Kennesaw State University Scholarships (2026–2027)
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Last Updated on September 8, 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: ~79%
- Middle 50% ACT: 22
- Middle 50% SAT: 1111
- Average GPA: 3.48
This is the single most useful thing to understand about Kennesaw State, and almost nobody says it out loud. In KSU’s own Common Data Set, the university reports that exactly two factors are “very important” in a first-year admission decision: academic GPA and standardized test scores. That is the entire list.
Everything else is formally marked “not considered.” Not the essay. Not recommendation letters. Not class rank, rigor of coursework, extracurriculars, leadership, volunteer work, first-generation status, or whether your student showed demonstrated interest by visiting campus three times.
Parent translation: if your student is agonizing over a personal statement for KSU, they are spending time on something that will not move the needle. Put that energy into the GPA, the test score, and hitting the November deadline. Save the essay effort for the Honors College application, where it genuinely does matter, and for schools that read them.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 Kennesaw State University at a Glance
- The GPA floor rises to 3.0 for Fall 2027. Students applying for Spring or Summer 2027 can still be admitted at a 2.5. Starting with the Fall 2027 class, the minimum is a 3.0 on KSU’s recalculated scale. If your student is a current junior, this change applies to them.
- KSU is not test-optional. A lot of families assume every public university dropped the requirement. KSU did not. First-year applicants must submit official SAT or ACT scores. Minimums are ACT 18 English or Reading plus 18 Math, or SAT 500 reading and writing plus 490 Math.
- There is no automatic merit scholarship grid. Hitting a certain ACT score does not trigger an award at KSU the way it does at Alabama or Mississippi State. What replaces it is Georgia HOPE and Zell Miller for residents, and a tuition waiver for non-residents.
- Superscoring works inside one test, not across two. KSU will take your best reading section from one SAT date and your best math from another. It will not mix an SAT score with an ACT score.
- No Early Action and no Early Decision. KSU releases decisions on a rolling basis beginning August 1. Applying early still matters enormously, just for a different reason: housing, orientation, and the out-of-state waiver.
- The housing deposit is $200, due August 1, and it is not refundable. Not partially. Not at all. Budget for it as a real expense, not a placeholder.
- Which campus your student attends depends on their major. Engineering and engineering technology sit on the Marietta campus, about twenty minutes from Kennesaw. Families routinely tour one campus and enroll into the other.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? No — Kennesaw State University is test-required.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 22; SAT: 1111.
Average net price? About $17,566/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — participates in ACM.
KSU Journey Honors College Out-of-State Tuition Waiver: https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/tuition-waiver.php
Kennesaw State Coca-Cola Scholars Program: https://campus.kennesaw.edu/faculty-staff/academic-affairs/student-success/programs/coca-cola-scholars/index.php
KSU Out-of-State Tuition Waivers and Scholarships: https://www.kennesaw.edu/admissions/undergraduate/out-of-state-tuition/index.php
KSU Journey Honors College Scholarships: https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/scholarships/index.php
Kennesaw State Student Scholarships: https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/scholarships/students.php
KSU Journey Honors College Cohorts: https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/admission/cohorts.php
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at Kennesaw 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) | $6,948 | $22,848 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $14,348 | $14,348 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $21,296 | $37,196 |
Average Federal Net Price: $17,566 — 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
Kennesaw State has three separate paths that can cut the out-of-state price, and they do not work the same way.
Flight to Excellence Scholarship. A competitive waiver from Undergraduate Admissions that drops non-resident tuition to the Georgia in-state rate. Freshmen need a KSU-recalculated high school GPA of 3.5 plus a 1050 SAT, 20 ACT composite, or 68 CLT. Transfers need 30 or more transferable hours and a 3.3 college GPA. A limited number are awarded and meeting the minimum does not guarantee one. Recipients still owe all mandatory fees.
Presidential Academic Out-of-State Tuition Waiver. The same in-state rate reduction, but run through the KSU Journey Honors College and awarded on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis to out-of-state and international students admitted to Honors. Renewable as long as the student stays in good standing with Honors.
Academic Common Market. Georgia participates in the SREB Academic Common Market. If your home state does not offer your specific degree program at a public institution and that program is certified for your state, you may qualify for in-state tuition at KSU. You must be certified by your home state coordinator first, then admitted to the specific program.
For a Georgia family, KSU’s in-state tuition and fees run about $6,948 for the year. Georgia HOPE covers a set percentage of tuition and Zell Miller covers the standard tuition rate outright, which is why so many Georgia students at KSU end up paying housing and fees and very little else on the tuition line.
For an out-of-state family, tuition and fees run about $22,848. But KSU runs two separate programs that reclassify a non-resident to the in-state tuition rate. The tuition difference is roughly $15,900 a year, or about $63,600 over four years. That single decision matters more than every scholarship on this page combined. We cover both paths in the Flagship Scholarships and Honors sections.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at Kennesaw State University
How much is Kennesaw State per year in 2026-2027?
Tuition and mandatory fees are about $6,948 in-state and $22,848 out-of-state for a full-time student taking 15 credit hours. Add roughly $14,348 for on-campus housing and a meal plan. KSU’s own published cost of attendance, which also folds in books, transportation, and personal spending, lands near $29,077 in-state and $44,977 out-of-state for a student living on campus.
Can out-of-state students get in-state tuition at KSU?
Yes, and this is the most valuable thing on this page. There are three routes. The Flight to Excellence Scholarship is a competitive waiver from Undergraduate Admissions for students with a 3.5 recalculated high school GPA plus a 1050 SAT, 20 ACT, or 68 CLT. The Presidential Academic Out-of-State Tuition Waiver runs through the Journey Honors College and is awarded first-come, first-served. The Academic Common Market covers students from other SREB states pursuing a certified degree program their home state does not offer. All three drop tuition to the Georgia resident rate. None of them waive the mandatory fees.
Why does KSU charge tuition per credit hour instead of a flat full-time rate?
Because the University System of Georgia sets rates that way. KSU bills each credit hour up to 15, so a student taking 12 hours pays meaningfully less than one taking 15. That sounds like a way to save money, and it is a trap. Taking 12 hours a semester means 24 hours a year, and most bachelor’s degrees need 120. That is a five-year plan. The fifth year costs far more than the credits you skipped.
Is the average net price of $17,566 what we will actually pay?
That is the federal average after grants and scholarships across all aided students, and it hides an enormous spread. A Georgia resident with Zell Miller who commutes from home can land far below it. An out-of-state student without a tuition waiver, living on campus, will land far above it. Run KSU’s net price calculator with your actual numbers before you draw any conclusions from that average.
Does living at home really save that much?
Yes, and at KSU more than most places. KSU’s cost of attendance lists on-campus housing at $9,332 versus $2,434 for a student living with a parent. Sixty-seven percent of KSU undergraduates commute. This is a commuter-heavy campus by design, sitting in metro Atlanta, and choosing to live at home is normal here rather than unusual.
Do tuition rates go up each year?
Usually, though KSU has been unusually restrained. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approves rates for all member institutions, typically at its April meeting. In-state tuition and fees at KSU came in flat between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 because a small tuition increase was offset by a small fee decrease. Do not count on that repeating. Budget for modest annual increases.
What is not in the tuition and fees number?
A parking permit, for one. The mandatory parking fee on your bill is an infrastructure fee, not a permit, and a permit costs extra. Also books at roughly $1,500, transportation at about $2,222, personal expenses near $3,995, and the non-refundable $200 housing deposit due August 1.
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/student-resources/cost-of-attendance.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/fiscal-services/bursar/tuition-fees/index.php
Automatic Merit Scholarships — Kennesaw State University
There is no published chart where a 3.5 GPA and a 26 ACT gets your student a guaranteed $8,000 a year. Plenty of Southern publics work that way. KSU does not. We could pad this section to make the page look fuller, but you would plan around a scholarship that does not exist, and that is worse than an honest empty space.
Here is what fills that gap instead, and for most families it is worth considerably more than a merit grid would be.
If You Live in Georgia: HOPE and Zell Miller Are Your Automatic Merit
Georgia’s lottery-funded scholarships are automatic in the truest sense. They are awarded on GPA, they require no essay, no interview, and no separate scholarship competition, and they follow your student to any eligible Georgia public college including KSU. For a Georgia family, this is the money.
| Award | Roughly What It Takes | What It Covers at KSU |
|---|---|---|
| Zell Miller Scholarship | Higher GPA threshold plus a qualifying SAT or ACT score | The full standard tuition rate. Not fees, not housing, not books. |
| HOPE Scholarship | Lower GPA threshold, no test score required | A set percentage of the standard tuition rate, which the state adjusts periodically. |
GPA cutoffs, award percentages, and test requirements are set by the state and change, so we do not print hard numbers here that could go stale. Confirm the current year’s rules through KSU’s HOPE and Zell Miller page and GAfutures before you plan around them.
HOPE and Zell cover tuition. They do not cover the roughly $1,188 in mandatory fees, and they do not touch housing, meals, or books. A family that hears “full tuition” and mentally checks the box for “college is paid for” is in for a surprise when the first bill arrives with $14,000 of housing and dining on it. Plan for HOPE to solve one line of the bill, not the whole bill.
If You Live Outside Georgia: The Waiver Is Your Automatic Merit
HOPE and Zell are for Georgia residents only. There is no equivalent for a family in Ohio or Texas. What there is instead is a pair of programs that reclassify your student to the Georgia in-state tuition rate, which is worth about $15,900 a year. That is a bigger number than the top automatic award at most schools that do publish a grid.
Both are covered in detail further down: the Flight to Excellence Scholarship and the Presidential Academic Out-of-State Tuition Waiver. If you are reading this page from outside Georgia, those two sections are the reason to keep scrolling.
This institution does not offer designated Automatic Merit scholarships at this time.
📅 KSU Timeline for a Fall 2027 Start (Simple Version)
- August 1, 2026: The KSU application opens. Honors cohort applications open the same day.
- November 1 (November 2, 2026, since the 1st is a Sunday): Priority application deadline. This is the real deadline. It controls early access to housing and orientation, and it is the deadline for out-of-state waiver consideration.
- November 16, 2026: Supporting documents due for priority applicants. Transcripts and official test scores must actually arrive, not just be requested.
- November 1, 2026: ScholarshipUniverse opens for the annual institutional scholarship cycle.
- December 15, 2026: Honors cohort and priority deadline. Miss this and cohort scholarships are gone even if Honors admission is still open.
- March 1, 2027: ScholarshipUniverse closes. This is the hard stop for KSU Foundation, departmental, and Honors scholarships.
- June 30, 2027: Final Honors College application deadline.
- July 1, 2027: Final admission deadline, and the last date test scores can arrive.
- August 1, 2027: Housing deposit due, $200, non-refundable.
Parent rule of thumb: treat early November as your family’s real deadline. Everything valuable at KSU, including the waiver and the best housing, keys off that date. July 1 is when you can still get admitted, not when you can still get money.
Automatic Merit — FAQs (Kennesaw State University)
Does Kennesaw State offer automatic scholarships based on ACT or SAT scores?
No. KSU does not publish a guaranteed merit grid tied to test scores and GPA. Institutional scholarships at KSU are awarded through ScholarshipUniverse, through the Journey Honors College, or through the competitive out-of-state waiver programs. All of them require your student to actually apply.
Then why do test scores matter so much at KSU?
Because they gate admission, not merit. KSU requires the SAT or ACT and, per its own Common Data Set, treats test scores and GPA as the only two factors that carry real weight in the admission decision. Scores also set the floor for the Flight to Excellence waiver at 1050 SAT or 20 ACT, and for Honors admission at 1200 SAT or 25 ACT.
Does KSU superscore?
Yes, within a single test. KSU takes the highest reading and writing section and the highest math section across your SAT dates, and the highest English or Reading and highest Math across your ACT dates. It will not combine an SAT section with an ACT section. Send every score report you have.
Is applying early worth it if there is no Early Action?
Very much so, just not for the reason families expect. There is no admissions advantage from an Early Action plan because KSU does not have one. The advantage is that the November priority deadline controls housing sign-up, orientation slots, and out-of-state waiver consideration. Decisions release on a rolling basis starting August 1, so an early complete application also means an early answer.
Can my student stack HOPE with KSU scholarships?
Generally yes. KSU’s financial aid office says scholarship dollars can typically be combined with other merit awards and aid, with one hard ceiling: total aid cannot exceed your cost of attendance. That ceiling is what usually stops a stack, not a rule against stacking.
Are these renewable?
HOPE and Zell renew based on state-set checkpoints tied to credit hours earned and college GPA. KSU institutional and Honors scholarships are mostly renewable up to four years, but many require you to refile the ScholarshipUniverse application every single year. That is the most common way students quietly lose money they already had.
https://www.kennesaw.edu/admissions/undergraduate/admission-requirements/freshman.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/scholarships/index.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/data-strategy/institutional-research/publications/common-data-set/index.php
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
What KSU has instead is one competitive award that is worth more than most flagship scholarships anywhere, and it is only available to families who live outside Georgia.
The Out-of-State Waiver, Explained Like It’s Math
For 2026-2027, a non-resident at KSU pays $21,660 in tuition. A Georgia resident pays $5,760. The Flight to Excellence Scholarship does not hand your student a check. It moves them from the first number to the second one. The gap is about $15,900 a year, and roughly $63,600 over a four-year degree.
Two things families miss. First, the waiver covers the tuition differential only. Your student still owes all mandatory fees, about $1,188 a year. Second, and this is the important one: there is no separate scholarship application for freshmen. The admission application is the application. Which means the admission deadline is your scholarship deadline, and if you treat July 1 as your target you have already lost the money.
| Who | What KSU Requires | Fall 2027 Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| First-time freshmen | 3.5 KSU-recalculated high school GPA, on track for the 17-unit Required High School Curriculum, plus a 1050 SAT, 20 ACT composite, or 68 CLT | November 2, 2026 |
| Transfer students | At least 30 transferable semester hours and a 3.3 cumulative college GPA across every institution attended | Confirm directly with Admissions |
| Spring 2027 entry | Same criteria as above | November 16, 2026 |
| Home-educated applicants | Evaluated on the SAT, ACT, or CLT standard alone | November 2, 2026 |
Note: KSU’s waiver page currently lists the Fall 2027 transfer date as April 1, 2026, which falls before the freshman deadline and is almost certainly a typo for 2027. Call Undergraduate Admissions at 470-578-4636 or email KSUadmit@kennesaw.edu rather than planning around it.
Out-of-state students make up under three percent of KSU’s entering first-year class. That is a strikingly small number for a university of more than 51,000 students. Whatever competition exists for this waiver, it is not the thousands-deep applicant pool you would face at a school that recruits nationally. If your student clears the 3.5 and 1050, they are competing against a very short line.
KSU is explicit that meeting the minimum does not guarantee a waiver and that preference goes to students who exceed the GPA requirement. Clear the bar comfortably, not barely, and get the application in during August or September rather than the first week of November.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
Is there a separate application for the Flight to Excellence Scholarship?
Not for freshmen. Undergraduate Admissions reviews eligible out-of-state and international applicants from the admission pool and invites students to move forward. KSU updates the process each cycle and posts details around early September, so check the out-of-state waiver page once you apply.
How do we keep the waiver after freshman year?
Maintain a 2.5 GPA and complete 12 semester hours in both fall and spring. KSU reviews it every semester. The waiver runs up to eight semesters, which is exactly four years, so there is no cushion for a slow start.
Can our student get both the Flight to Excellence waiver and the Honors waiver?
No, and there would be no point. They do the same thing, which is move your student to the in-state tuition rate. You cannot get moved there twice. What matters is that they are two separate doors to the same room, with completely different selection rules, so an out-of-state student should pursue whichever one they can reach.
Does KSU have a full-ride scholarship?
No. KSU does not offer a competitive full-ride or full-tuition package to first-year students. The largest single award available is the out-of-state tuition waiver, and by definition it only helps families who were paying the non-resident rate to begin with.
Is KSU a Stamps Scholarship or QuestBridge partner?
No to both. KSU is also not a National Merit sponsor, so a National Merit Finalist designation does not trigger a package at Kennesaw State the way it does at some Southern publics.
Our student has a great essay and strong leadership. Does that help?
For general admission, no. KSU reports that essays, recommendations, extracurriculars, and leadership are not considered in the first-year admission decision. For the Flight to Excellence waiver, KSU does say it looks at community involvement and leadership alongside academics. And for the Journey Honors College, the essay is the centerpiece. So the answer depends entirely on which door your student is walking through.
What if we live in Georgia? Is there anything competitive for us?
Your competitive money runs through ScholarshipUniverse and the Honors College rather than a flagship award. Georgia residents should be treating HOPE or Zell as the foundation and then working the ScholarshipUniverse portal hard for KSU Foundation and departmental funds. See Hidden Gems below.
https://www.kennesaw.edu/admissions/undergraduate/out-of-state-tuition/index.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/fiscal-services/bursar/tuition-fees/index.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/data-strategy/institutional-research/publications/common-data-set/index.php
KSU Journey Honors College
The KSU Journey Honors College is where the real institutional money at Kennesaw State lives. KSU awarded more than $1.3 million in Honors scholarships in a single recent year, with most awards falling between $1,000 and $5,000 a year and most renewable for up to four years. For an out-of-state family, Honors is also one of the two doors to the tuition waiver.
Admission is separate from KSU admission and it is competitive. Decisions come 6 to 8 weeks after your student is admitted to the university, and they arrive by KSU student email rather than the address you applied from.
- Who qualifies to apply: a KSU-calculated high school GPA of 3.5 or higher, or an ACT of 25 or an SAT of 1200. It is an “or,” not an “and,” which opens the door wider than most families assume.
- Applications open: August 1, alongside the KSU application. Apply through the Common Application or the Honors internal application, not both.
- Fall 2027 cohort and priority deadline: December 15, 2026
- Fall 2027 final deadline: June 30, 2027
- Spring 2027 deadline: December 1, 2026
- Transfer and current KSU students: fewer than 70 credit hours and a 3.5 GPA
This is the one place at KSU where writing genuinely decides an outcome. Honors says plainly that the essay is given particular attention and that reviewers are looking for originality, a real argument, evidence of curiosity, and clean organization. It also states that using ChatGPT or any other AI tool is strictly prohibited, and notes that heavily AI-assisted essays read as generic and boring to a committee reading thousands of them.
If your student learned that essays do not matter at KSU from the admissions section of this page, this is the exception. Different door, different rules.
Honors Scholarships and the Out-of-State Waiver
Award amounts reflect what KSU currently publishes. Honors funding depends on market performance and donor giving, so amounts can shift year to year, and KSU is candid that it cannot fund every Honors student.
Beyond the cohorts, KSU lists Honors-designated donor scholarships tied to specific colleges. Your student will only be matched to these in ScholarshipUniverse if their major and profile line up.
- Coles College of Business: Doug Shore Endowed, Fireside Natural Gas Business Honors, William N. Bennett and Julie Blair Memorial, Kalafut Cody and Collerain Endowed
- Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering: Bobbie Bailey Foundation Honors/Engineering, Ellen Long Honors/CARES, Jim and Wanda Hills Honors/Engineering, John Slocum Memorial, Mark J. Adams and Cathy Callaway Adams Endowed, Price Scholarship for Engineering Excellence
- Computing and Software Engineering: Bobbie Bailey Foundation Honors/CCSE, John Boyko Endowed
- Wellstar College of Health and Human Services: Henry Michael Hammond Scholarship for Nursing, Jean Simmons Legacy
- Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Lindy Radow Humanities and Social Sciences Honors
- Geer College of the Arts: Bobbie Bailey Foundation Honors Music
- General Honors: KSU Journey Honors Scholarship, Dasher-Spruell, Dr. Rita Bailey Endowed, Frank and Melody Howard Endowed, Jason J. Whitten, Sylvia and Barry Hyman Honors
Every Journey Honors student can apply for study abroad support on a rolling basis. Separately, students in the Ancient and Modern Classics cohort have access to four named travel scholarships funding study in Montepulciano, Italy or Harlaxton in the UK: the Barry and Sylvia Hyman Endowed, the Robin Schmidt Shore Endowed, the Jean Schade Boos, and the Vince Dooley Honors College International Study Abroad Scholarship. Most require a 3.0 GPA and freshman standing in the cohort. Those applications are due in November, well ahead of the trip.
Honors College — FAQs (Kennesaw State University)
Is Honors admission automatic if my student has the GPA?
No. Meeting the 3.5 GPA or 25 ACT threshold only makes your student eligible to apply. Admission is competitive and the essay is weighted heavily. KSU is direct that it cannot offer a scholarship to every admitted Honors student either.
Do all Honors students get a scholarship?
No, and KSU says so plainly. What is guaranteed is narrower and more useful to know: acceptance into a cohort program comes with scholarship funding. If money is the goal, apply to a cohort by December 15 rather than waiting for the June general deadline.
Which cohorts are available for first-year students?
Three: Pre-Business, Ancient and Modern Classics for avid readers across any major, and the Wellstar Tom and Betty Phillips Elite Honors Nursing Scholars cohort. All three carry scholarship funding and all three close December 15, 2026 for Fall 2027.
Can out-of-state students benefit from Honors?
This is the biggest reason for an out-of-state family to apply. Honors admission unlocks the Presidential Academic Out-of-State Tuition Waiver, which drops non-resident tuition to the Georgia rate, roughly $15,900 a year. It is awarded first-come, first-served, so submit the waiver form the day the Honors acceptance arrives.
Does my student have to stay full time?
Yes. Starting Fall 2025, Honors students must enroll in at least 12 hours in fall and spring to keep their scholarships. The only exception is a final semester with fewer than 12 hours left to finish the degree.
Do renewable Honors scholarships renew automatically?
No, and this catches people. Renewable Honors awards require your student to complete the ScholarshipUniverse application again every year. Renewal also depends on available funding and staying in good standing with Honors.
What if my student is not accepted to Honors as a freshman?
They can reapply after their first semester at KSU as a current student, with fewer than 70 credit hours and a 3.5 KSU institutional GPA. Dual enrollment students have a separate path called JumpStart: earn an A in one Honors course, or a 3.5 across two, and admission to Honors is automatic once they enroll full time.
Can online students join Honors?
No. KSU states the Journey Honors College is not able to serve strictly online learners at this time.
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/admission/
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/scholarships/index.php
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/tuition-waiver.php
⭐ College Specialty
Kennesaw State is one of the largest universities in Georgia, with more than 51,000 students and a Carnegie R2 research designation. But the thing that actually shapes a student’s experience here is not the size. It is that KSU is really two campuses stitched together, and which one your student lives on depends entirely on their major.
The Kennesaw campus holds business, computing, sciences, humanities, education, the arts, and health and human services. The Marietta campus, about twenty minutes away, is the former Southern Polytechnic State University and it houses engineering, engineering technology, architecture, and construction management. Families tour one, picture their student there, and then find out at orientation that their engineering major is on the other one. Tour both.
Cybersecurity. This is KSU’s genuine national credential, and it is older than most people realize. The National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security have designated KSU a National Center of Academic Excellence in cybersecurity since 2004, redesignated repeatedly, most recently under the Cyber Defense Education program with the Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity validated as a program of study through 2027. KSU also runs the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and publishes an academic journal in the field. For a student aiming at a security clearance track or a federal cyber role, that designation is the thing employers and scholarship programs look for.
- Coles College of Business: KSU’s largest and most visible college, feeding directly into metro Atlanta’s corporate base. Also the home of the Pre-Business Honors cohort, which comes with scholarship funding.
- Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology: The old Southern Poly, now on the Marietta campus. Broad offerings across mechanical, electrical, civil, industrial, and engineering technology, and the college with the deepest bench of named Honors scholarships.
- Architecture and Construction Management: Worth knowing about because it is unusual and because the admissions bar is different. Architecture requires a 3.0 GPA and higher math scores than general KSU admission, with limited seats and a January 31 target date. The construction management program is one of the few in Georgia accredited by the American Council for Construction Education, which matters in an industry that hires on accreditation.
- Wellstar College of Health and Human Services: Nursing anchors this college, and it carries its own dedicated Honors cohort scholarship at $2,000 a year. Nursing programs almost everywhere have competitive secondary admission, so start that conversation early with an advisor.
- College of Computing and Software Engineering: Separate from Coles and from engineering, and the home of the computer science, software engineering, and information technology degrees. This is a heavily recruited pipeline into Atlanta’s tech employers.
KSU’s first-year retention rate is about 79.6%, which is solid. The six-year graduation rate is about 50.1%, which is not. That second number is common at large, commuter-heavy, access-oriented public universities, and it is heavily shaped by students working long hours and taking reduced course loads.
The practical takeaway is not that KSU is a bad school. It is that KSU rewards students who arrive with a plan. Take 15 hours a semester, not 12. Declare early. Meet an advisor every term. The students who treat it like a four-year project graduate in four years.
🔗 Official Kennesaw State University Links
Every link below was checked and working when this page was last updated. Use KSU’s own pages for final deadlines, award terms, and dollar figures. Anything we publish here is a plain-English summary of what these pages say.
-
Freshman Admission Requirements & Deadlines:
https://www.kennesaw.edu/admissions/undergraduate/admission-requirements/freshman.php -
Out-of-State Tuition Waivers & Flight to Excellence Scholarship:
https://www.kennesaw.edu/admissions/undergraduate/out-of-state-tuition/index.php -
Scholarships & Financial Aid:
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/scholarships/index.php -
ScholarshipUniverse Portal:
https://kennesaw.scholarshipuniverse.com/ -
HOPE & Zell Miller Scholarships:
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/hope-scholarships/index.php -
Tuition & Fee Schedules (by year, PDF):
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/fiscal-services/bursar/tuition-fees/index.php -
Official Cost of Attendance (2026-2027):
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/current-students/financial-aid/student-resources/cost-of-attendance.php -
Net Price Calculator:
https://kennesaw.clearcostcalculator.com/student/default/netpricecalculator/survey -
KSU Journey Honors College Admissions:
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/admission/ -
Honors Scholarships & Waivers:
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/scholarships/index.php -
Honors Out-of-State Tuition Waiver (Presidential Academic):
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/colleges-departments/honors/student-resources/tuition-waiver.php -
Academic Common Market (Tuition Classification):
https://www.kennesaw.edu/tuition-classification/academic-common-market.php -
Common Data Set (Institutional Data):
https://campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/data-strategy/institutional-research/publications/common-data-set/index.php
✅ Wrapping It Up
Kennesaw State is a different kind of value than most of the schools families compare it against, and the way you get the value depends almost entirely on which side of the Georgia state line you live on.
If you live in Georgia: KSU is already inexpensive, at roughly $6,948 in tuition and fees. HOPE or Zell Miller takes most of the tuition line off the table. What is left is housing, meals, and fees, and that is where the ScholarshipUniverse portal earns its keep. Your job is to get admitted early, then log into a second system and actually apply for money, because getting admitted did not do that for you.
If you live anywhere else: there is one decision on this page that dwarfs everything else. Getting your student moved from the non-resident tuition rate to the Georgia rate is worth about $15,900 a year, or somewhere near $63,600 across a degree. There are two doors, the Flight to Excellence Scholarship and the Honors Presidential waiver, and one of them is first-come, first-served. Applying in August instead of November is not a small optimization. It is the whole strategy.
Two other things to carry with you. KSU is not test-optional and admission runs almost entirely on GPA and test scores, so put your student’s effort there rather than into an essay that admissions will not read. And starting with the Fall 2027 class, the minimum GPA rises from 2.5 to 3.0, which means a current junior is playing by different rules than last year’s senior did.
KSU is not the school that will hand your student a headline full-ride package. It is the school where a family that pays attention to two deadlines and one extra login walks away paying dramatically less than the sticker price suggests.
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. After the series, about once a month, sometimes twice during application season. No drip funnels, no affiliate pitches, and we never sell your information. Unsubscribe anytime.Your kid did everything right. That does not mean the money follows.
Leo Dimilo
Leo writes CollegeReadyParent to help families cut through financial aid jargon and figure out what college will actually cost them. Every scholarship guide on this site is built by hand from official university sources, not scraped from aggregators. More about Leo →