University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Scholarships (2026–2027)
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Last Updated on August 15, 2026- Tuition, housing, and average family net price
- Automatic merit ranges and qualifier benchmarks
- Flagship and hidden-gem awards
- Honors and stacking strategy
📊 Admissions Snapshot
- Acceptance Rate: ~58%
- Middle 50% ACT: 16
- Middle 50% SAT: 965
- Average GPA: 3.2
UAPB admits students on a rolling basis, which means there is no single application date to circle on the calendar. That sounds relaxed, and for admission it mostly is. The published floor is a 13 ACT, a 730 SAT, or a 38 on the CLT, and students who fall below the standard bar can still be admitted conditionally by agreeing to an Individualized Student Success Plan and a set of student success workshops. UAPB is genuinely trying to find a way to say yes.
Scholarship money is a completely different conversation, and it moves on a schedule your student cannot see from the admissions page. That gap is where most of the money gets lost at this school.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at a Glance
- Test-optional for admission does not mean test-optional for money. Every single automatic scholarship tier at UAPB is gated on an ACT or SAT score. A student who skips testing can be admitted and still walk away with zero institutional merit.
- “While funds remain” is the phrase to watch. UAPB awards these on a first-come, first-served basis. The scholarships are guaranteed by the grid and capped by the budget. Meeting the numbers in April is not the same as meeting them in November.
- January 1, not March 1, is the real deadline for the top award. The Chancellor’s Scholarship requires admission by January 1. Every other tier runs to March 1. Families who see “March 1” on the website and relax have already lost the $16,500 tier.
- Your shot records are a scholarship document. UAPB will not consider a student for an award until the admission application, transcripts, test scores, and immunization records are all in. An incomplete file over an MMR form is a real way to lose money here.
- The biggest awards are not the academic ones. A student in agriculture or human sciences with a 2.5 GPA can out-earn a 3.5 GPA student in a general major. That is not a typo, and it is covered in the Hidden Gems section below.
- If you live in one of eight nearby states, read the cost section first. UAPB’s Neighbors of Arkansas program can cut the out-of-state rate by up to 90 percent, which changes the entire math before scholarships even enter the picture.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 16; SAT: 965.
Average net price? About $11,649/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — participates in ACM.
Institutional scholarships pullout: https://uapb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Scholarships-Page-Pullout.pdf
UAPB SAFHS scholarships: https://uapb.edu/academics/safhs/department-of-agriculture/scholarships/
UAPB freshmen scholarships and performance awards: https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/scholarships-test/
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff 2026-2027
📅 2027–2028 Planning Note: The costs below reflect the most recently published figures (2026–2027). Universities typically finalize the next year’s rates in the spring, and we’ll update this page once official 2027–2028 numbers are released.
Planning tip: At large public universities, tuition, fees, and housing usually increase modestly each year (often in the 2–5% range). For early budgeting, families may want to plan for roughly $1,000–$1,500 more in-state or $2,000–$3,000 more out-of-state in total direct costs once new rates are published.
| Category (2026–2027) | In-State | Out-of-State |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition & Mandatory Fees (2 semesters) | $9,762 | $18,825 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $9,194 | $9,194 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $18,956 | $28,019 |
Average Federal Net Price: $11,649 — 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
Neighbors of Arkansas. Students who live in Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Texas can qualify for a tiered discount on the out-of-state tuition rate: Tier A is 90% off, Tier B is 80% off, and Tier C is 50% off. A Tier A award brings the non-resident rate down below what most families pay in-state at their own public university.
Shelby County Waiver. Students living in the Memphis area of Shelby County, Tennessee (Arlington, Bartlett, Brunswick, Collierville, Cordova, Eads, Ellendale, Germantown, Lakeland, and Millington) can receive a separate waiver. Requirements: first-time entering freshman, full-time enrollment, residence in a campus dormitory, and a 2.5 cumulative GPA each semester.
UAPB also participates in the Academic Common Market for approved majors. Confirm tier placement and current terms with UAPB Admissions before budgeting.
Tuition and fees above reflect UAPB’s approved Fall 2026 rates, calculated on the university’s own budgeting basis of 15 credit hours per semester. Housing and meals reflect UAPB’s most recently published cost-of-attendance table, which the university has not yet refreshed. Expect the housing figure to move modestly upward when the new table posts. Room rates at UAPB actually vary by building, from roughly $1,800 to $2,700 per semester for a double, so your real number depends on where your student lands.
UAPB’s Neighbors of Arkansas program discounts the out-of-state tuition rate by 90, 80, or 50 percent depending on tier, for students living in Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Texas. At the top tier, a non-resident pays close to the in-state rate. Families in the Memphis area have a second option in the Shelby County Waiver, which requires full-time enrollment, living in a campus dorm, and holding a 2.5 GPA each semester. Ask Admissions which tier your student qualifies for before you compare UAPB against your home-state schools, because the sticker price in the table above is not what most out-of-state families here actually pay.
- Follett Total Access: $33.50 per credit hour, capped at 15 credits. That is roughly $500 a semester for course materials, billed automatically.
- LIONS Program fee: $500 for students in that program.
- Nursing program fees: $340 to $428 per semester across the junior and senior years, on top of everything else.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Can out-of-state students actually get close to in-state pricing at UAPB?
Yes, and this is the single most useful thing to know about UAPB’s cost structure. Through Neighbors of Arkansas, students from eight surrounding states can receive a 90, 80, or 50 percent discount on the non-resident portion of tuition. A Tier A student pays a rate in the neighborhood of what Arkansas residents pay. Tier placement is set by UAPB, so contact Admissions directly rather than assuming.
Why is UAPB’s net price so much lower than the sticker price?
Because well over 90 percent of UAPB students receive some form of financial assistance. Between federal Pell grants, Arkansas state aid, and UAPB’s automatic merit ladder, the published total and the amount families actually write checks for are very different numbers. The average net price reflects what a typical family paid after grants and scholarships, with no loans counted.
Does the room and meal cost apply to everyone?
No. UAPB’s figure reflects a student living on campus with a standard meal plan. Room rates differ by residence hall, and a triple occupancy room runs considerably less than a single. Students living off campus or at home are not charged for housing and meals at all, though UAPB still builds a living allowance into their aid budget.
Which UAPB meal plan is cheapest?
None of them, and that is unusual. UAPB charges the same rate for its 19-meal, 15-meal, and 10-meal plans, with the difference showing up as declining balance dollars rather than price. If your student is going to be on a plan anyway, take the larger one.
Do I need to file the FAFSA if my student has a scholarship?
File it regardless. UAPB explicitly encourages every scholarship recipient to submit the FAFSA, and the school code is 001086. UAPB’s automatic merit awards stack on top of Pell and state aid, so skipping the FAFSA because you assume you will not qualify leaves the largest source of money on the table. The FAFSA priority date at UAPB is April 15.
Will tuition go up each year my student is enrolled?
Almost certainly, though UAPB’s increases have been modest. The more important point is that your student’s scholarship amount is fixed at the tier they entered with. As costs rise and the award stays flat, the gap widens slightly each year. Budget for that rather than assuming the first-year net price holds for four.
https://uapb.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/tuition-and-fees/
https://uapb.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/tuition-and-fees/cost-of-attendance/
📅 The UAPB Timeline, Translated
- Fall of senior year: Apply. UAPB is rolling and awards are first-come, first-served, so early genuinely means more money here.
- January 1: Hard cutoff for admission if your student wants the Chancellor’s Scholarship. Nothing else on the UAPB website says this loudly enough.
- March 1: Final scholarship deadline for every other tier, freshman and transfer alike.
- April 15: FAFSA priority date at UAPB.
- May 15: SAFHS 1890 Scholarships Program deadline, which sits after almost every other decision families make.
Parent rule of thumb: treat November of senior year as your working deadline. By the time March 1 arrives, funds have been moving out the door for months.
Automatic Merit Scholarships — University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Look at where the tier lines fall. Moving from a 17 to an 18 ACT is worth $500 a year. Moving from a 20 to a 21 is worth $3,000 a year. Moving from a 22 to a 23 is worth $7,000 a year, and from a 27 to a 28 is worth $4,500 a year. At most schools a single point on the ACT is worth very little. Here, four specific points are each worth thousands of dollars annually, and every one of them is reachable with a retake and a study plan. Find out exactly which point your student is sitting on before you decide testing is finished.
Note: Students receive the single highest-value automatic award they qualify for. These tiers do not stack with each other. They do stack with Pell, Arkansas state aid, departmental awards, and outside private scholarships.
Automatic Merit — FAQs (UAPB)
Do I need to fill out a scholarship application?
No. UAPB is explicit about this: there is no separate scholarship form, and the admission application serves as the scholarship application. What trips families up is the document list. Transcripts, official test scores, and shot records all have to arrive before the file counts as complete.
Are these scholarships actually guaranteed?
Mostly, with one real caveat. If your student meets the GPA and test benchmarks, the grid tells you the award. But UAPB states that institutional scholarships depend on the availability of funds and are made on a first-come, first-served basis. The numbers are guaranteed; the budget is not infinite. Apply early.
When exactly is the deadline?
March 1 for every tier except one. The Chancellor’s Scholarship requires that your student be admitted by January 1, which is a stricter bar than simply applying by January 1. If the $16,500 tier is in reach, work backward from New Year’s Day and give yourself weeks of margin for transcripts and scores to arrive.
Can my student get an award without a test score?
Not through this ladder. Every automatic tier at UAPB is defined by an ACT or SAT cutoff, so a test-optional applicant gets no automatic merit. There are two doors around this. The Honors Program requires no ACT at all, and the SAFHS 1890 program has an alternate path for students with a 2.8 GPA and no test score. Both are covered further down this page.
What GPA does my student need to keep the money?
UAPB awards renew for up to four years for freshmen with continued full-time enrollment and satisfactory academic progress. Renewal terms vary by tier, so get the specific GPA requirement in writing on the award letter rather than assuming it matches the entry threshold.
My student is transferring. What is available?
Three awards, and read the totals carefully because UAPB publishes them as multi-year sums. The Transfer Scholarship is $5,000 spread over two years for students with 60 to 85 transferable hours and a 3.20 GPA. The Pride Transfer Scholarship is $2,500 spread over three years for students with 30 to 59 hours and a 2.75 GPA. The RN to BSN Scholarship is $2,500 over two years for licensed nurses with a 3.0 GPA. Transfer merit at UAPB is modest, so transfer students should focus attention on the departmental and SAFHS awards instead.
Does UAPB superscore?
UAPB records indicate superscoring for both the ACT and SAT, but the scholarship pages describe awards as based on the composite score without addressing superscore directly. Given how much a single tier line is worth here, confirm this with Admissions in writing before deciding whether a retake is worthwhile.
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/scholarships-test/
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/transfer-student-scholarships-test/
https://uapb.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/admissions-requirements/
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
There is no essay contest, no finalist weekend, no interview panel, no named full-ride program that a hundred students chase and seven win. If your student’s college list includes schools with that kind of showcase award, UAPB is simply built differently. The money here moves through a published grid and through departments, not through a competition.
The practical upside is that nothing at UAPB depends on your student out-performing a room full of strangers on a Saturday in February. The practical downside is that there is no lottery ticket. What your student qualifies for on paper is very close to what they will receive, which makes the test-score tiers and the departmental awards the only two levers that actually matter.
✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at UAPB?
| Aid Type | Stacks with Merit? | UAPB Parent Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic merit tiers | No, not with each other | Your student gets one award, the highest tier they qualify for. Six tiers exist, but nobody receives two. |
| Neighbors of Arkansas / Shelby County | Yes, and this matters most | These reduce the rate you are charged rather than adding a scholarship on top. For out-of-state families this is usually worth more than any merit award. |
| Federal Pell & Arkansas state aid | Yes | This is the biggest single reason UAPB’s net price lands where it does. File the FAFSA even if you think you will not qualify. |
| SAFHS & departmental awards | Yes | The real gap-fillers at UAPB. For agriculture, fisheries, and human sciences majors these can exceed the academic merit award outright. |
| Band, choir & auxiliary awards | Usually yes | Audition awards generally layer on academic merit, subject to cost-of-attendance limits. Check the award letter for replacement language. |
| USDA/1890 National Scholars | Effectively replaces | It already covers tuition, books, room, and board. There is almost nothing left for other institutional aid to fill. |
| Outside private scholarships | Yes | Report them to Financial Aid. They generally reduce unmet need rather than displacing your UAPB award. |
The short version for a UAPB family: your student’s total package is going to be built from a merit tier, a residency discount if you qualify for one, need-based aid, and a departmental award. Four pieces. None of them require winning anything, and all four require submitting something on time.
This institution does not offer designated Competitive scholarships at this time.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
Is there any award at UAPB that requires an essay or interview?
A few, but they are departmental rather than university-wide. The USDA NextGen SAPLINGs scholarship requires a 500-word essay reviewed by a faculty panel. The Marcus C. Harris II endowment requires a 500-word essay plus 24 volunteer hours a semester. The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is a genuine national competition. None of these are run as a central flagship program.
Does UAPB participate in National Merit?
No. UAPB is not a National Merit sponsoring institution and does not publish a Finalist package.
Is UAPB a Stamps or QuestBridge partner?
No to both.
So where does the largest money at UAPB actually live?
In the School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences. The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program covers full tuition, books, room, and board with a guaranteed federal job attached. The SAFHS 1890 Scholarships Program pays $6,000 to $20,000 a year. Both exceed the Chancellor’s Scholarship. Neither shows up on the general scholarship page most families read.
My student has strong essays and leadership but average test scores. Is UAPB a poor fit?
For the academic ladder, the test score is what counts and essays will not move it. But two doors are open regardless. The Honors Program admits on a 3.25 GPA with no ACT requirement. The SAPLINGs scholarship targets a 2.5 to 3.0 GPA and is decided largely on an essay. A student whose strengths are not on a score report has real options here, just not through the front door.
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/scholarships-test/
https://uapb.edu/academics/safhs/department-of-agriculture/scholarships/
The Carolyn F. Blakely Honors Program at UAPB
UAPB runs an Honors Program rather than an honors college, and the distinction is real. There is no separate honors residence hall, no parallel curriculum, and no honors-only scholarship package. What there is instead is a small community of motivated students with access to seminars, cultural programming, study abroad, priority registration help, and a book loan program.
Honors admission at UAPB requires a 3.25 GPA and no ACT. UAPB states this explicitly. Every automatic scholarship tier on this page is defined by a test score, which means a strong student who tested poorly or skipped testing gets shut out of the merit ladder entirely. That same student can walk straight into the Honors Program. If your student’s transcript is stronger than their score report, this is the single most useful thing on this page.
- Entry requirement: 3.25 GPA or above. No ACT required.
- Who can apply: Entering freshmen, plus currently enrolled sophomores and juniors who can show commitment to the program’s goals.
- Who cannot: Seniors are not admitted. UAPB instead directs them toward Alpha Chi or Alpha Kappa Mu national honor societies.
- Application: A separate form, available on the Honors Program page.
Honors Scholarships & Fellowships
This institution does not offer designated Honors College scholarships at this time.
There is no honors stipend and no honors tuition award. What the program does offer financially is narrower and still worth having:
- Honors Book Loan Program. Textbooks are a real four-figure annual cost at UAPB once Follett Total Access is factored in, so this has actual dollar value.
- Rouse Family Scholarship. An application lives on the Honors Program page. UAPB does not publish the award amount, so ask the Honors office directly.
- National fellowship advising. The program points students toward the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for study abroad and the Goldwater Scholarship for students in STEM research. These are national awards worth far more than anything internal, and having a program that walks students through the applications is the actual benefit.
Honors Program — FAQs (UAPB)
Is Honors admission automatic if my student has the GPA?
No. A separate application is required, and admission is a review rather than a formula. But with a 3.25 threshold and no test requirement, the bar is meaningfully lower than at most honors programs.
Can my student join after freshman year?
Yes, and this is unusually flexible. UAPB admits currently enrolled sophomores and juniors who can demonstrate commitment to the program. If your student’s first year goes better than expected, the door is still open. Seniors are the one exception.
Does Honors get my student more scholarship money?
Not directly. UAPB does not attach an award to Honors admission. The indirect value is real though: the book loan program offsets a genuine cost, and the fellowship advising opens doors to Gilman and Goldwater that most UAPB students never learn about.
Are Honors classes harder?
The program describes itself as focused on analytical and critical thinking, seminars, and discussion rather than added workload. Students take on more depth, not more assignments.
What is the practical case for joining?
Smaller cohort, faculty who know your student’s name, help getting registered, study abroad access, and a program director who will actually advocate for them. At a university of roughly 2,100 students, the Honors Program is how a student stops being a file number. For graduate school or federal applications later, that advocacy matters more than the line on the resume.
https://uapb.edu/academics/carolyn-f-blakely-honors-program/
⭐ College Specialty
UAPB is Arkansas’s oldest historically Black university and the state’s 1890 land-grant institution, founded in 1873 and second only to the Fayetteville campus in age among Arkansas public colleges. That land-grant designation is not ceremonial trivia. It is the reason a university of roughly 2,100 students runs federally funded research centers, extension offices across the Delta, and scholarship pools that outpace what schools three times its size can offer in the same fields.
Aquaculture & Fisheries — This is UAPB’s signature, and it is not a regional reputation. The program operates as a designated Center of Excellence and houses the only doctoral degree UAPB awards. Students work on real fisheries and water research in a state whose economy runs on it, and graduates move into state and federal agency work, commercial aquaculture, and research careers. If your student is drawn to fish, water, or wildlife science, very few schools at any price point can match what UAPB does here.
- Agriculture & Human Sciences: The 1890 land-grant core, spanning agronomy, plant and soil science, poultry, food science, family and consumer sciences, and hospitality and tourism management. This is also where the largest scholarship dollars on campus sit, through the SAFHS 1890 and USDA NextGen programs.
- Engineering & Cybersecurity: UAPB launched B.S. degrees in both, the first of their kind at an Arkansas HBCU. These are newer programs, which for a family means smaller cohorts and more direct faculty access than an established engineering school would offer.
- Nursing: A full B.S.N. plus an RN to BSN completion track for working nurses, with its own dedicated scholarship. Note the additional program fees in the cost section.
- Business & Accounting: The School of Business & Management offers undergraduate degrees plus an MBA, a straightforward path for students who want to finish a graduate credential without changing schools.
- Education: UAPB has been training Arkansas teachers since it opened as a normal school in 1875. Several endowed scholarships are reserved specifically for Arkansas education majors.
- Music: The Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South carries one of the largest scholarship pools on campus, and the Vesper Choir has toured internationally, including Italy and Spain. Both are open to non-music majors by audition, which makes them an underused funding path for a student majoring in something else entirely.
- Criminal Justice & Social Work: Career-directed programs with strong regional placement, with Social Work carrying national CSWE accreditation.
The honest framing for a parent: UAPB will not win a national rankings argument, and that is the wrong question to ask about it. What it offers is a genuinely distinctive set of programs in agriculture, fisheries, and the sciences that surround them, funded at a level that small enrollment would never otherwise support, at a price that leaves most families with manageable debt. For the right student in the right major, that combination is difficult to find anywhere else.
🔗 Official University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Links
Use UAPB’s own pages below to confirm deadlines, award terms, tier placement, and cost figures. Scholarship amounts and dates move, and the university’s page is always the final word.
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Undergraduate Admissions:
Undergraduate Admissions
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Admissions Requirements (test minimums, immunization records, conditional admission):
Admissions Requirements
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Freshman Scholarships, Neighbors of Arkansas & Performance Awards:
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/scholarships-test/ -
Transfer Student Scholarships:
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/scholarships-aid-test/transfer-student-scholarships-test/ -
SAFHS Scholarships (1890 Program, USDA National Scholars, NextGen SAPLINGs):
Scholarships Available to SAFHS Students
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Carolyn F. Blakely Honors Program:
Carolyn F. Blakely Honors Program
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Tuition & Fees (approved Fall 2026 rates):
Tuition and Fees
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Cost of Attendance:
Cost of Attendance
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Consumer Information & Financial Aid Disclosures:
https://uapb.edu/administration/division-of-enrollment-management-and-student-success/office-of-student-financial-services/consumer-information/ -
Institutional Reports & Annual Data (Quick Facts):
Institutional Reports
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Current Student Scholarship Portal (login required):
https://uapb.academicworks.com/users/sign_in
Two notes. UAPB does not publish a Common Data Set; the Institutional Reports page above holds its Annual Data summaries instead. UAPB’s net price calculator page is currently not displaying a working tool, so use the federal College Scorecard or contact Student Financial Services at 870-575-8302 for an estimate.