Every automatic tier has a GPA-only route: 3.90 to 4.00 for the top tier, 3.60 to 3.89 for the next, 3.30 to 3.59, and 3.00 to 3.29 at the entry level. A test score simply opens a second path at a lower GPA. Admission itself is test-optional, and in-state freshmen with a 2.5 core GPA on the Louisiana Core 4 can be admitted without scores and placed via Accuplacer.
Does LSU New Orleans superscore?
Yes, both ACT and SAT. If your student tested more than once, submit every sitting.
Are the awards renewable?
Yes, generally for up to four years of full-time enrollment with a minimum GPA that varies by tier. The top tier requires a 3.0 to renew. Lower tiers renew at 2.50. Check the rules and regulations sheet attached to your specific award, because renewal terms are award-specific.
Can my student stack two automatic awards?
No. Students receive the single highest tier they qualify for. The stacking that matters happens between the automatic award and everything outside it: TOPS, Pell, departmental scholarships, and outside awards.
Is there an out-of-state version?
Yes, and it is easy to miss. The Out-of-State Promise Scholarship pays $4,000 a year to non-resident freshmen with a 26 ACT or 1230 SAT plus a 3.0 GPA, or a 3.60 to 3.89 GPA on its own. Given that the entire out-of-state premium is about $4,836 a year, this one award does most of the work.
What about the Jefferson Premier Scholarship I saw listed?
It appears on the university’s freshman scholarship chart, but it is administered by the Jefferson Dollars for Scholars chapter, not by LSU New Orleans. It is a one-year community award tied to Jefferson Parish, worth about $2,000, and the criteria and deadlines are set by that program rather than the university.
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/deadlines
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/dates-and-deadlines
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
That simplicity is worth something. At schools with a dozen competitive programs, families burn months chasing awards with 2% odds. Here there is one target, about 15 seats a year, and a clear bar to clear before the interview even matters.
What Homer Hitt Actually Covers
This is a genuine full ride, not a full-tuition award dressed up as one. The scholarship rules describe it as covering tuition, residence hall room, board, and a $500 annual book stipend, for up to eight semesters. Four-year value is $75,000, or $18,750 a year. There is a parallel out-of-state version of Homer Hitt at the same criteria and the same $75,000 value, so a non-resident student is not competing at a disadvantage on the dollar amount.
✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at LSU New Orleans?
| Aid Type | Stacks with Merit? | Parent Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic tiers | Not with each other | Your student gets the single highest tier they qualify for. There is no combining tiers. |
| Homer Hitt | Replaces | Homer Hitt already covers tuition, housing, meals, and books. There is nothing meaningful left for an automatic tier to add. |
| Louisiana TOPS | Yes, with a hard cap | Institutional scholarships plus waivers plus state tuition programs cannot exceed full tuition and eligible fees. On top of Homer Hitt, TOPS may be partly or fully displaced. |
| Departmental awards | Usually yes | These are the real gap fillers, especially in computer science, music, and English. See the Hidden Gems section. |
| Pell and need-based grants | Yes | Layered on after merit, up to cost of attendance. File the FAFSA by April 1 for fall. |
| Outside scholarships | Yes, but report early | An award reported late can trigger an overaward, which reduces existing aid. If funds already went out, your family repays the difference. |
❓ Flagship and Competitive Scholarship FAQs
What does it take to be in the running?
A 32 ACT or 1420 SAT and a 3.5 non-weighted GPA gets your student past the screen. After that it is an interview. The academic bar is necessary but it is not what decides the outcome.
How many Homer Hitt awards are given each year?
Roughly 15 to incoming freshmen. That is a small number, but it is also a small applicant pool compared to what a 32 ACT would be competing against at a larger flagship.
What are the dates?
Aim for the December 15 priority date to maximize the odds of an interview invitation. The formal acceptance deadline is February 1, with a secondary May 1 date. Finalist interviews run March 1 to 10.
What is the interview actually looking for?
Fit with the city. This is a university whose entire identity is built on being embedded in New Orleans, and the selection conversation reflects that. Students who can talk about what they want to build, research, or fix here do better than students who arrive with a transcript and a list of accolades.
Can a student hold Homer Hitt and TOPS together?
Technically yes, practically often not. The award already covers tuition, room, board, and books, so the cap on institutional plus state tuition aid frequently absorbs the TOPS portion. Still file for TOPS, since the calculation is done by the financial aid office and there is no downside to being eligible.
Is this school a National Merit or Stamps partner?
No to both. There is no National Merit finalist package and no Stamps affiliation here.
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/deadlines
The Honors Program at LSU New Orleans
That said, the program itself is unusually well designed for what it is. University Honors is 18 hours of honors credit layered inside whatever major your student chooses, earned either through designated honors sections or through an honors contract on a regular course in their discipline. The university recognizes University Honors with or without a thesis, and an honors thesis can be written in any field where LSU New Orleans offers a major, from engineering to business to the arts.
- Structure: 18 hours of honors credit, completed alongside the major
- Thesis: optional, and written inside the student’s own discipline
- Emphasis: applied, experiential, interdisciplinary research using the city itself as the subject
- Contact: D. Ryan Gray, University Honors Director, Room 301, Earl K. Long Library
Honors Scholarships
This institution does not offer designated Honors College scholarships at this time.
A student strong enough for the Honors Program is almost always strong enough for the top automatic tier, worth $5,000 a year on a 3.90 GPA or a 30 ACT. A student a notch above that is in Homer Hitt territory. Neither one requires honors admission. So the sequence for a high-achieving applicant is: chase the academic award first, then add Honors for the transcript, the smaller classes, and the research relationship with faculty.
Honors Program FAQs
Does Honors admission come with a scholarship?
No. There is no honors-specific award at LSU New Orleans. Honors is an academic pathway, and the merit awards run separately through admissions.
Then why do it?
Three reasons that matter for outcomes rather than cost: smaller discussion-based sections, a working relationship with faculty who will later write graduate school letters, and a thesis that gives a student something concrete to point at in an application or interview. For anyone considering graduate or professional school, that combination is worth more than a few thousand dollars.
Is Honors extra work?
It is redirected work more than added work. Honors credit is earned inside courses your student would be taking anyway, either in an honors section or through a contract that deepens the requirements of a regular course.
Can any major do Honors?
Yes. University Honors is discipline-agnostic, and the thesis is written in the student’s own field.
Is the Homer Hitt Scholarship an honors award?
No, and the names cause confusion. Homer Hitt was the campus’s first chief executive, and his name is on both the top scholarship and the Honors Program’s annual lecture. They are separate things. Homer Hitt scholars are not automatically honors students, and honors students do not automatically get the scholarship.
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/honors
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards
⭐ College Specialty
LSU New Orleans is a public research university sitting on 195 acres of lakefront in a city that is also a working port, a shipbuilding corridor, and one of the largest tourism economies in the country. The programs that stand out here are the ones that plug directly into that. This is not a school you pick for the brand. It is a school you pick because a specific program has a specific pipeline.
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, housed in the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering. There are only a handful of undergraduate naval architecture programs in the entire United States, and this one sits in the middle of the Gulf Coast shipbuilding industry. If your student wants to design ships and offshore structures, the list of places to do that at the undergraduate level is short enough to count on one hand, and this is on it.
- Hospitality and Tourism Management (Henry Bernstein College of Business Administration): a hospitality degree in New Orleans is an internship problem that solves itself. The industry your student is studying is walking distance from the classroom.
- Engineering: beyond naval architecture, the Savoie College covers civil, electrical, and mechanical, with a regional employer base in energy, port infrastructure, and coastal work.
- Computer Science (College of Sciences): the department that funds the most undergraduate scholarships on this campus, including named awards for students in the major and for women in computing. If your student is a CS major, that alone changes the math.
- Business and Accounting: the Henry Bernstein College is the traditional workhorse, feeding regional accounting, finance, and management placements.
- Sciences and pre-health: biology and psychology are the highest-enrollment paths, with pre-professional advising for pre-med and pre-law tracks.
- Education: teacher preparation with placement across the New Orleans and greater metro school systems.
- Research: undergraduate research is a real feature rather than a brochure line, supported by the Honors Program’s applied research emphasis and by the McNair Scholars Program for students headed toward doctoral study.
Enrollment here has fallen a long way from its pre-Katrina peak, and the move into the LSU System came with an explicit mandate to recalibrate academic offerings. Before you commit, confirm directly with the department that your student’s intended major is being taught in the year they would enroll. That is good practice at any school in transition, and it takes one phone call.
🔗 Official LSU New Orleans Links
Every link below was loaded and verified on the new lsuneworleans.edu domain. If you have older bookmarks pointing at uno.edu, replace them. Always treat these pages as the final word on deadlines, award terms, and costs.
-
Admissions:
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions -
How to Apply:
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/apply -
Admissions Dates & Deadlines (includes the Dec 15 priority scholarship date):
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/deadlines -
Scholarships & Awards (the official tier chart):
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-awards -
Cost of Education (full COA tables, plus the net cost calculator):
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/cost-of-education -
Tuition & Fees:
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/admissions/tuition-fees -
Financial Aid Dates & Deadlines (FAFSA priority filing):
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/financial-aid/dates-and-deadlines -
Honors Program:
https://www.lsuneworleans.edu/honors
✅ Wrapping It Up
Here is the short version. LSU New Orleans is one of the least expensive public research universities you will look at, in-state or out. Louisiana residents who pair an automatic tier with TOPS can get close to a covered tuition bill. Out-of-state families face a premium of under $5,000 a year, and there is a $4,000 scholarship built specifically to erase most of it. That combination is rare, and it is the reason this school deserves a slot on your comparison list even if you had never heard the name before this week.
The catch is timing, and it is unforgiving. December 15 is the priority scholarship date. Institutional money is fall or summer entry only, and once your student has completed a semester, the central scholarship office is closed to them for good. There is no rebuilding your way into an award as a sophomore here. Whatever tier your student lands on the day they are admitted is the tier they keep.
For a specific kind of student, this school is a genuinely uncommon fit: someone who wants to design ships, or work in hospitality where the industry actually lives, or study computer science in a department small enough that named scholarships are within reach. And for the top of the class, Homer Hitt is a real full ride, tuition and housing and meals and books, at roughly 15 seats a year.
Do three things. Get the application in by December 15, not July. File the FAFSA by April 1. And call the department directly to confirm your student’s major is being taught in the year they would start, because this campus is mid-transition into the LSU System and that is a five-minute phone call that protects a four-year decision.
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Leo Dimilo
Leo built CollegeReadyParent after going through the college affordability maze with his own daughter and finding that almost every “free” resource wanted an email address before it would tell him anything useful. No paywall, no lead generation, just the numbers and the deadlines. More about Leo →