Grambling State is a public HBCU in north Louisiana that has been educating students since 1901, and it is one of the few schools left where the sticker price and the scholarship math actually work in a family’s favor. The whole merit system fits on a single page: hit a number on the ACT, hit a GPA, apply by January 31, and the money shows up. No essays. No interviews. No committee.
What makes Grambling worth a careful look is what happens underneath that simple grid. For Louisiana families, the state TOPS award stacks on top of the university award and covers most of the bill. For out-of-state families, there is a fee waiver worth exactly the out-of-state premium, which means the math can land in a place you would not expect from a school in another state. And underneath all of that sits a donor scholarship list of 63 separate awards where Grambling publishes the number of recipients for every single one, so you can see the odds before you spend the time.
🏆 Automatic merit covers in-state tuition at a 25 ACT
Average Net Price
$19,092/year (in-state estimate)
Average paid for residents.
Automatic Merit
$3,000 to $7,683/yr (freshmen)
No separate application.
Scholarships Tracked
24 opportunities
4 automatic · 20 hidden gem
Typical Qualifiers
GPA 3.0+ with ACT 23+ / SAT 1130+
Benchmarks for top-tier awards.
Testing Policy
Test scores required for merit
No superscore.
Key Deadlines
Priority: Jan 31 • FAFSA: Mar 1
Full-Tuition / Full-Ride
Academic Scholarship (25+ ACT)
Honors College
Honors Program Available
Residency & Waivers
Special Waivers Available
🚨 Easy-to-Miss “Gotchas” at Grambling State (Read This First)
January 31 is the only date that matters for money. Grambling’s admission process runs rolling into the summer, and that lulls families to sleep. Automatic scholarship consideration goes to students who apply before January 31. Miss it and there is no appeal, no late window, and no second grid.
One extra ACT point can be worth more than a year of straight A’s. A 3.9 student with a 23 ACT gets $3,000 per year. A 3.2 student with a 24 gets $5,140. Going from a 23 to a 25 is worth $18,732 over four years. If your student is sitting at a 23 or 24, book the retake before you do anything else.
The out-of-state fee waiver is not automatic. Families read the scholarship grid, see “$9,023 out-of-state waiver,” and assume it comes with the award. It does not. Your student has to be admitted first, file the FAFSA, demonstrate financial need, and then submit a separate paper application to the Office of Admissions. It cannot be faxed, and it requires a 2.50 GPA re-checked every spring.
Grambling does not publish a superscore policy for scholarships. Plan on your best single test date deciding the award, and call Financial Aid if you have a split score you think should count.
Getting admitted is not the same as applying for money. The automatic grid is automatic. The 63 donor scholarships are not. Those live in a separate portal called AwardSpring, and skipping it is how families leave the easiest money on the table.
The published scholarship page has not been refreshed in a while. Grambling’s own page still reads “apply prior to January 31, 2022” and the donor table is labeled FY 2023-2024. The amounts are the best available anywhere, but call (318) 274-3811 and confirm the current cycle before you build a budget on them.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? No — Grambling State University is test-required.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 18; SAT: 915.
Average net price? About $19,092/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity?
Yes — institutional waivers available.
💰 Cost of Attendance at Grambling State University 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)
$7,852
$16,875
Housing & Meals (typical)
$7,824
$7,824
Total (Direct Costs)
$15,676
$24,699
Average Federal Net Price: $19,092 — 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
Grambling charges non-residents an extra $9,023 per year, and it offers an out-of-state fee waiver worth exactly that amount. The waiver is not automatic. A student has to be admitted first, file the FAFSA and demonstrate financial need, then submit a separate out-of-state fee waiver application to the Office of Admissions with supporting documents. It cannot be faxed. Recipients must keep a 2.50 cumulative GPA, checked every spring, and the waiver runs a maximum of four consecutive years.
There is a second path most families never hear about. Grambling's SPIRIT provision lets non-resident undergraduates with high achievement in music performance, dance, debate, visual arts or theater performance be treated as Louisiana residents for tuition purposes. Cheerleaders, ROTC, Orchesis, Band, Choir, other recognized spirit groups that perform at athletic events, and SGA members may also qualify. It still requires demonstrated financial need, a 2.50 GPA, evidence of leadership, and a commitment to keep participating.
Louisiana participates in the Academic Common Market, but Grambling does not publish an ACM program inventory of its own, so treat the fee waiver and SPIRIT routes as the real out-of-state paths here.
Out-of-State Savings & Waivers
Grambling charges non-residents an extra $9,023 per year, and it offers an out-of-state fee waiver worth exactly that amount. Stack the waiver with the automatic academic scholarship and an out-of-state student at a 25 ACT can end up paying in-state rates with tuition almost entirely covered. The catch is that the waiver is need-based and requires a separate application after admission, plus a 2.50 GPA checked every spring. There is also a second route almost nobody knows about, covered in the FAQ below.
💡 What Louisiana Families Actually Pay
Grambling publishes the combined figure right on its own scholarship grid. A Louisiana resident with a 25 ACT and a 3.0 GPA receives $7,683 from the university plus $5,939.75 from TOPS, for a published total of $13,622.75 per year. Against roughly $15,676 in direct costs for a traditional dorm double, that leaves about $2,053 for the year before Pell or any donor scholarship is applied. TOPS eligibility is determined by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance, not by Grambling, so file for it separately at osfa.la.gov.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at Grambling State University
Can an out-of-state student really pay close to nothing for tuition?
The math works out further than most families expect. Out-of-state tuition and fees run $16,875 for the year. The out-of-state fee waiver knocks off $9,023, which drops you to the in-state rate of $7,852. The automatic academic scholarship at a 25 ACT pays $7,683 against that. What is left is about $169 in tuition. Add a traditional dorm double at $7,824 and an out-of-state family is looking at roughly $7,993 in direct costs for the year. That only happens if your student wins both pieces, and the waiver is the harder one because it is need-based and separately applied for.
My student is in the band. Does that change anything?
It might change everything. Grambling has a provision called SPIRIT that lets non-resident undergraduates with high achievement in music performance, dance, debate, visual arts, or theater performance be classified as Louisiana residents for tuition purposes. The policy also names cheerleaders, ROTC, Orchesis, Band, Choir, other recognized spirit groups that perform at athletic events, and SGA members. At the school that fields the World Famed Tiger Marching Band, this is the most underused door on campus. It still requires demonstrated financial need, a 2.50 GPA, evidence of leadership, and a signed commitment to keep participating. Call the Office of Admissions at (318) 274-6182 and ask about the SPIRIT out-of-state fee waiver by name.
Why is the average net price higher than the direct cost you listed?
Because they measure two different things. The direct cost is what Grambling bills you: tuition, fees, room, meals. The federal net price figure also folds in books, transportation, and personal expenses, and it averages across students who are not receiving merit awards. If your student lands a scholarship band, your real number will land well under the federal average.
Does my student’s major change the price?
Yes, and this one catches people. Grambling charges a differential tuition rate for Engineering Technology, Nursing, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Cloud Computing, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Accounting, Management, Marketing, Computer Information Systems, Visual and Performing Arts, and Music. It runs about $235 more per year. Not enormous, but it hits a lot of Grambling’s most popular majors, so build it into the plan.
What is not in the numbers above?
A few real costs. Grambling charges a Resources and Materials Book Bundle at $24 per credit hour, which runs around $720 a year for a full-time student. Dormitory housing carries a nonrefundable $200 application fee. Nursing clinical students pay $300 to $465 per course on top of tuition. There is a $50 late registration fee and a $55 nonrefundable enrollment fee per semester if you use the Nelnet payment plan.
Is the traditional dorm the cheapest option?
Yes. A traditional double at $3,912 per semester including meals, mailbox, and laundry is the lowest housing cost on campus. West Campus bungalows, Tiger Village, Richmond Apartments, and Campus Evolutions all run higher, up to about $10,185 per semester for Steeple Glen. One thing to watch: at the 28 ACT scholarship tier, the extra dorm coverage only applies if your student lives on campus. Move off campus and that award drops back to $7,683.
Will these costs go up before my student enrolls?
The figures above are Grambling’s published Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 fee schedule, and the university notes that fees are subject to change without notice. Public universities in Louisiana typically move rates modestly year to year. Plan for a few hundred dollars of drift and you will not be surprised.
Fall of senior year: Take or retake the ACT. At Grambling the score sets the award, and there is no essay that can make up for it.
October 1: FAFSA opens. Louisiana residents need it for TOPS. Out-of-state families need it for the fee waiver.
January 31: The deadline that decides everything. Application in, transcript in, scores in.
March 1: Louisiana FAFSA priority date for state aid.
After admission: Log into AwardSpring for the 63 donor scholarships. Out-of-state families submit the fee waiver application separately to Admissions.
Parent rule of thumb: Grambling’s admission deadlines run into the summer, but the money deadline is January 31. Treat January 31 as the real deadline and ignore the rest.
Automatic Merit Scholarships — Grambling State University
These awards come off a published grid. Your student’s ACT or SAT score and GPA land them in a band, and the band pays what it pays. There is no separate application, no essay, and no committee. Apply before January 31 and make sure the transcript and official scores have arrived.
Find your student's tier
Enter the numbers you have. We'll highlight the automatic award your student would actually get and tuck the rest out of the way. Leave it blank to browse everything.
Residency
Based on published cutoffs for entering freshmen. Always verify with the college before finalizing plans.
One award, not a pile. Colleges apply your student's single best automatic award. Automatic scholarships almost never stack with each other, though some stack with housing, departmental, or outside money. The stacking notes on each card tell you which.
A student receives one automatic band, the highest one they qualify for. That single award does stack with TOPS for Louisiana residents, with Pell and other federal aid, and with Grambling's donor scholarships. Total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance, and Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
💡
Strategic Detail
The grid pays $3,000 per year at a 23 ACT with a 3.5 GPA. A Louisiana resident who also qualifies for TOPS sees a combined $8,539.75 on Grambling's own published table. Worth knowing before you settle: bumping the ACT one point to a 24 moves the award to $5,140, and a 25 moves it to $7,683.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: First-time freshmen with a 23 ACT, or a 1130 to 1160 SAT, and a 3.5 high school GPA who get the admission application in by January 31. No essay, no interview, no separate form. Meet the numbers and the money is yours.
Automatic
Academic Scholarship (24 ACT, 3.0 GPA)
📅 Deadline: January 31 ✓ Renews (3 GPA, 4 yrs)
$5,140/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.0+ GPA✎ ~24 ACT✎ ~1160 SAT
✚
Stacking & Combining
A student receives one automatic band, the highest one they qualify for. That single award does stack with TOPS for Louisiana residents, with Pell and other federal aid, and with Grambling's donor scholarships. Total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance, and Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
💡
Strategic Detail
This band pays $5,140 per year at a 24 ACT with a 3.0 GPA. Read that against the row above it and you will spot the quirk: a 3.9 student with a 23 gets $3,000, while a 3.2 student with a 24 gets $5,140. At Grambling the test score does more work than the GPA. With TOPS, a Louisiana resident at this level sees $10,679.75 on the published grid.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: First-time freshmen with a 24 ACT, or a 1160 to 1190 SAT, and at least a 3.0 GPA, applying by January 31. The GPA bar is lower here than on the 23 ACT band, so a strong tester with ordinary grades has a clean path in.
🏫 3.0+ GPA✎ ~25 ACT✎ ~1200 SATThe 25 to 27 band requires a 3.0 GPA. The 28 and above band requires a 3.5 GPA and is the only tier that adds dorm coverage.
✚
Stacking & Combining
A student receives one automatic band, the highest one they qualify for. That single award does stack with TOPS for Louisiana residents, with Pell and other federal aid, and with Grambling's donor scholarships. Total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance, and Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
💡
Strategic Detail
The top of the ladder. A 25 to 27 ACT with a 3.0 GPA pays $7,683 per year, which covers all but about $169 of Grambling's published $7,852 in-state tuition and fees for 2026-27. At 28 ACT with a 3.5 GPA the grid adds traditional dorm charges on top for students living on campus. Watch the footnote: live off campus and the award drops back to $7,683. Louisiana residents stack TOPS separately, which the grid shows as $5,939.75, for a published combined $13,622.75 against roughly $15,676 in direct costs.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: First-time freshmen with a 25 ACT or better, 1200 SAT or better, and a 3.0 GPA, applying by January 31. The 28 ACT and 3.5 GPA sub-tier with campus housing is the closest thing Grambling has to a full ride, and for a Louisiana resident with TOPS it effectively is one.
Automatic⚠ Transfer Only
Transfer Academic Scholarship (24+ credits, 3.5 GPA)
📅 Deadline: January 31 ✓ Renews (3 GPA, 3 yrs)
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.5+ GPA🎓 Transfer
✚
Stacking & Combining
A student receives one automatic band, the highest one they qualify for. That single award does stack with TOPS for Louisiana residents, with Pell and other federal aid, and with Grambling's donor scholarships. Total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance, and Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
💡
Strategic Detail
Transfer students with 24 completed credit hours and a 3.5 cumulative GPA receive $1,000 per year. No test scores required, which makes this the cleanest entry point for a community college student with strong grades.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Transfer applicants arriving with at least 24 college credits and a 3.5 cumulative GPA, enrolling full time. Purely transcript-based.
Data last verified Sep 9, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
⚠️ The Quirk Worth $18,732
Read the bands in order and you will spot something strange. The 23 ACT band requires a 3.5 GPA and pays $3,000. The 24 ACT band requires only a 3.0 GPA and pays $5,140. A student with worse grades and one more ACT point earns $2,140 more per year.
Go one step further. Moving from a 23 to a 25 takes the award from $3,000 to $7,683. That is $4,683 a year, or $18,732 over four years, for two points on a test that costs about $70 to retake and can be taken again in five weeks.
If your student is sitting at a 22, 23, or 24, nothing else on this page will pay you back like a retake. Nothing.
Note: Students receive the single highest band they qualify for. The bands do not stack with each other. That single award does stack with TOPS, with federal aid, and with Grambling’s donor scholarships, up to cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
Automatic Merit — FAQs (Grambling State University)
When does my student need to apply?
Before January 31. Grambling’s page states that students who apply prior to that date are automatically considered for academic scholarships. Transcripts and official ACT or SAT scores need to be in by then too. Grambling’s ACT code is 1582 and the SAT code is 6250.
Is there a separate scholarship application?
Not for these. Grambling’s grid says plainly that no application is necessary for consideration. The 63 donor scholarships are a different story and do require a separate application through AwardSpring.
Does Grambling superscore the ACT or SAT?
Grambling does not publish a superscore policy tied to scholarships. Plan on the best single test date determining the band, and call Financial Aid at (318) 274-3811 if you have a split score you think should count.
Are these renewable?
Yes, they renew annually with full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic progress. The transfer award renews up to three years since transfers arrive with credits already banked.
What does the 28 ACT tier actually add?
At a 28 ACT with a 3.5 GPA, the grid adds traditional dorm charges to the $7,683 award for students living on campus. For a Louisiana resident who also has TOPS, that combination gets very close to a full ride. The footnote matters though: if the student lives off campus, the award reverts to $7,683.
My student is transferring from a community college. What is available?
Transfers with 24 completed credit hours and a 3.5 cumulative GPA receive $1,000 per year. It is transcript-based with no test scores required, which makes it the cleanest path for a strong community college student. Transfers coming from an out-of-state institution are also eligible to apply for the $9,023 fee waiver.
Does an in-state student get the out-of-state waiver too?
No. Louisiana residents are already paying the in-state rate, so there is nothing to waive. Louisiana families should be focused on TOPS instead, which is where their second layer of money comes from.
Here is the honest answer: Grambling State does not run a competitive flagship scholarship program. There is no essay-and-interview weekend, no finalist competition, no named full-ride package with a nomination process. We went looking and there is nothing there to report.
That is not the failing it might sound like. Grambling put its money into a published grid that pays out automatically instead of into a selection process. For most families that is the better deal. You know what your student will receive before you apply, you can compare it against other offers in January instead of March, and nobody has to write a scholarship essay to get it.
Where Grambling’s real stacking happens is between the university award, the state TOPS award, and the donor scholarship pool. That is worth understanding clearly, because it works differently from the schools your student is probably comparing this to.
✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at Grambling?
Aid Type
Stacks with Merit?
Grambling Parent Translation
Automatic bands
Not with each other
Your student gets the one band they qualify for, and only that one.
Louisiana TOPS
Yes, fully
Grambling shows the combined number on its own grid. This is the single biggest lever for Louisiana families and it is awarded by the state, not the school.
Out-of-state fee waiver
Yes, but it is separate
It shows up as a reduction on your bill rather than as a line on the aid letter, so it is easy to miss. It requires its own application and financial need.
Donor scholarships (AwardSpring)
Yes
These are the gap fillers. 63 of them, and most families never open the portal.
Pell and federal grants
Yes
File the FAFSA. It is also the gate for the fee waiver and for several donor awards.
Athletic and band awards
Usually
Handled by Athletics and by the Department of Music. Check the award letter for replacement language.
The ceiling that governs all of it: Grambling states directly that scholarship recipients are not allowed to exceed their financial aid cost of attendance, and that awards will be reduced or cancelled to prevent an over-award. So stacking works right up to the line and then stops. If your student is already near the ceiling, an additional donor award may reduce something else rather than add to the total. Ask Financial Aid to walk you through the package before you assume a new award is new money.
This institution does not offer designated Competitive scholarships at this time.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
Is there any competitive scholarship at Grambling at all?
Not in the flagship sense. The closest things are individual donor awards that require an essay, like the Lonnie B. Smith Scholarship and the Ruby Billups Standard of Excellence Scholarship. Those are covered in the Hidden Gems section below, and they are worth $500 to $1,000, not $50,000.
Does Grambling participate in National Merit?
No. Grambling is not a National Merit sponsor and does not publish a Finalist package.
Is Grambling a QuestBridge or Stamps partner?
No to both.
So where does the big money actually come from?
For a Louisiana resident, from the combination of the automatic band and TOPS. For an out-of-state student, from the combination of the automatic band and the fee waiver. Both of those are decided by numbers your student already has, not by a competition they have to win.
Should we still write scholarship essays?
Yes, but point them outward. Grambling’s own awards will not reward essays much, so use that energy on national and community scholarships. Our Essay Toolkit and Brag Sheet Builder will help your student organize once and reuse everywhere.
Almost no university does this. Grambling’s donor scholarship table lists the number of recipients and the remaining budget for every single award. Sixty-three scholarships, 221 total awards, $210,227 in published funding. You are not guessing at your chances. You can read them.
Use that. Sort by number of awards, not by dollar amount. One award of $5,000 that goes to a single senior is a lottery ticket. Fifty-two awards of $500 is a paycheck for anyone who bothers to apply.
Get admitted first. Most donor awards require enrollment or admission.
Create an AwardSpring account. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
Complete the general application once. It feeds every award.
Then apply individually. Start with the high-volume awards, then the ones tied to your parish, your major, and your family history.
Screenshot every confirmation.
Parent translation: skip AwardSpring and your student still gets their automatic band. They just miss the layer that makes Grambling genuinely cheap.
💎 Hidden Gem Scholarships
These are the donor-funded awards. They stack on top of automatic merit and TOPS, they mostly run $500 to $2,000, and they are handed out by a committee that reads applications. Several of them go unclaimed in a normal year.
🎯 If Your Student Applies to Only One Thing, Make It This
The Dr. Neari F. Warner Endowed Student Scholarship gives 52 awards of $500 against a $26,500 budget. Nothing else on Grambling’s list is close. The criteria are broad: an undergraduate who has completed at least one semester, has demonstrated financial need, and shows leadership and a willingness to work for others. Preference goes to Louisiana residents, but the listing says anyone who qualifies will be considered.
Fifty-two slots. Your student will never see odds like that again.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Dr. Neari F. Warner Endowed Student Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$500/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~52 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Fifty-two recipients at $500 each against a $26,500 budget. Nothing else on Grambling's donor list comes close on volume. Preference goes to Louisiana residents, but the listing states that anyone who qualifies will be considered.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Undergraduates who have finished at least one semester, have demonstrated financial need, and show leadership and a willingness to work for others. Preference for students from low-income families. If your student is enrolled with one semester behind them, they should apply. The odds here are better than almost any scholarship they will ever see.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Adidas Power of Sport Fund of Oregon Community Foundation
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 2.5+ GPA👥 ~10 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Ten awards of $1,000 against a $10,000 budget. The criteria are about as open as they get: full time, good standing, a 2.5 GPA, and a demonstrated need with a balance around $1,000. Despite the name it is not restricted to athletes.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students in good standing with a 2.5 GPA and an outstanding balance near $1,000. Ten slots and no essay listed makes this one of the better effort-to-odds trades on the board.
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ Biology pre-med juniors. Priority to DeSoto Parish residents, then St. Landry Parish.
🏫 3.0+ GPA👥 ~10 winners/yr🎓 Junior
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Ten awards of $1,000 built specifically to help pre-med juniors cover MCAT registration and test prep. That is an unusually practical use of scholarship money and almost nobody funds it. Requires a 500-word essay on your goals for a career in medicine.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Biology majors on the pre-med track in their junior year with a 3.0 GPA and documented financial need who intend to apply to medical school. DeSoto Parish students get first priority and St. Landry second, but the award is not closed to others.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Ben D. Johnson Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$2,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~7 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Seven awards of $2,000 against a $14,000 budget. The criteria are left to Grambling's discretion, which means there is no checklist to fail. Volume, dollar value and loose criteria together make this a priority application.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Deserving students as determined by the university. The listing sets no GPA floor and no major restriction. Recipients cannot exceed cost of education, and awards get reduced to prevent an over-award.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Tiger Marching Band Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Varies by aid year; typically aligns with the donor scholarship application window in AwardSpring. Non-Renewable
$500/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~12 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
This is a one-time donor-funded award, so it won't appear on every year's aid letter — but it stacks cleanly with academic merit aid up to cost-of-attendance limits. For band members already receiving institutional scholarships, this adds $500 on top without displacing anything.
📄
How to Apply
Apply through Grambling's online scholarship system (AwardSpring) as a current or incoming member of the Tiger Marching Band; selection is based on donor criteria and requires approval from the Provost's office.
Selection criteria: Preference given to full-time Tiger Marching Band members with demonstrated financial need and satisfactory academic progress.
💡
Strategic Detail
The donor scholarship table lists this as a one-time $500 award with 12 total awards given in the most recent year. Selection is based on band membership and financial need, and awards are subject to Provost approval. With 12 slots available, the odds-to-effort ratio here is exceptional for eligible band students.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students who are active Tiger Marching Band members and demonstrate financial need or other qualities aligned with the donor's intent. With 12 awards given in the most recent cycle, odds are genuinely better than most competitive scholarships — if your student is in the band, this is worth 10 minutes to apply.
App Required
Jessie L. Burgess, Jr. Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Follows the donor scholarship cycle; check current-year dates in AwardSpring for the exact window. Non-Renewable
$4,500/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.5+ GPA👥 ~5 winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
Five awards of $4,500 each — this is one of the most generous donor scholarships on Grambling's list. It stacks with institutional merit aid (like the 25–27 ACT academic scholarship) up to cost of attendance, meaning an incoming tech freshman with strong scores could layer $7,683 in merit aid with $4,500 from this award for a combined package that nearly covers the full cost of attendance for in-state students.
📄
How to Apply
Apply via the GSU donor scholarship portal (AwardSpring) as an incoming freshman majoring in Computer Science, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, or Computer Information Systems; ensure your GPA meets the 3.5 minimum before applying.
Selection criteria: Selection based on GPA (3.5 minimum), declared major in one of the four listed technology fields, and evaluation by the donor scholarship committee.
💡
Strategic Detail
The donor scholarship table identifies five awards of $4,500 each for incoming freshmen with at least a 3.5 GPA majoring in Computer Science, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, or Computer Information Systems. At $4,500 per recipient, this is the highest single-donor award in Grambling's published donor scholarship list.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Incoming freshmen with a minimum 3.5 GPA who declare Computer Science, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, or Computer Information Systems as their major. Five slots available makes this far more accessible than a typical single-recipient donor award — a well-qualified tech freshman who applies has a real shot.
App Required⚠ Upperclassmen Only
AT&T Cloud of Success Scholarship
📅 Deadline: June 1 ✓ Renews (3 GPA)
$2,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.0+ GPA👥 ~8 winners/yr🎓 Upperclassmen
✚
Stacking & Combining
Can be combined with other institutional and external aid up to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Submit the GSU Scholarship/Financial Aid application identifying Cloud Computing as the declared major; selection is made from eligible full-time Cloud Computing students.
Selection criteria: Selection based on major, GPA, full-time status, and academic standing; preference may be given to students progressing successfully in the Cloud program.
💡
Strategic Detail
The published table shows $2,000 per award against a $16,000 budget across 8 recipients. Open to full-time Cloud Computing majors, sophomore through senior, in good standing with a 3.0 GPA. Note that Cloud Computing also carries Grambling's differential tuition rate, so budget about $235 more per year than the standard fee sheet.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Full-time sophomore, junior, or senior Cloud Computing majors who maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and remain in good academic standing.
App Requiredfreshman only
Mr. Truitt Lowery & Mrs. Eleanor Lowery Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$2,125/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ Freshman year only, one-year award.
🏫 3.0+ GPA👥 ~4 winners/yr
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Four awards at $2,125, the largest per-recipient amount available to incoming freshmen outside the tech-major awards. Requires a 3.0 high school GPA. It is tied to the freshman year and does not renew.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students entering Grambling as freshmen with at least a 3.0 high school GPA. Four slots, no essay listed, aimed squarely at the incoming class, which is exactly when families need the money most.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Dr. Donald W. North Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$2,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 2.0+ GPA👥 ~4 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Four awards of $2,000 with a 2.0 high school GPA floor. That is the lowest academic bar attached to a $2,000 award anywhere on the list.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students in good standing with a 2.0 GPA and financial need. If your student's grades kept them out of the automatic merit bands, this is the award to circle first.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Annie McConnell Brown Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$2,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~3 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Three awards of $2,000, weighing academic performance and earnest financial need. Extenuating circumstances are explicitly considered. Real money with no major or class-year restriction.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students pursuing a major with genuine financial need. One-time award requiring Provost approval.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Corrine T. Carpenter Endowed Memorial Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~4 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Four awards of $1,000, open to full-time Grambling students, with weight on academic performance and earnest financial need. Extenuating circumstances are considered, which is worth knowing if your family had a hard year.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students pursuing a declared major with real financial need. One-time award, subject to Provost approval. The extenuating-circumstances language means a short, honest explanation of a rough stretch belongs in the application.
App Required⚠ Sophomore Onlyclass year specific
Doug Williams PeyBack Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ Rising sophomores only.
🏫 3.0+ GPA👥 ~4 winners/yr🎓 Sophomore
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Four awards of $1,000 for rising sophomores with a 3.0 or better, need-based aid already in place, and a record of community service. Named for the Grambling quarterback who became the first Black QB to win a Super Bowl.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Most winners: Rising sophomores in good standing with a 3.0 GPA, existing need-based aid, and documented community service. A tight window, so set a reminder for the end of freshman year.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Onlygpa ceiling
Lonnie B. Smith Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ GPA must fall between 2.3 and 3.5.
🏫 2.3+ GPA👥 ~5 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Five awards of $1,000, and this one has a ceiling as well as a floor. Your GPA must fall between 2.3 and 3.5, which means high achievers are ineligible and the field is thinner than it looks.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students between a 2.3 and 3.5 GPA who are willing to help others. Requires a 500-word minimum essay on community involvement, career goals and how you plan to give back, plus two community references on letterhead.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
Lessie Wilson Taylor Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$500/yr
✔ Stackable
👥 ~5 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
Five awards of $500 with broad criteria: academic performance, earnest financial need, and a declared major. Extenuating circumstances are considered.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time students with a declared major and documented need. One-time award, subject to Provost approval.
App Required⚠ Senior Onlyclass year specificgendermajor specific
The Ward Robinson C'72 Finish Line Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$5,000/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ Senior year. One female CS or CIS student and one female band member.
🏫 2.5+ GPA👥 ~1 winners/yr🎓 Senior
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
The largest single donor award on the list at $5,000, and one of the most humane. It exists for seniors who have met graduation requirements but cannot finish because of an unpaid balance. Two named slots: one female Computer Science or CIS student and one female band member.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Female seniors in Computer Science or Computer Information Systems, or female band members, who are U.S. citizens with a 2.5 GPA making satisfactory progress and who could not graduate without help. First preference goes to students in their final semester.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
The Shade Room First Generation Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: June 1 ✓ Renews (2.5 GPA)
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 2.5+ GPA👥 ~2 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Designed to supplement other need-based and merit aid; can be combined up to cost-of-attendance limits.
📄
How to Apply
Apply through Grambling State’s scholarship or financial aid application indicating first-generation college status and submitting required supporting information.
Selection criteria: Priority based on first-generation status, financial need, GPA at or above 2.5, and enrollment intensity.
💡
Strategic Detail
Two awards of $1,000 for first-generation students with a 2.5 GPA, documented financial need, and full-time enrollment. Requires a 500-word essay on what the scholarship would mean for your education. The essay is the whole competition here, so it is worth real time.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
First-generation students, typically African American, with at least a 2.5 GPA and demonstrated financial need who are enrolled full time and in good standing.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Onlyfirst generationmajor specific
Origin Bank First Generation Endowed Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$500/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ First-generation students in seven named majors.
🏫 2.5+ GPA👥 ~1 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
One award of $500 for a first-generation student in Business, Marketing, Communications, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Computer Science or Criminal Justice. That major list covers a large share of Grambling's enrollment.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
First-generation college students enrolled full time with a 2.5 GPA in one of the seven listed majors.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Onlyfirst generationmajor specific
Super 1 Foods Endowed First Generation Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Grambling runs donor awards through AwardSpring. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024, and no current-year deadline has been posted, so confirm dates and availability with the Financial Aid Office before you apply. Non-Renewable
$500/yr
✔ Stackable
⚠ First-generation students in six named majors.
🏫 2.5+ GPA👥 ~1 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS and federal aid, but total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance. Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award.
📄
How to Apply
Set up an AwardSpring account and complete the general donor scholarship application, then apply to this award specifically. Continuing students use grambling.awardspring.com. Incoming students without a Grambling email use the prospective student portal and set a password with the forgot password link.
💡
Strategic Detail
One award of $500 with criteria nearly identical to the Origin Bank award. Apply to both in the same sitting since the eligibility overlaps almost exactly.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
First-generation students with a 2.5 GPA majoring in Business, Marketing, Communications, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing or Computer Science.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
AT&T Cyber Security Scholarship
📅 Deadline: Varies by year; typically within the general donor scholarship cycle in AwardSpring. Non-Renewable
$1,000/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 3.0+ GPA👥 ~1 winners/yr🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
At $1,000 per year, this award stacks with institutional merit scholarships and other donor awards as long as the combined total does not exceed cost of attendance. For a tech student already holding a 24+ ACT merit award, this is essentially found money on top of an already strong aid package.
📄
How to Apply
Submit the GSU online donor scholarship application through AwardSpring and indicate your major in Cyber Security, Computer Science, or Computer Information Science; selection is based on GPA and donor criteria.
Selection criteria: Selection based on GPA, enrollment in an eligible major (Cyber Security, Computer Science, or Computer Information Science), and general donor scholarship evaluation criteria.
💡
Strategic Detail
The donor scholarship table lists this as a $1,000 award for one student per year, open to full-time Cyber Security, Computer Science, or Computer Information Science students with a 3.0 GPA or better. Single-recipient award, so applying early and presenting a strong academic record matters.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Full-time freshmen, sophomores, or juniors majoring in Cyber Security, Computer Science, or Computer Information Science with at least a 3.0 GPA. Only one award is given per year — competition is real, but the applicant pool is naturally self-selecting to CS and CIS students, which keeps the odds reasonable.
App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only
GAP Fund
📅 Deadline: Rolling while funds remain, but Grambling's GAP application page currently states that applications are not being accepted. Check with Financial Aid before counting on it. Non-Renewable
$800/yr
✔ Stackable
🏫 2.0+ GPA🎓 All Undergrad
✚
Stacking & Combining
This fund is designed to close the last small gap — up to $800 — that stands between a student and enrollment after all federal aid has been exhausted. It cannot create a refund: if later aid (like an outside scholarship) arrives and pushes the account into credit, the GAP award will be reduced or canceled to zero out the overage. Think of it as a safety net that disappears if it is no longer needed.
📄
How to Apply
Submit the dedicated GAP Fund application — linked from Grambling's scholarship page — after exhausting all federal financial aid options including subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans, and PLUS loans; awards are based on remaining unmet need and fund availability.
Selection criteria: Awards prioritized based on unmet need remaining after all federal aid has been applied; subject to fund availability on a rolling basis.
💡
Strategic Detail
A need-based safety net capped at $800 per year, and a student can only receive it one semester per academic year. You must exhaust every federal option first, including subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans and PLUS loans. It cannot generate a refund check. If outside money arrives later and creates a credit balance, Grambling reduces or cancels the GAP award to zero out the overage. As of this writing the application page says it is closed.
🕵
Who Actually Wins
Students with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA who have fully exhausted federal loan eligibility and still have a small remaining balance that is preventing them from registering or continuing enrollment. This is a lifeline award — not a general scholarship — and it is most valuable for continuing students hit by an unexpected gap mid-year.
Data last verified Sep 9, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.
🗺️ The Awards Hiding in Your Zip Code
A surprising share of Grambling’s donor money is geographic, and the eligible pool for each one is tiny. Scan this list for your family:
Lincoln Parish: Ruston Alumni Chapter Coach James Wicks Duncan Sr., Clarence & Earnestine Haskin Douglas
Caddo Parish (Shreveport): Reverend E. Edward Jones Sr. & Mrs. Leslie A. Jones, three awards
Ouachita or Morehouse Parish: Robert J. & Pauline Clark, John & Evelyn Ford Crayton
Greater New Orleans: Crescent City Chapter, two awards at $2,000
Franklin, East Carroll, Bienville, DeSoto, St. Landry, Natchitoches parishes: each has at least one award written for it
Houston, Texas: Douglas L. Williams Alumni Chapter, six awards
Dallas, San Antonio, Gatesville TX, Pomona CA: John & Evelyn Ford Crayton
Chicago, Illinois: General Student Scholarship, for a public high school graduate
And one that runs through family history rather than address: the Hopewell School Foundation award requires a parent or grandparent who graduated from Dubach High School or Hopewell High School. Ask your parents. People find out they qualify by accident.
💻 The Tech Major Pipeline
Grambling has quietly built the deepest donor bench on its list around technology majors, largely through corporate partnerships. If your student is heading into Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, or Computer Information Systems, these are aimed directly at them:
Jessie L. Burgess, Jr. — five awards at $4,500 for incoming freshmen with a 3.5 GPA. The highest per-recipient award available to a freshman anywhere on the list.
AT&T Cloud of Success — eight awards at $2,000 for Cloud Computing majors, sophomore through senior.
AT&T Cyber Security — one award at $1,000, with preference for incoming freshmen.
Origin Bank and Super 1 Foods — first-generation awards covering these majors plus Business, Marketing and Communications.
Ward Robinson C’72 Finish Line — $5,000 for a female CS or CIS senior who cannot afford to finish.
Fair warning on the other side of the ledger: all four of those majors carry Grambling’s differential tuition rate, about $235 more per year. The scholarships more than cover it, but know it is there.
❓ Hidden Gems FAQ
Do these stack with the automatic scholarship?
Yes. Donor awards layer on top of automatic merit, TOPS, and federal aid. The one hard limit is that total aid cannot exceed cost of attendance, and Grambling reduces or cancels awards to prevent an over-award. If your student is already close to the ceiling, ask Financial Aid whether a new award adds money or replaces it.
When are the deadlines?
Grambling has not posted current-year dates for the donor cycle. The published table is labeled FY 2023-2024 with Spring 2024 award terms. The amounts and recipient counts are the best information available anywhere, but call Financial Aid at (318) 274-3811 and ask for the current AwardSpring window before you plan around them.
What about the GAP Fund?
As of this writing, Grambling’s GAP application page states that applications are not being accepted. When it is open, it is a need-based safety net capped at $800 per year, available one semester per academic year, and only after every federal loan option has been exhausted. It cannot generate a refund check. If later money creates a credit balance, the GAP award is reduced or cancelled to zero out the overage.
Is there anything for a student with average grades?
More than you would expect. The Dr. Donald W. North Scholarship gives four awards of $2,000 with a 2.0 GPA floor. The Adidas Power of Sport Fund gives ten awards of $1,000 at a 2.5. The Lonnie B. Smith Scholarship actually has a GPA ceiling of 3.5, meaning high achievers are ineligible and the field is thinner. Grambling’s donor pool is unusually friendly to the solid middle student.
Can continuing students apply, or is this freshman-only?
Most of these are for students already enrolled. Several are written specifically for rising sophomores, juniors, or seniors. This is one of the few pages where the money keeps coming after freshman year, so put a recurring reminder on the calendar.
How will we know if we won?
Notification comes through AwardSpring and Grambling email. Many awards are subject to the recommendation and approval of the Provost, so there can be a lag between committee selection and the money appearing on the account.
Earl Lester Cole Honors College at Grambling State
Grambling’s honors program is the Earl Lester Cole Honors College, built around three ideas the college states plainly: scholarship, leadership, and comradeship, with service running underneath all of it. It has been running long enough to have inducted more than thirty classes.
Straight answer on the money:
Grambling does not publish a scholarship attached to Honors College membership. We looked across the Honors College site and the Financial Aid site and found no dollar figure, no renewal GPA, and no separate honors deadline. If you have seen a number quoted somewhere for a Grambling honors scholarship, treat it as unverified until Financial Aid confirms it in writing. We would rather tell you that than make something up.
What the Honors College offers is academic, not financial. That still has real value, and the money at Grambling comes from the automatic grid anyway, which honors students qualify for on the same terms as everyone else.
How a Student Gets In
Entering freshmen: a composite ACT of 23 or above, or the SAT equivalent, and a high school GPA of 3.5 or above. That gets them into the Freshman Honors Sequence.
Full induction: freshmen who finish the year with a 3.5 overall GPA and want to continue are inducted into the Honors College.
Upperclassmen: a 3.5 overall GPA, an application submitted between the spring and fall sessions, and three letters of recommendation with at least two from faculty.
Graduation recognition: pass three seminar courses above Honors 110 and hold a 3.5 at graduation, or demonstrate exemplary leadership, to receive the medallion.
Worth noticing: the honors entry bar of a 23 ACT with a 3.5 GPA is the exact same profile as Grambling’s entry-level automatic scholarship band. A student who qualifies for one qualifies for the other. So the honors application is not competing with the scholarship application. It is a second thing to say yes to.
Honors College Scholarships
This institution does not offer designated Honors College scholarships at this time.
Timing note: Grambling’s Honors College membership application page currently reads that the application is closed. That is normal between cycles, but it means your student cannot apply on their own schedule. Email the Dean’s office at (318) 274-2114 and ask when the window opens, then put it on the calendar.
Honors College — FAQs (Grambling State University)
Does Honors admission come with scholarship money?
Not that Grambling publishes. The financial value at Grambling comes from the automatic academic grid and from TOPS, both of which an honors-caliber student will already qualify for.
Is Honors admission automatic if my student has the numbers?
Entry into the Freshman Honors Sequence is criteria-based on a 23 ACT and a 3.5 GPA. Full induction happens after freshman year and requires the student to finish with a 3.5 and choose to continue. Upperclassmen have to apply and submit letters.
Are honors courses harder?
They are seminar courses, so the emphasis is on depth, discussion, and writing rather than extra problem sets. Students who like to talk about ideas tend to thrive. Students who want to keep their head down and finish sometimes find them uncomfortable, which is worth an honest conversation before applying.
Can out-of-state students join?
Yes. There is no residency requirement in the published criteria.
What does membership actually get you?
Seminar coursework, the Honors College community, Scholars Jackets for qualifying seniors, and the graduation medallion. For a student planning on graduate school or a competitive job market, the recommendation relationships built in small seminar classes may be the most valuable part.
Grambling State opened in 1901 as a school started by a group of Black farmers in north Louisiana who wanted their children educated. It sits on 590 acres in a town of a few thousand people, and it has been punching above its size for a hundred and twenty years. Most people know it for football and for the band. What families should know it for is the pipeline it has built into education, criminal justice, and now technology.
Nationally Known Program: The World Famed Tiger Marching Band — there is no honest way to write about Grambling without leading here. The band is a national institution in its own right, it has performed on stages most college programs never see, and it is a genuine recruiting engine for the university. It is also, practically speaking, a financial door: Grambling’s SPIRIT provision can classify out-of-state band members as Louisiana residents for tuition purposes, and there is a dedicated Tiger Marching Band scholarship with twelve awards. If your student plays, this is not an extracurricular. It is part of the financial plan.
Criminal Justice: Grambling’s largest undergraduate program by degrees awarded. Deep regional placement into law enforcement, corrections, and public agencies across Louisiana and the Gulf South.
Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and Computer Science: the fastest-moving area on campus. Grambling has built corporate partnerships that fund named scholarships specifically for these majors, including the AT&T Cloud of Success and AT&T Cyber Security awards and the $4,500 Jessie L. Burgess Scholarship for incoming tech freshmen. Very few schools this size have that kind of dedicated industry money for undergraduates.
Nursing: a long-standing program with its own facility and clinical placements. Budget for the additional nursing course fees, which run $300 to $465 per clinical course.
Education: Grambling has produced teachers for Louisiana schools for over a century, and it shows in the donor list, where multiple scholarships are written specifically for education majors and future teachers.
Business: Accounting, Management, Marketing and CIS all sit in the College of Business with their own donor awards attached, including several written for freshmen and sophomores.
Mass Communication: Grambling runs its own radio station, KGRM, and the student newspaper, The Gramblinite, which give communication students something to actually put on a reel before they graduate.
Biology and pre-health: the second-largest degree area, with a dedicated scholarship that exists specifically to help pre-med juniors pay for the MCAT and test prep. That is an unusually practical piece of support.
One thing to weigh honestly: Grambling is a small school in a small town. Enrollment is right around 4,900 and the campus sits about an hour east of Shreveport. For a student who wants to be known by name and who will use a close campus community, that is the whole appeal. For a student who wants a big city at the edge of campus, it is worth a visit before committing. Campus tours run Monday through Thursday from 10am to 2pm and Friday at 10am.
🔗 Official Grambling State University Links
Every link below was checked and working. Use these to confirm deadlines, award amounts, and cost figures before you make a decision. If something on our page and something on Grambling’s page disagree, Grambling wins.
Grambling’s website is not updated as often as it should be, so a five minute phone call will settle more than an hour of reading. Financial Aid: (318) 274-3811. Office of Admissions: (318) 274-6182, and this is the number to use for out-of-state fee waiver and SPIRIT questions. Honors College Dean’s office: (318) 274-2114.
✅ Wrapping It Up
Grambling does not make you guess. That is the whole story. There is a grid, your student’s ACT score puts them on a row of it, and the row pays what it says it pays. No essay is going to move that number and no interview is going to change it. Which means the highest-leverage thing you can do for your family, by a wide margin, is get one or two more points on the ACT before January 31. Two points is worth $18,732 over four years here. There is no other lever on this page that comes close.
For Louisiana families, run the TOPS numbers before you write Grambling off as a fallback. The combined award at a 25 ACT is $13,622.75 a year against about $15,676 in direct costs, and that is before Pell or a single donor scholarship. For out-of-state families, understand that the fee waiver is real and worth exactly the non-resident premium, but it is need-based and requires its own application after admission. And if your student is in the band, in the choir, in theater, or in ROTC, call Admissions and ask about SPIRIT by name. That one conversation has changed more Grambling budgets than anything else on this page.
Then open AwardSpring. Sixty-three donor scholarships, 221 awards, and Grambling publishes the odds for every one of them. Fifty-two of those awards come from a single fund. That is the layer families skip, and it is the layer that turns a manageable price into a genuinely cheap one.
Your kid did everything right. That does not mean the money follows.
Most families build a college list first and think about scholarships second, which is backwards. This free four-part series shows you where the money actually comes from, and how to build a list around it.
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Leo built CollegeReadyParent after going through the college affordability process with his own daughter and finding almost nothing written for regular families. Every page here is free, ungated, and researched against the school’s own published documents. No lead generation, no paywall, no upsell.
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