University of North Alabama Scholarships (2026–2027)
← Back to college scholarships hub • See Alabama aid & Grants
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: ~87%
- Middle 50% ACT: 23
- Middle 50% SAT: 1100
- Average GPA: 3.5
The University of North Alabama sits in Florence, right in the middle of the four-city Shoals area on the Tennessee River. It is the oldest public four-year university in the state, founded in 1830, and it is small enough that most families are surprised by how much money moves through it. Roughly 8,000 students, an 87% acceptance rate, and a published merit grid that pays out to almost anyone with a 3.0.
Here is the thing that makes UNA different from every other Alabama public, and the reason this page exists: UNA has four separate ways an out-of-state student can pay the Alabama resident rate. Not a discount, not a partial waiver. The actual in-state price, which is exactly half of the non-resident rate. If your family lives in northeast Mississippi or southern Middle Tennessee, or if your student is headed for the Honors College, or plays an instrument, or simply earns any UNA scholarship worth $250 or more, the out-of-state column on the cost table may not apply to you at all. Most families never find this out because it is spread across three different pages on UNA’s website.
Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →
📌 University of North Alabama at a Glance
- Test-optional is real, but it costs you thousands. UNA will award automatic merit with no test score at all. It just pays $1,000 to $1,500 instead of up to $12,000. A 3.6 student with no ACT gets $1,500. That same student with a 28 gets $8,500. One Saturday morning is worth $7,000 a year.
- Scores count through the April test date of senior year. Most schools cut you off in the fall. UNA does not. A spring retest can still move your student up a tier, so do not stop testing after December.
- The superscore only uses three sections. UNA averages the best English, Reading, and Math subscores. Science is excluded for the composite (though some majors need it for placement). Heads up: UNA’s older scholarship page still describes a four-section average including Science, so the two pages disagree. Ask admissions which version applies to your student’s file.
- Scholarships of Distinction replace your merit, they do not add to it. UNA files them under “Alternative Academic Scholarships,” which are explicitly not stackable with the Academic or Presidential grid. Compare the two offers side by side before you accept one.
- You can only hold one housing scholarship, ever. Presidential, Leadership, and Honors each come with a $4,000 housing award. They do not combine. If your student already has one, the others add nothing.
- Admission is not the scholarship application. The automatic grid is automatic. Everything else (Leadership, endowed funds, first-gen awards, departmental money) runs through a separate portal that opens November 2 and closes March 1. Skip it and you leave real money behind.
- PMA requires living on campus in July. Before freshman year. The whole month. If your student wins the Presidential Mentors Academy scholarship, they must live in the residence halls that July and pass two in-person courses. UNA pays for it, but a summer job or family trip is not compatible. Know this before you apply.
FAQ
Is this college test-optional? Yes — University of North Alabama is test-optional.
What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 23; SAT: 1100.
Average net price? About $11,745/year after aid.
Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — institutional waivers available.
UNA 2027 freshman scholarships page: https://www.una.edu/admissions/new-freshmen/scholarships.html
UNA Presidential Mentors Academy page: https://www.una.edu/pma/
Cole Honors College scholarships page: https://www.una.edu/honors/prospective-students/scholarships.html
UNA Scholarship Opportunities portal: https://go.una.edu/portal/scholarships
UNA Excellence Scholarship terms page: https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-excellence.html
UNA Music scholarships and performance awards page: https://www.una.edu/music/prospective-students/scholarships-and-performance-awards.html
UNA Early College Scholarship page: https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-early-college.html
UNA BEST and FIRST Robotics Scholarship terms: https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/docs/FIRST-SCHOLARSHIP.pdf
UNA scholarship overview page: https://www.una.edu/affordable/index.html
UNA Scholarships of Distinction page: https://www.una.edu/scholarships-of-distinction/index.html
CollegeScorecard / Admissions: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
💰 Cost of Attendance at University of North Alabama 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) | $13,350 | $23,850 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $12,300 | $12,300 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $25,650 | $36,150 |
Average Federal Net Price: $11,745 — 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
UNA is unusually generous about the resident rate. There are four separate paths, and most families qualify for at least one.
1. The $250 rule. Any full-time undergraduate U.S. citizen who receives an institutional scholarship of $250 or more in recognition of a talent or ability pays the in-state tuition rate. Since UNA's automatic Academic Award starts at $1,000, most admitted out-of-state students clear this bar on day one. UNA Foundation awards and outside scholarships do not count toward the $250.
2. The 50-mile rule. Students whose permanent home address falls in one of these counties are classified as in-state outright, with no scholarship required. Mississippi: Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo. Tennessee: Decatur, Giles, Hardin, Henderson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Maury, McNairy, Perry, Wayne.
3. Cole Honors College. Domestic U.S. students admitted to the Honors College who receive an Honors scholarship are classified as in-state for tuition regardless of home state, for as long as they stay in good Honors standing.
4. Band auditions. UNA Bands states that out-of-state students who score high enough on a performance audition may have non-resident fees waived.
📍 How to Actually Claim the In-State Rate
Knowing the paths is not the same as getting the price. Here is the paperwork side, which UNA does not explain in one place.
- If you qualify by county (the 50-mile rule): this is a residency classification, not a scholarship. New freshmen submit a Certification of Residency form with supporting documents to the Office of Admissions. Do it during the application process, not after you get the bill.
- If you qualify by scholarship (the $250 rule): it should apply automatically once an institutional award posts. Check the first tuition statement to confirm the resident rate is showing. If it is not, call Student Financial Aid at 256.765.5200 before the payment deadline.
- If you qualify through Honors: the reclassification follows Honors admission, so there is no separate residency form. It continues only while your student stays in good Honors standing, which means a 3.25 GPA and progress toward 18 Honors credit hours.
- Watch the exclusions. UNA Foundation awards and outside scholarships do not count toward the $250 threshold. It has to be an institutional award given for a talent or ability.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at the University of North Alabama
Is out-of-state tuition really exactly double?
Yes. UNA states plainly that non-resident tuition is twice the in-state rate, so $10,500 becomes $21,000 for 2026-2027. The college instructional fee stays the same for everyone. That clean 2x math is also why the in-state pathways are worth roughly $10,500 a year, which is more than most single scholarships at any school on your list.
Which Mississippi and Tennessee counties get in-state tuition at UNA?
UNA treats residents of counties within a 50-mile radius of campus as in-state. In Mississippi: Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, and Tishomingo. In Tennessee: Decatur, Giles, Hardin, Henderson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Maury, McNairy, Perry, and Wayne. If you are in Corinth, Iuka, Booneville, Tupelo, Pulaski, Lawrenceburg, or Columbia, this applies to you. And because those same counties are on the Tennessee Valley Scholars list, you also pick up a $1,000 award on top.
Why is the total here higher than the tuition number I saw elsewhere?
Because most sites quote tuition alone. UNA charges a separate college instructional fee, estimated at $95 per credit hour, which adds about $2,850 a year for a full-time student. Tuition of $10,500 plus that fee is $13,350 in real billed academic cost. We include it because your bill will.
What is actually billed by UNA versus what is just an estimate?
UNA bills you directly for tuition, the college instructional fee, course fees, dining dollars, and housing and food. It does not bill you for books, transportation, personal expenses, or loan fees. Those show up in the federal cost of attendance because they affect aid eligibility, but nobody sends you an invoice for them. Our table above shows only the billed side, which is the number that matters for budgeting.
Do students who live off campus save money?
Often yes, and UNA confirms it does not bill room charges to off-campus students. But run the math before you decide. Housing scholarships from the Presidential, Leadership, and Honors awards are worth $4,000 a year and apply only to on-campus residence halls, never apartments. Moving off campus to save $7,140 while giving up a $4,000 housing scholarship is a much smaller win than it looks.
Is the average net price of $11,745 realistic?
It is the federal figure for students receiving grant or scholarship aid, and it lines up with what a typical in-state family pays after the automatic merit grid does its work. Estimates from different reporting years range from about $10,500 to $15,000, so treat it as a ballpark rather than a quote. Your actual number depends heavily on whether your student submits a test score.
Will these costs go up each year?
Almost certainly. UNA’s in-state tuition moved from $10,200 to $10,500 between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, roughly 3%, and housing and food rose similarly. Merit scholarship amounts, on the other hand, are fixed dollar figures. That means the gap widens a little every year, so budget for it rather than assuming your freshman-year net price holds through graduation.
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/cost-of-attendance.html
https://www.una.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition.html
💰 Cost of Attendance at University of North Alabama 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) | $13,350 | $23,850 |
| Housing & Meals (typical) | $12,300 | $12,300 |
| Total (Direct Costs) | $25,650 | $36,150 |
Average Federal Net Price: $11,745 — 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
UNA is unusually generous about the resident rate. There are four separate paths, and most families qualify for at least one.
1. The $250 rule. Any full-time undergraduate U.S. citizen who receives an institutional scholarship of $250 or more in recognition of a talent or ability pays the in-state tuition rate. Since UNA's automatic Academic Award starts at $1,000, most admitted out-of-state students clear this bar on day one. UNA Foundation awards and outside scholarships do not count toward the $250.
2. The 50-mile rule. Students whose permanent home address falls in one of these counties are classified as in-state outright, with no scholarship required. Mississippi: Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo. Tennessee: Decatur, Giles, Hardin, Henderson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Maury, McNairy, Perry, Wayne.
3. Cole Honors College. Domestic U.S. students admitted to the Honors College who receive an Honors scholarship are classified as in-state for tuition regardless of home state, for as long as they stay in good Honors standing.
4. Band auditions. UNA Bands states that out-of-state students who score high enough on a performance audition may have non-resident fees waived.
📍 How to Actually Claim the In-State Rate
Knowing the paths is not the same as getting the price. Here is the paperwork side, which UNA does not explain in one place.
- If you qualify by county (the 50-mile rule): this is a residency classification, not a scholarship. New freshmen submit a Certification of Residency form with supporting documents to the Office of Admissions. Do it during the application process, not after you get the bill.
- If you qualify by scholarship (the $250 rule): it should apply automatically once an institutional award posts. Check the first tuition statement to confirm the resident rate is showing. If it is not, call Student Financial Aid at 256.765.5200 before the payment deadline.
- If you qualify through Honors: the reclassification follows Honors admission, so there is no separate residency form. It continues only while your student stays in good Honors standing, which means a 3.25 GPA and progress toward 18 Honors credit hours.
- Watch the exclusions. UNA Foundation awards and outside scholarships do not count toward the $250 threshold. It has to be an institutional award given for a talent or ability.
FAQ — Cost of Attendance at the University of North Alabama
Is out-of-state tuition really exactly double?
Yes. UNA states plainly that non-resident tuition is twice the in-state rate, so $10,500 becomes $21,000 for 2026-2027. The college instructional fee stays the same for everyone. That clean 2x math is also why the in-state pathways are worth roughly $10,500 a year, which is more than most single scholarships at any school on your list.
Which Mississippi and Tennessee counties get in-state tuition at UNA?
UNA treats residents of counties within a 50-mile radius of campus as in-state. In Mississippi: Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, and Tishomingo. In Tennessee: Decatur, Giles, Hardin, Henderson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Maury, McNairy, Perry, and Wayne. If you are in Corinth, Iuka, Booneville, Tupelo, Pulaski, Lawrenceburg, or Columbia, this applies to you. And because those same counties are on the Tennessee Valley Scholars list, you also pick up a $1,000 award on top.
Why is the total here higher than the tuition number I saw elsewhere?
Because most sites quote tuition alone. UNA charges a separate college instructional fee, estimated at $95 per credit hour, which adds about $2,850 a year for a full-time student. Tuition of $10,500 plus that fee is $13,350 in real billed academic cost. We include it because your bill will.
What is actually billed by UNA versus what is just an estimate?
UNA bills you directly for tuition, the college instructional fee, course fees, dining dollars, and housing and food. It does not bill you for books, transportation, personal expenses, or loan fees. Those show up in the federal cost of attendance because they affect aid eligibility, but nobody sends you an invoice for them. Our table above shows only the billed side, which is the number that matters for budgeting.
Do students who live off campus save money?
Often yes, and UNA confirms it does not bill room charges to off-campus students. But run the math before you decide. Housing scholarships from the Presidential, Leadership, and Honors awards are worth $4,000 a year and apply only to on-campus residence halls, never apartments. Moving off campus to save $7,140 while giving up a $4,000 housing scholarship is a much smaller win than it looks.
Is the average net price of $11,745 realistic?
It is the federal figure for students receiving grant or scholarship aid, and it lines up with what a typical in-state family pays after the automatic merit grid does its work. Estimates from different reporting years range from about $10,500 to $15,000, so treat it as a ballpark rather than a quote. Your actual number depends heavily on whether your student submits a test score.
Will these costs go up each year?
Almost certainly. UNA’s in-state tuition moved from $10,200 to $10,500 between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, roughly 3%, and housing and food rose similarly. Merit scholarship amounts, on the other hand, are fixed dollar figures. That means the gap widens a little every year, so budget for it rather than assuming your freshman-year net price holds through graduation.
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/cost-of-attendance.html
https://www.una.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition.html
🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)
UNA does not run a headline-grabbing full-ride competition the way the big flagships do. There is no finalist weekend, no interview gauntlet, no single named scholarship that everybody in Alabama is chasing. What UNA has instead is a set of competitive awards that quietly layer on top of the automatic grid, plus one category that behaves completely differently from everything else on this page.
UNA files them under a heading called Alternative Academic Scholarships, and the site says plainly that these “are not stackable with merit-based awards listed above.” That means the Scholarship of Distinction replaces your student’s Academic or Presidential Award. It does not add to it. The same applies to the Distinguished Leader (LEAD) award. If your student is offered one, put the two award letters next to each other and do the arithmetic before signing anything. A student with a 3.7 and a 33 already has $12,000 plus housing on the table, and a Scholarship of Distinction has to beat that to be worth taking.
✅ What Actually Stacks at UNA
| Aid Type | Stacks with the grid? | Parent Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Academic / Presidential Award | This is the grid | One award only, the highest tier the GPA and ACT combination earns. |
| Leadership Scholarship | ✅ Yes | Adds on top. Amount is not published and varies with resume score. |
| Any housing scholarship | ⚠️ One only | Presidential, Leadership, and Honors each carry $4,000. You keep exactly one, not two or three. |
| Special Recognition | ✅ Yes | Adds $2,000 per year on top of an existing award. Discretionary, not guaranteed. |
| Val/Sal, Boys or Girls State, Tennessee Valley | ✅ Yes | Small, reliable add-ons. Val/Sal and Tennessee Valley are one year; Boys/Girls State runs four. |
| National Merit / Achievement | Slots into the top | Up to $12,000 plus books. Places the student in UNA’s highest Excellence bracket; Honors may be required. |
| Departmental, endowed, robotics, band, choral | ✅ Yes | The gap fillers. All stack up to billed cost of attendance. |
| Scholarships of Distinction | ❌ No | Replaces automatic merit entirely. Compare offers before accepting. |
| Distinguished Leader (LEAD) | ❌ No | Also an Alternative Academic award. One recipient per year, so plan accordingly. |
| Need-based grants (Pell, state) | ✅ Usually | Fill in behind merit. FAFSA timing matters. Nothing can push total aid past cost of attendance. |
The practical version: UNA’s competitive tier rewards paperwork more than performance. The Leadership Scholarship comes down to a one to two page activity resume. Special Recognition comes down to telling UNA about an honor your student already earned. Both take an afternoon and neither requires an essay. That is a very different game than the finalist weekends at the big flagships, and for most families it is a friendlier one.
❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs
When is the deadline for competitive scholarships at UNA?
March 1, 2027 for almost everything: Leadership, Leadership Housing, Valedictorian/Salutatorian, Boys and Girls State, National Merit documentation, and Special Recognition. The Scholarships of Distinction have historically followed the same freshman priority date, but UNA buries that deadline inside a collapsed panel on its program page, so confirm it with the department directly.
How do I apply for the Leadership Scholarship?
Through the General & Endowed Scholarship Application at go.una.edu/portal/scholarships, which opens November 2, 2026. Complete the general application first, then search “Leadership Scholarship” and upload a detailed one to two page resume of activities from ninth through twelfth grade. UNA posts a sample resume format on its freshman scholarships page. Minimums are a 3.00 unweighted GPA and an ACT of 20.
Do I have to apply separately for the Leadership Housing Scholarship?
No, and this is a nice piece of leverage. Anyone who submits a Leadership resume is automatically considered for the housing award too. One resume, two shots. Just remember it is worth $4,000 a year for two years and your student can hold only one housing scholarship, so it adds nothing if they already earned a Presidential Award.
What is the Special Recognition Scholarship and who gets it?
It is $2,000 a year added on top of whatever else your student qualifies for, and it is the most under-claimed award at UNA. Named examples include Distinguished Young Women, Gorgas Scholars, Bryant Jordan Scholarship winners, the first place finisher in the Alabama American Legion High School Oratorical Program, Youth Leadership Development Program participants, and National Merit recognition. UNA says the list is not exhaustive. There is no box for this on the application, so you have to send documentation to admissions yourself and ask.
How much is the National Merit package worth?
UNA publishes up to $12,000 per year plus books for Finalists and Semi-Finalists, with room and board possible if funding allows. Recognition qualifies the student for consideration at the top Excellence level, and UNA notes that Honors College participation may be required at that tier. Since Honors admission at UNA is free, rolling, and open year-round, apply to both.
Can a Scholarship of Distinction really cover full tuition?
UNA describes them as covering up to the full cost of tuition, with award levels that vary. Higher on-campus levels may include tuition, fees, room, and board. The catch, again, is that they are not stackable with the automatic grid. They also come with the most work of any UNA application: a resume, a three to four minute self-recorded video, and a one-page recommendation letter.
Which majors qualify for the Scholarships of Distinction?
Accounting; Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Information Technology, and Data Analytics; and the Department of Engineering and Industrial Professions, which covers both the Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical, Manufacturing, Power Generation, Engineering Management) and the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology, including the Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety option. Switching between eligible majors keeps the award. Leaving the group ends it.
Is the Distinguished Leader (LEAD) scholarship worth pursuing?
It is $10,000 a year for four years, which is $40,000, and it goes to exactly one graduating senior from a LEAD partner district. If your student attends a partner high school it is worth asking about, because the applicant pool is small. It is not something to build a plan around.
Is UNA a Stamps or QuestBridge partner?
No to both.
https://www.una.edu/admissions/new-freshmen/scholarships.html
https://www.una.edu/scholarships-of-distinction/index.html
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-excellence.html
The Cole Honors College at UNA
The Delores and Weldon Cole Honors College is a separate admission from the university itself, and it is selective. But almost everything about how UNA runs it works in a family’s favor: there is no application fee, there is no formal deadline, and applications are accepted year round. It is open to every major. Given what comes with acceptance, there is no good reason for a qualified student to skip it.
UNA classifies domestic U.S. students admitted to the Cole Honors College who receive an Honors scholarship as in-state for tuition purposes, regardless of home state. At 2026-2027 rates that is worth about $10,500 a year, because UNA’s non-resident tuition is exactly double the resident rate. That single reclassification is larger than any scholarship UNA publishes, and it layers on top of the automatic Academic or Presidential Award your student already earned.
- Application: free, rolling, accepted year round through the MyUNA portal. No deadline.
- Review: holistic. UNA weighs grades, course rigor, service, leadership, and writing rather than a single cutoff score.
- Standing requirement: a 3.25 GPA on all coursework counted toward the UNA degree, plus steady progress toward 18 Honors credit hours.
- Required course: first-time freshmen take the Honors Forum (HON 101), which also satisfies UNA’s first-year experience requirement, so it does not cost extra hours.
- Home base: the Honors facility in Coby Hall, plus Honors housing in Covington and Hawthorne for students who want it.
Cole Honors College Scholarships
*Honors awards are made alongside Honors admission. Terms, renewal conditions, and amounts are confirmed in the individual award letter and can change year to year.*
- Early registration: the practical benefit students notice most, because it protects a four-year graduation plan.
- Small classes and faculty mentoring: the reason a regional public can feel like a much smaller school.
- Study abroad funding: financial support specifically for Honors students.
- Career support: mentoring, career counseling, and internship and job placement help through the Honors office.
- Endowed Honors awards: the Honors College distributes donor-funded scholarships each year, but students must complete the General & Endowed Scholarship Application first to be eligible.
Honors College — FAQs (University of North Alabama)
Is Honors admission automatic if my student has good stats?
No. It is a separate application from university admission and UNA describes it as selective. The review is holistic, so a strong essay, real course rigor, and a service or leadership record matter alongside grades.
When is the Honors deadline?
There is not one. UNA accepts Honors applications year round and there is no fee. That said, apply early anyway. The Honors housing scholarship goes to students admitted prior to enrollment, and UNA’s older guidance encouraged applying by March 1 for fullest consideration alongside the other scholarship deadlines.
Does every Honors student get a scholarship?
Yes. UNA states that all students accepted into the Honors College receive a tuition scholarship of $650 per semester, $1,300 per year, renewable for eight semesters. First-time freshmen who live on campus also receive the $4,000 per year housing award for up to four semesters.
Do I have to live in Honors housing?
No. Honors students may live wherever they like, though UNA strongly recommends on campus for at least the first year. But note the trade-off: the Honors Housing Scholarship only pays if your student lives in approved on-campus housing, and Honors housing in Covington or Hawthorne requires a separate application and fee through Housing and Residence Life.
Can transfer students apply?
Yes, and UNA encourages it. Current UNA students can also apply year round. Just be aware that the housing scholarship language specifies first-time, first-year freshmen, so a transfer student’s award package will look different.
What happens if my student drops below the 3.25?
Continued eligibility for the Honors scholarships, and for the in-state tuition reclassification, depends on maintaining Honors standing and progressing toward Honors requirements. For an out-of-state family that is a $10,500 a year consequence, not a small one. Treat the 3.25 as a hard floor rather than a target.
Are Honors classes harder?
They are structured around depth, discussion, and smaller sections rather than extra volume. The 18-hour Honors requirement is spread across the degree, so it works out to roughly one Honors course per semester.
https://www.una.edu/honors/prospective-students/scholarships.html
https://www.una.edu/honors/index.html
https://www.una.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition.html
⭐ College Specialty
UNA is Alabama’s oldest public four-year university and its only public liberal arts university, which gives it a different feel than the state’s big research campuses. About 8,000 students, an 18 to 1 student-faculty ratio, and a campus small enough that the university keeps live lions as mascots in a habitat students walk past on the way to class. But the program that genuinely sets UNA apart is one most families have never heard of, and it exists because of where the school sits.
The David and John Briggs Family Department of Entertainment Industry — UNA has been teaching the music business since 1975, which makes it one of the oldest programs of its kind in the country. It is a stand-alone department with its own building in downtown Florence on Tombigbee Street, housing a recording studio, a MIDI lab, classrooms, and The Mane Room, a 450-capacity performance venue. Students earn a B.A. or B.S. in Entertainment Industry with tracks in entertainment business and entertainment technology, covering music business, audio recording, editing, and live production. The department is a member of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association.
The location is the point. UNA sits fifteen minutes from the Muscle Shoals studios where Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, and Percy Sledge recorded, and about two hours from Nashville. That is not a marketing line, it is a practical advantage for internships and first jobs. UNA also recently launched a Shoals Music Archive on campus.
- Sanders College of Business and Technology: UNA’s business school, and the home of an Accounting program strong enough that UNA built a Scholarship of Distinction around it. Business is consistently among the most popular majors on campus.
- Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions: nursing is one of UNA’s largest and most established pipelines, with a dedicated college and its own community outreach programming. If your student is headed for healthcare, this is a serious program at a very reasonable price.
- Engineering and Industrial Professions: this is UNA’s fastest-changing area. The department now offers a full Bachelor of Engineering with concentrations in Chemical, Manufacturing, Power Generation, and Engineering Management, alongside a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology with Electromechanical and Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety options. Worth watching, because UNA is putting its largest scholarships behind these majors.
- Computing and Data Analytics: Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Information Technology, and Data Analytics all carry Scholarship of Distinction eligibility, with an entry bar of a 3.0 GPA or a 24 ACT. UNA’s proximity to Huntsville’s defense and aerospace corridor makes this a practical pipeline, not just a course catalog.
- Education and the arts: Education is one of UNA’s highest-volume degree areas. The School of the Arts also runs less common programs including Cinematic Arts and Theatre, Culinary Arts Management, Fashion Merchandising and Design, and Interior Architecture and Design.
- Veterans: UNA has been recognized nationally as a strong school for veterans, with an established ROTC battalion and GI Bill support.
The honest summary: UNA is not going to out-recruit Alabama or Auburn on prestige, and nobody should pretend otherwise. What it offers is a low sticker price, a merit grid that pays almost everyone, four different roads to in-state tuition, and a handful of programs where the location does work that a bigger name cannot. If your student wants the music business, this is one of the best value propositions in the country.
🔗 Official University of North Alabama Links
Every link below was checked live. A word of warning: several pages on UNA’s own site still point to a retired scholarship system, and a few award pages are one cycle out of date. The links here go to the current versions. Always confirm final deadlines and award terms against these pages before you act.
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2027 Freshman Scholarships (the award grid and all deadlines):
https://www.una.edu/admissions/new-freshmen/scholarships.html -
Scholarship Opportunities Portal (General & Endowed application):
https://go.una.edu/portal/scholarships -
Excellence Scholarship Terms (full award detail):
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-excellence.html -
Cost of Attendance (2026-2027 and 2025-2026):
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/cost-of-attendance.html -
In-State Tuition & Residency (the $250 rule and the 50-mile county list):
https://www.una.edu/admissions/in-state-tuition.html -
Net Price Calculator:
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator.html -
Cole Honors College Scholarships:
https://www.una.edu/honors/prospective-students/scholarships.html -
Cole Honors College (overview and how to apply):
https://www.una.edu/honors/index.html -
Scholarships of Distinction:
https://www.una.edu/scholarships-of-distinction/index.html -
Presidential Mentors Academy (PMA):
https://www.una.edu/pma/ -
BEST & FIRST Robotics Scholarship (terms and application form, PDF):
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/docs/FIRST-SCHOLARSHIP.pdf -
Music Scholarships & Performance Awards (band and choral):
https://www.una.edu/music/prospective-students/scholarships-and-performance-awards.html -
Early College Scholarship:
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-early-college.html -
Army ROTC Scholarships:
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-rotc.html -
UNA Army ROTC (Lion Battalion):
https://www.una.edu/rotc/index.html -
Endowed Scholarships (alphabetical listing):
https://www.una.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-endowed-alpha.html -
Scholarship Overview (all categories, including transfer and employer):
https://www.una.edu/affordable/index.html -
Department of Entertainment Industry:
https://www.una.edu/entertainment/index.html -
Common Data Set (Institutional Research):
https://www.una.edu/research/Institutional Data/common-data-set.html
✅ Wrapping It Up
Here is what UNA really is, once you strip away the brochure language. It is a small, old, inexpensive public university in a river town that happens to be next door to some of the most famous recording studios in American music, and it gives away money on a published grid that almost any 3.0 student can read and plan around. There is no mystery to the automatic merit. You find your GPA row, find your ACT column, and that is the number.
The part families miss is everything around that grid. UNA has four separate roads to in-state tuition, and for a family in Corinth or Iuka or Pulaski the out-of-state column simply does not apply. There is an $8,000 robotics scholarship the university lists but never links. Band awards that pay up to $4,000 a semester to students who are not music majors. A dual-enrollment scholarship that can be worth more than the courses cost. A $2,000 add-on for honors most parents never think to report. None of it is automatic, and all of it runs through one portal that opens November 2 and closes March 1.
Two things to be careful about. The Scholarships of Distinction and the Distinguished Leader award replace your automatic merit rather than adding to it, so read both offers side by side before accepting. And test-optional at UNA is genuinely optional for admission but expensive for money: the same student can be looking at $1,500 or $8,500 depending on whether they sat for one ACT. If your student is anywhere near a 20, take the test. If they are near a 30, take it again, because UNA will keep accepting scores through April of senior year.
For the right family, UNA is one of the best-value schools in the Southeast. Get admitted early, finish the portal application, submit a score, and apply to the Honors College because it is free and there is no deadline. That sequence is worth more than any single scholarship on this page.
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Leo digs through college financial aid pages so parents don’t have to, translating merit grids, stacking rules, and hidden scholarships into plain English. He writes every guide on CollegeReadyParent himself. More about Leo →