University of Texas at Arlington Scholarships (2026–2027)

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Last Updated on September 3, 2026

What This Page Covers:

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: ~80%
Middle 50% ACT: 20-26
Middle 50% SAT: 1020-1230
Average GPA: 3.45

UTA is one of the more forgiving front doors in Texas. If your student ranks in the top quarter of the class, there is no minimum test score for guaranteed admission. If the high school does not rank, an unweighted 3.25 GPA does the same job. Second and third quartile students can still lock in guaranteed admission with a qualifying SAT or ACT plus a set number of advanced credits. Everyone else gets an individual holistic review rather than an automatic rejection.

Here is the part most families miss: applying to UTA is also applying to the Honors College. There is no separate freshman Honors application. Students whose academic record fits the profile get an invitation by email within about 30 days of admission, and that invited pool is where UTA picks its largest freshman award. So the single act of submitting a complete, early application is what opens both doors at once.

Comparing multiple schools? Try the Scholarship Tool to search by GPA, test scores, and state →

📌 University of Texas at Arlington at a Glance

🏆 Full tuition covered for qualifying Texas families (Blaze Forward), plus full-ride Terry Scholarships

Average Net Price

$14,849/year (in-state estimate)

Average paid for residents.

Automatic Merit

$1,000–$10,000/yr

No separate application.

Scholarships Tracked

33 opportunities

2 automatic · 1 competitive · 14 hidden gem · 16 honors

Merit Evaluation

Holistic Review / Varies

Merit depends on profile rigor.

Testing Policy

Test-optional

No superscore.

Key Deadlines

Priority: Feb 15 • FAFSA: Mar 1

Full-Tuition / Full-Ride

Blaze Forward Program & Terry Foundation Scholarship

Honors College

Honors Program Available

Residency & Waivers

Special Waivers Available

🚨 Easy-to-Miss “Gotchas” at UT Arlington (Read This First)

“Automatic” does not mean guaranteed here. UTA reviews every admitted freshman for merit with no extra form, which is the good news. But UTA also states in writing that meeting the criteria guarantees consideration, not an award, and that every offer depends on how much money is left. Treat UTA merit as likely, not as a sure thing you can budget around.
Two different deadlines, three weeks apart. Admission priority is February 15 for fall. Scholarships and financial aid close March 1. The money date is the later one, but it requires a complete file, and documents take a week to process. Work backward from March 1, not toward it.
Test-optional for admission, not for the top awards. The Presidential and Presidential Honors scholarships both require an SAT or ACT score. Maverick Academic is score-optional, but scores are what push students into higher dollar tiers, and the top tier is what unlocks the out-of-state waiver.
CAP and Accelerated Online students are shut out. Students in the UT Coordinated Admission Program or in Accelerated Online degree plans are not eligible for UTA’s general academic scholarships at all. If your student is weighing CAP as a route to Austin, know that it costs them the UTA merit pool.
Architecture and planning applicants have their own calendar. The College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs sets separate deadlines. Using the university date can cost your student the program and the money attached to it.
Getting admitted is not the same as applying for money. The big freshman awards are automatic. The departmental and endowed awards are not. Those live in Mav ScholarShop and require a second login after admission, which we walk through in the Hidden Gems section.

FAQ

Is this college test-optional? Yes — University of Texas at Arlington is test-optional.

What is the middle 50% ACT/SAT? ACT: 20-26; SAT: 1020-1230.

Average net price? About $14,849/year after aid.

Does this school use waivers/reciprocity? Yes — institutional waivers available.

💰 Cost of Attendance at University of Texas at Arlington 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)	$12,208	$27,494
Housing & Meals (typical)	$12,990	$12,990
Total (Direct Costs)	$25,198	$40,484

Average Federal Net Price: $14,849 — 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

UTA does not belong to a regional reciprocity compact, but it runs one of the most generous non-resident waiver structures among Texas publics, and it is tied directly to your merit award. No separate application is required. Eligibility is set automatically by the size of the scholarship you receive.

Presidential Honors ($13,000), Presidential ($10,000), or top-tier Maverick Academic ($8,000): eligible for a full non-resident tuition waiver, which drops you to Texas in-state rates.
Maverick Academic at $4,000 / $2,000 / $1,000: eligible for a non-resident grant of up to $5,000 / $2,500 / $1,000 instead.
Oklahoma residents who receive a competitive freshman or transfer award also get the Oklahoma non-resident tuition increment waived.

Waivers and grants are not guaranteed. They depend on available funding and can vary year to year. Spring-entry Maverick Academic awards are not eligible for a waiver or grant.

💚 Texas Families: Read the Blaze Forward Box Before Anything Else

If your family is a Texas resident, your student qualifies for both the Federal Pell Grant and the TEXAS Grant, and your combined student and parent adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less, UTA’s Blaze Forward Program covers 100 percent of tuition and course fees for fall and spring. There is no application. You qualify by getting admitted, filing the FAFSA or TASFA, and having every requested document in by March 1.

Blaze Forward does not cover housing, food, books, or transportation. Look at the in-state column below, mentally zero out the tuition line, and what is left is roughly what you would still be planning for.

🔒 The Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan (Opt-In, and Most Families Never Do)

Texas law lets UTA offer two tuition plans, and every student is placed in the Traditional plan by default. The Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan locks your tuition and mandatory fees for 48 months regardless of what happens to rates in years two, three, and four. UTA estimates it can save up to $7,160 across a four-year degree, and more if rates climb faster than expected.

The catch is that it rewards students who actually finish in four years: you need at least a 2.5 UTA GPA and 30 credit hours toward the degree each academic year. The priority window to opt in runs through July 31. Nobody will chase you about this. If you want it, you have to go get it.

Out-of-State Families: Your Merit Award Sets Your Tuition Rate

UTA is not part of a regional reciprocity compact, so there is no Academic Common Market style path here. What UTA has instead is arguably better and far more predictable: the size of your merit scholarship determines whether you pay in-state or out-of-state rates. Land an $8,000 or larger freshman award and you are eligible for a full non-resident tuition waiver, which drops the tuition line in the right-hand column down to the left-hand column. Smaller awards trigger non-resident grants instead. We break the full ladder down in the Automatic Merit section.

FAQ — Cost of Attendance at UT Arlington

Why is UTA’s out-of-state tuition lower than a lot of other Texas publics?
Because UTA prices for access rather than for prestige. Non-resident tuition and fees run about $27,500 for 2026-2027, which is meaningfully below what the flagship campuses charge. Layer a merit award on top and the gap between in-state and out-of-state can close almost entirely, which is not something most families expect from a school this size.

Why doesn’t the total above match the $31,642 figure on UTA’s website?
Two different jobs, two different numbers. Our table shows direct costs, meaning what UTA actually bills you: tuition, mandatory fees, housing, and meals. UTA’s federal cost of attendance adds estimated books, transportation, and personal spending on top, because federal rules require it for aid calculations. Neither number is wrong. Ours is what shows up on the bill. Theirs is the ceiling your aid can be built up to.

Does everyone pay the same housing and meal figure?
No. The number above reflects an undergraduate living on campus. If your student lives off campus with you or another relative, UTA’s own allowance drops to about $8,114 for the year. Living off campus independently lands around $14,056. For a commuter-heavy campus in the middle of the Metroplex, that single choice moves the total more than any scholarship most students will win.

Can an out-of-state student get in-state tuition at UTA?
Effectively yes, through the non-resident tuition waiver, and it is tied to your merit award rather than to where you live. Presidential Honors, Presidential, and top-tier Maverick Academic recipients are all eligible. There is no separate application. It is worth saying clearly though: the waiver is not guaranteed and depends on available funding each year.

Do I have to file the FAFSA if we know we will not qualify for need-based aid?
File it anyway. Blaze Forward runs off it, the TEXAS Grant runs off it, several Mav ScholarShop awards ask for it, and the Terry Scholarship requires it. Families who assume they earn too much and skip the form are the ones who find out in April that they locked themselves out of programs they actually qualified for. March 1 is the date at UTA.

Will tuition go up each year?
Under the Traditional plan, yes, modestly, the way it does everywhere. Under the Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan, no, for 48 months. Scholarship amounts generally stay flat at their awarded value as long as your student meets the renewal terms, which for the major UTA awards means 30 UTA hours per year and a 3.0 UTA GPA.

Sources:
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/average-cost
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/grants/bfp
https://www.uta.edu/admissions/afford/guaranteed-tuition/faq
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/competitive-scholarship-non-resident-tuition-waiver

📅 The UTA Timeline in Plain English

August 1: The application for the following fall opens. Submitting early costs nothing and only helps.
February 15: Admission priority date for fall. Miss it and you can still apply, but guaranteed consideration goes away.
March 1: The real one. Scholarship and financial aid deadline. Admission file complete, FAFSA or TASFA in, every requested document received. This is also the Blaze Forward cutoff.
March 15: Honors College invitations stop being held. After this, invited students are seated only if space remains.
Spring entry: Everything shifts. Admission priority is October 15 and the scholarship deadline is November 1.

Parent rule of thumb: a file that arrives on February 28 is not “in” if a transcript is still processing on March 3. Give yourself two weeks of runway.

Automatic Merit Scholarships — UT Arlington

Read this before you budget around these numbers. UTA does not publish a stat grid where a 3.8 and a 29 automatically equals a specific dollar amount. Every admitted freshman gets a holistic review by the Scholarship Committee, with no separate application, and awards are set by the full academic picture: class rank, unweighted GPA, test scores, and how hard the transcript actually was. UTA says in writing that meeting the requirements guarantees consideration but does not guarantee an award, and that all offers depend on available funding and on how many strong applicants show up that year. Plan for UTA merit as probable. Do not plan for it as promised.

Find your student's tier

Enter the numbers you have. We'll highlight the automatic award your student would actually get and tuck the rest out of the way. Leave it blank to browse everything.

Residency

GPA (9th–11th)

ACT

SAT

Based on published cutoffs for entering freshmen. Always verify with the college before finalizing plans.

One award, not a pile. Colleges apply your student's single best automatic award. Automatic scholarships almost never stack with each other, though some stack with housing, departmental, or outside money. The stacking notes on each card tell you which.

Automatic

Presidential Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews (3 GPA, 4 yrs)

$10,000/yr

✔ Stackable

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stacks with other UTA, state, and outside aid up to the cost of attendance. When awarded with the non-resident tuition waiver, out-of-state families essentially pay Texas in-state rates — that combo alone can quietly save tens of thousands over four years.

💡

Strategic Detail

$10,000 per year, up to $40,000 over four years of eligibility. An SAT or ACT score is required for consideration. Renewal requires 30 UTA credit hours per year and a 3.0 UTA GPA. UTA states plainly that meeting the requirements guarantees consideration, not an award, and that all offers depend on available funding.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

The very top of UTA's admitted freshman pool: elite high school GPAs, heavy AP, IB, or dual credit loads, and strong test scores. Texas residents and out-of-state students both win this one. Because it is committee-selected rather than formula-driven, a strong profile improves your odds without ever locking in the award, and a complete March 1 file is non-negotiable.

Automatic

Maverick Academic Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews (3 GPA, 4 yrs)

$1,000–$8,000/yr

✔ Stackable

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

Tiered $1,000 to $8,000 per year and renewable for up to three additional years (four years total) with 30 UTA hours per year and a 3.0 UTA GPA. Stacks with other awards up to cost of attendance, and an out-of-state student selected for this award may also receive the non-resident tuition waiver — a huge cost-saver.

💡

Strategic Detail

Tiered freshman award of $1,000 to $8,000 per year for fall entry. Spring entry runs $1,000 to $4,000 and is limited to Texas residents. Test scores are optional but strongly encouraged because they can lift you into a higher tier. Renewable up to three additional years with 30 UTA hours per year and a 3.0 UTA GPA. Meeting the criteria guarantees review, not an award, and all offers are subject to available funding.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Strong-to-very-strong freshman profiles that land just under the Presidential cutoff. Roughly top-quarter class standing, a high unweighted GPA, real rigor on the transcript, and either competitive test scores or a clearly demanding course load. Submitting scores is optional but often moves students into a higher dollar tier, which matters enormously for out-of-state families because $8,000 is the level that unlocks the full non-resident waiver.

Data last verified Sep 3, 2026.* GPA/test bands are estimates based on official selectivity and prior cohort profiles. "Who Actually Wins" insights are pulled from external peer-sourced data where students and parents have reported real-world award results. Because colleges can change funding thresholds and deadlines at any time, always verify these details with the institution before finalizing your application strategy.

Note: Students who qualify for more than one award receive the single highest-value one, not both. Spring-entry Maverick Academic awards top out at $4,000 and are limited to Texas residents.

💵 The Out-of-State Waiver Ladder (This Is the Whole Ballgame)

This is the most useful table on this page if you live outside Texas, and UTA publishes it openly even though almost nobody reads it. Your merit award does not just reduce your bill. It determines which tuition rate you are charged at all. Cross the $8,000 line and you stop paying non-resident tuition. Land below it and you get a fixed-dollar grant instead. There is no separate application for either one.

Freshman Award	Amount	What It Unlocks for Non-Residents
Presidential Honors	$13,000/yr	Full non-resident tuition waiver. You are billed at Texas in-state rates.
Presidential	$10,000/yr	Full non-resident tuition waiver.
Maverick Academic (top tier)	$8,000/yr	Full non-resident tuition waiver. This is the line worth fighting for.
Maverick Academic	$4,000/yr	Non-resident grant up to $5,000. International grant up to $10,000.
Maverick Academic	$2,000/yr	Non-resident grant up to $2,500. International grant up to $8,000.
Maverick Academic	$1,000/yr	Non-resident grant up to $1,000. International grant up to $5,000.

Two footnotes that matter. Waivers and grants are not guaranteed and depend on funding, and spring-entry awards do not carry them at all. And if you live in Oklahoma, a competitive freshman or transfer award also waives the Oklahoma non-resident tuition increment on top of everything above.

Automatic Merit — FAQs (UT Arlington)

When does my student need to apply to be considered?
The admission application and every required credential must be complete by March 1 for fall entry, or November 1 for spring. February 15 is the separate admission priority date. There is no scholarship form to fill out, so the application itself is the whole ask.

Is the Presidential Scholarship guaranteed if we hit certain numbers?
No, and UTA is unusually direct about this. There are no published cutoffs. The Scholarship Committee reviews rank, GPA, test scores, and course rigor together, then awards the highest value each student is eligible for based on their credentials and on how much funding is available. Strong stats make it likely. Nothing makes it certain.

Do we have to submit test scores?
For the Presidential Scholarship, yes, an SAT or ACT is required. For Maverick Academic, scores are optional but strongly encouraged, because a qualifying GPA has to be paired with either scores or documented course rigor, and scores are frequently what lift a student into a higher dollar tier. For an out-of-state family, moving from the $4,000 tier to the $8,000 tier is the difference between a $5,000 grant and paying in-state rates for four years. That is worth a Saturday morning test date.

Can my student receive both the Presidential and the Maverick Academic award?
No. When a student qualifies for more than one, UTA offers the single highest-value scholarship. The awards do not stack against each other. They do stack with need-based grants, departmental awards, and outside scholarships up to the cost of attendance.

Are these renewable?
Yes, for up to four years. Renewal requires 30 UTA credit hours per academic year and a 3.0 UTA GPA. Note that “full time” and “30 hours a year” are not the same thing. Twelve hours each fall and spring is only 24, which leaves your student six hours short. Summer coursework or 15-hour semesters close that gap, and plenty of families find this out the hard way in year two.

Is my student eligible if they are doing CAP or Accelerated Online?
No. Students in the UT Coordinated Admission Program and students in Accelerated Online degree plans are excluded from UTA’s general academic scholarships entirely. This is one of the most expensive fine-print items on the whole page.

Sources:
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/presidential-scholar
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/maverick-academic-scholarship
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/undergraduate-eligibility
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/competitive-scholarship-non-resident-tuition-waiver
https://www.uta.edu/admissions/apply/freshmen

🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)

UTA does not run a big essay-and-interview scholarship carnival the way some flagships do. There is essentially one marquee competitive award here, and it is not even UTA’s money. Everything else that requires an application is either departmental, Honors-linked, or need-based, and we cover those in the sections that follow.

That is not a knock on UTA. It is a structural fact worth understanding, because it changes where your student should spend their effort. At a school like Alabama or Arkansas, a strong writer can chase four or five named competitive packages. At UTA, the highest-leverage move is to submit a complete, early application so the automatic review lands in the top tier, then work Mav ScholarShop for departmental money. The one exception, and it is a big one, is Terry.

✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at UTA?

Aid Type	Stacks with Merit?	UTA Parent Translation
Two automatic awards	No	Multiple eligibility means UTA offers the highest value one, not both.
Merit + departmental (Mav ScholarShop)	Yes	This is the main way UTA families close the housing and food gap. Stacks up to cost of attendance.
Merit + need-based grants	Yes	Pell and the TEXAS Grant layer on top. FAFSA timing is what decides this.
Blaze Forward	Underneath, not on top	It is a last-dollar package built from grants, waivers, and merit combined. Other gift aid fills it in rather than adding to it.
Terry Foundation	Underneath	Terry covers full cost after other grants and scholarships are applied. Winning it does not mean doubling up.
Outside scholarships	Yes	Especially valuable at UTA, because they can go toward the costs tuition programs do not cover.
ROTC / band / performance	Usually yes	Layer with UTA and federal aid up to cost of attendance. Always read the award letter for replacement language.

Full RideApp Required

Terry Foundation Scholarship

📅 Deadline: mid-January
✓ Renews (4 yrs)

Full Ride

full_ride_external

✔ Stackable

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

Terry covers the full cost of tuition, fees, books, and on-campus living after other grants and scholarships are applied — so other gift aid stacks underneath it, not on top. A study abroad stipend is also possible. This is one of the most generous awards in Texas.

📄

How to Apply

The UTA Terry application opens in mid-October inside Mav ScholarShop with a mid-January deadline. Texas residents complete the Terry application, submit the FAFSA listing UTA (school code 003656), and the UTA general scholarship application. UTA selects nominees from this pool — strong candidates are typically invited to interview with the Terry Foundation as finalists.

✎ Essays🎤 Interview💌 Letters of Rec🌟 Finalist Event

💡

Strategic Detail

Administered at UTA through the Division of Student Success. Includes housing support and possible study abroad stipend. UTA has partnered with the Terry Foundation since 2015.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

High-achieving Texas residents with a real track record of leadership and service who also have clear financial need. The Terry team is looking for future leaders, not just transcripts — students who can talk about impact, growth, and grit in essays and interviews tend to advance.

❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs

What exactly does the Terry Scholarship cover?
Full cost of tuition, fees, books, and on-campus living, calculated after other grants and scholarships are applied, plus a possible stipend for study abroad. It is the most generous single award available to a UTA student and one of the largest private scholarship programs in Texas. UTA has partnered with the Terry Foundation since 2015.

Who can apply, and when?
Incoming first-year students who will graduate from a Texas high school or Texas home-school program, are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and are admitted to UTA full time for the fall. The UTA Terry application opens in mid-October inside Mav ScholarShop and closes in mid-January. Dates shift slightly year to year, so confirm on UTA’s Terry page.

Does UTA pick the winners?
No, and this trips people up. UTA screens applications and nominates finalists. The Terry Foundation conducts final interviews and makes the actual selections. Your student is really competing twice, first for UTA’s nomination and then in front of the Foundation.

Is there a catch?
A few conditions worth knowing up front. Terry Scholars must be willing to live on campus in the designated Terry residence hall, must attend a separate Terry orientation in addition to New Maverick Orientation, and must take the Terry Scholar student success learning community course. Dropping that course can cost the scholarship and the housing assignment attached to it.

Do we need the FAFSA for Terry?
Yes. You do not have to file before applying, but nobody receives Terry funding without a completed FAFSA. Aim to have it done by mid-January, which is also the Texas state priority window. If your student advances to an interview, the Foundation will ask financial questions that come straight off that form.

What are they actually looking for?
Leadership, academic strength, and demonstrated financial need, in roughly that order of emphasis. The essays ask students to tell their story and to describe a concrete example of leadership with real actions and outcomes. Our Essay Toolkit and Brag Sheet Builder are built for exactly this kind of prompt.

Is UTA a Stamps Scholarship partner?
No. UTA is not a current Stamps partner. It does participate in National Merit.

Sources:
https://www.uta.edu/student-success/resources/terry-scholars
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/undergraduate-eligibility
https://uta.scholarships.ngwebsolutions.com/

🧠 Parent Strategy: The Second Login Nobody Tells You About

Getting admitted to UTA puts your student in front of the Scholarship Committee for the big automatic awards. It does not put them in front of the several hundred departmental, endowed, and donor awards spread across UTA’s colleges. Those live in Mav ScholarShop, and reaching them takes a second, separate action.

Log into Mav ScholarShop with the UTA student email and MyMav password.
Complete the General Scholarship Application for All Students. This is the master key. Skip it and most fall opportunities never appear.
Click Available Scholarship Opportunities and search by major and by class year. The system pre-filters, but the pre-filter is not the whole list.
Watch the Task List. Awards that need extra information from your student show up there and nowhere else.
Log back in every few weeks. Deadlines are staggered across the year, not clustered.

The detail that should change your behavior: Mav ScholarShop does not send regret emails. Silence tells you nothing. Your student has to go look.

💎 Hidden Gem Scholarships

Some of these stack neatly with automatic merit and quietly close the housing and food gap. One of them, sitting at the top of this list, can wipe out tuition entirely for the right Texas family. Most require a separate application, an audition, or a departmental form.

Why Blaze Forward leads this list. It is technically a grant program rather than a scholarship, it has no application, and it is the single largest source of tuition relief at UTA for in-state families. It is also the item families most often discover after the March 1 deadline has already passed. If your household income is at or under $100,000 and you are a Texas resident, treat everything else on this page as secondary until you have confirmed your Blaze Forward status.

Full TuitionAutomaticresidencyneed basedincome capped

Blaze Forward Program

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews (2.5 GPA, 4 yrs)

Full Tuition

need_based_tuition_guarantee

✔ Stackable

⚠ Texas residents only, with a combined student and parent adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less and eligibility for both Pell and the TEXAS Grant

Texas resident paying in-state rates; eligible for both the Federal Pell Grant and the TEXAS Grant; combined student and parent adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less each tax year; enrolled full time at a minimum of 12 undergraduate hours each long semester.

✚

Stacking & Combining

Blaze Forward is built from a combination of grants, waivers, and UTA merit scholarships that together cover 100 percent of tuition and course fees for fall and spring. Because it is a last-dollar package, other gift aid stacks underneath it rather than on top. Outside scholarships and Mav ScholarShop awards are still worth chasing, because those dollars can be applied to housing, food, books, and other costs that Blaze Forward does not touch. Dallas County Promise, T3, Red River Promise, and Texoma Promise last-dollar awards are folded into the same funding.

💡

Strategic Detail

Covers 100 percent of tuition and course fees for fall and spring, not housing, food, books, or transportation. Renewable up to four years (eight long semesters) for entering first-year students, or two years for entering transfers, as long as the family continues to meet the income and aid criteria, maintains a cumulative 2.5 UTA GPA, and completes at least 24 credit hours across fall and spring each year. Current UTA students who meet the criteria, including having received the TEXAS Grant, are considered automatically. Out-of-state and international students are not eligible.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Texas families in the working and lower-middle income band who file early and completely. This is not a merit contest and there is no essay, no interview, and no committee. It comes down to residency, Pell and TEXAS Grant eligibility, an AGI at or under $100,000, and a finished file by March 1. The families who miss it almost always miss it on paperwork rather than on income.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Departmental Scholarships

📅 Deadline: Jan–Mar
✓ Renews

$500–$5,000/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stackable if within cost of attendance.

📄

How to Apply

Apply in Mav ScholarShop and/or college/department application Jan–Mar. Awards available in all UTA colleges.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Most colleges have multiple named endowments and need/merit funds.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Students completing both general and departmental applications thoroughly.

Full TuitionApp Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Army ROTC Scholarships

📅 Deadline: Oct–Mar (senior year)
✓ Renews

Full Tuition

rotc_contract_benefit

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Full tuition, some include fees/stipend; can be layered with UTA/federal aid up to COA.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via national Army ROTC boards between Oct–Mar of senior year. Must meet academic, fitness, medical, and service commitment criteria, join UTA Battalion.

🎤 Interview

💡

Strategic Detail

Includes book stipend and monthly allowance if selected; highly competitive.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Top students committed to ROTC and intent to commission.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Maverick Marching / Pep Band & Music Performance

📅 Deadline: Jan–Mar (auditions)
✓ Renews

$500–$4,000/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stackable with other UTA and outside awards.

📄

How to Apply

Audition and submit music app Jan–Mar; enroll in ensemble and maintain active participation.

🌟 Finalist Event

💡

Strategic Detail

Award may vary based on section leader status and annual funds.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Strong players who audition on time, especially section leaders.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Dean’s Leadership Circle (Business)

📅 Deadline: Feb 1–Mar 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stackable with other business or leadership funds.

📄

How to Apply

Business students apply via College of Business portal or Mav ScholarShop; must show GPA and leadership/internship experience. Typically open Feb 1–Mar 1.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Priority to students with significant leadership development.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Clear business leadership and/or demonstrated internship/engagement.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Yardi Scholars (Business)

📅 Deadline: Mar 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

May stack with other business/merit awards.

📄

How to Apply

Submit business/ScholarShop application by Mar 1; prioritized for business majors with financial need, first-generation college status preferred, FAFSA required.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Yearly funding, with preference for first-gen/financial need.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

First-generation business students with FAFSA on file.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Study Abroad Scholarships (incl. Billy & Tilly Wasson)

📅 Deadline: Oct (spring) / Mar (summer/fall)
Non-Renewable

$500–$2,000

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Can stack with other awards if cost limits not exceeded.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through study abroad office or portal for approved UTA study abroad program; most are awarded per trip/term. First-gen and need students prioritized.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Awarded per trip. Some named funds have additional requirements.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Students who plan early and coordinate timing with UTA study abroad office.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Community Service / Maverick Advantage Awards

📅 Deadline: Nov & Mar cycles
✓ Renews

$500–$1,500/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Some are renewable, others are single-year.

📄

How to Apply

Document sustained volunteer/service/leadership; complete campus app during Nov & Mar cycles.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Reflective statement often required. Focus on sustained, not single-event, service.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Students with meaningful service records and strong applications.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

UTA Maverick Spirit Scholarship

📅 Deadline: Feb–Mar
Non-Renewable

$500–$1,000/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Non-renewable award, but can be combined with other scholarships.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via student affairs portal during Feb–Mar window. Must document campus involvement, leadership, or service roles.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Sought after by students engaged in several student orgs or campus governance.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Highly involved and impactful campus participants.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Greek Life Leadership Scholarship

📅 Deadline: Late Feb
Non-Renewable

$500–$1,500/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Pairs well with other leadership, service, or merit funds.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL) office by late February; active members/officers preferred.

💡

Strategic Detail

Recommended for officers, but open to all active Greek Life students.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Active students who mix leadership, service, and academic success in Greek Life.

App Required⚠ Upperclassmen Only

AP Institute Future Teachers Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 Upperclassmen

✚

Stacking & Combining

Hidden-gem scholarship that lots of students miss because it's housed under the Honors College but open to everyone. Stacks with other UTA and outside aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through the Honors College or Mav ScholarShop. This award is unusual — it's open to both Honors and non-Honors juniors and seniors who have a clear plan to teach middle school or high school. Lead with your future-teacher narrative in your personal statement and résumé.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Open to Honors AND non-Honors students at the junior or senior level with a clear desire to teach middle school or high school. Awarded by the Honors College but not restricted to Honors enrollment.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Juniors and seniors with a clear, articulated commitment to teaching middle or high school — education majors, content majors with a teaching path, or future certification candidates. The Honors-or-not flexibility makes this a real find for non-Honors students.

App Required⚠ Sophomore Only

Second-Year Leader Award

📅 Deadline: Oct (fall) / Feb (spring)
Non-Renewable

Varies

✘ Not stackable

🎓 Sophomore

✚

Stacking & Combining

Non-renewable; not stackable due to limited eligibility.

📄

How to Apply

Faculty/staff nomination required, plus short application, for sophomores holding campus leadership roles. Apply Oct (fall) or Feb (spring).

💡

Strategic Detail

Some years restrict to only current sophomores.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Campus-engaged sophomores leading student orgs, teams, or projects.

App Required⚠ Sophomore Only

Shirlee J. & Taylor Gandy Endowed

📅 Deadline: Mar 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✘ Not stackable

🎓 Sophomore

✚

Stacking & Combining

Preference for students who missed main merit.

📄

How to Apply

Sophomores with need should apply via UTA Foundation/Mav ScholarShop by Mar 1. Preference given to first-gen students who did not receive major merit as freshmen.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Not available to previous major merit recipients.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Persistent, overlooked, and first-gen sophomores with need.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Native American Student Association Scholarship

📅 Deadline: Late Feb
✓ Renews

Varies

✘ Not stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Awards vary. Typically not stackable with similar NASA awards.

📄

How to Apply

Active participants in UTA’s Native American Student Association (NASA); service/advocacy statement required. Apply by late February.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Can be awarded alongside other departmental or university awards within COA.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Students engaged in Native community service or advocacy through NASA.

Full TuitionApp Requiredgeographicneed basedpipeline

Texas Leadership Scholars (statewide program)

📅 Deadline: Dec–Jan
✓ Renews (4 yrs)

Full Tuition

leadership_merit

✔ Stackable

⚠ State-funded Texas Leadership Scholars cohort for high-achieving, low-income Texas graduates that provides a full-tuition-plus-housing award at UT Arlington through a small, selective pipeline

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

Full ride (tuition, fees, support, mentoring). May be combined with outside awards.

📄

How to Apply

Top TX seniors apply for nomination and complete state app Dec–Jan. Must show leadership, financial need, and community impact.

✎ Essays🎤 Interview

💡

Strategic Detail

UT Arlington is one of several Texas participant campuses.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: High-achieving, first-gen/low-income Texas leaders selected statewide.

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Can these stack with my student’s automatic merit award?
Most of them, yes, up to the total cost of attendance. Departmental and endowed awards are exactly the “gap fillers” UTA merit does not reach, since the big automatic awards are tuition-shaped and your bill is not. A few of the smaller ones are marked as non-stacking on their cards above, so check each one.

How does Mav ScholarShop decide what my student sees?
It builds a profile from MyMav data and matches it against open opportunities every night. Some awards auto-match and route the profile to the awarding department. Others need more information and appear in the Task List. Seeing an application does not mean your student qualifies. It means the system thinks they might.

If no deadline is listed, when should we check?
Departmental awards generally run January through March for fall funding. Music and band auditions cluster in the same window. Study abroad funding runs on its own cycle, roughly October for spring travel and March for summer and fall. When in doubt, contact the department over your student’s major directly. UTA explicitly recommends this.

My student is a sophomore who did not get much as a freshman. Is it too late?
Not at all, and this is one of the better things about UTA. Several awards above are built specifically for continuing students, including the Second-Year Leader Award and the Shirlee J. and Taylor Gandy Endowed Scholarship, which gives preference to first-generation sophomores who did not receive major merit as freshmen. Persistence is genuinely rewarded here.

Are there awards for students who are not in Honors?
Yes. The AP Institute Future Teachers Scholarship is administered by the Honors College but is open to both Honors and non-Honors juniors and seniors who intend to teach middle or high school. That combination is unusual and it is why so few students apply for it.

What is Texas Leadership Scholars?
A state-funded program that provides a full-tuition-plus-support award at participating Texas public universities, including UTA. It is a small, selective statewide pipeline aimed at high-achieving Texas graduates with financial need, and nomination happens in the December to January window. Worth a look if your student fits, but it is not a realistic plan for most families, which is why it sits at the bottom of this list.

How will we know if we won something?
Offers appear under the Awards tab in Mav ScholarShop and an email goes to the UTA student address. Rejections generate nothing at all. Check the account, not the inbox.

Sources:
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/grants/bfp
https://uta.scholarships.ngwebsolutions.com/
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/departmental-scholarships
https://www.uta.edu/student-affairs/oie/study-abroad/abroad-scholarships

Honors College at UT Arlington

Here is the single most useful thing on this page for a high-achieving student: you do not apply to the UTA Honors College as an incoming freshman. Applying to UTA is applying to Honors. Every applicant’s academic record gets evaluated, and students who meet the profile receive an invitation by email within about 30 days of their admission decision. There is no extra essay, no extra fee, no extra form.

That matters far beyond the Honors curriculum, because the invited pool is where UTA selects the Presidential Honors Scholarship at $13,000 per year, the largest freshman award on campus and up to $52,000 across four years. Out-of-state students who receive it are also eligible for the full non-resident tuition waiver. So one complete, early application is what opens the honors community and the biggest money on the table at the same time.

If the invitation does not come. Students who are not automatically invited can still request a holistic review during the open application season through UTA’s Honors application portal. Successful holistic applicants generally have an excellent high school record, roughly a 1270 or higher SAT or ACT equivalent, and visible engagement through accelerated coursework or activities. This is a real second door, not a formality.

Incoming freshmen: automatic evaluation, invitation by email, no separate application required.
Accepting the seat: invited students hold their spot until March 15 for fall entry (November 1 for spring). After that, invitations are honored only if space remains.
Priority window: students who want to register for Honors courses at summer orientation typically need a completed application by mid-February, with a final deadline at the end of June. Exact dates move each cycle.
Transfer and current UTA students: 12 to 60 earned credit hours with a 3.5 GPA, applying through the holistic process. Note that transfers and current students apply for spring entry.
Not eligible: students in fully online, Accelerated Online, or online Academic Partnerships degree plans.

Honors College Scholarships & Fellowships

One application, ten scholarships. Once your student is an enrolled Honors student in good standing, the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop considers them for ten different named awards at once. It requires a résumé, a personal statement, and one letter of recommendation from a UTA staff or faculty member, and it is due March 1. This is the highest return on effort available anywhere in the UTA system, so treat those three documents seriously rather than as a formality.

Automatic

Presidential Honors Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews (3 GPA, 4 yrs)

$13,000/yr

✔ Stackable

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

$13,000 per year, up to $52,000 over four years. Can stack with other UTA and outside awards up to cost of attendance, and out-of-state students chosen often also receive the non-resident tuition waiver. Renewal requires 30 UTA hours per year and a 3.0 UTA GPA per the scholarship terms.

💡

Strategic Detail

$13,000 per year, renewable up to four years for a maximum of $52,000. SAT or ACT submission is required. UTA no longer publishes numeric thresholds, and selection is holistic across rank, GPA, scores, and rigor. Historically competitive profiles have clustered near top 5 percent class rank, roughly a 3.9 GPA, and ACT 31 or SAT 1400. Consideration is not a guarantee of an award.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: UTA's highest-achieving incoming freshmen who are also admitted to the Honors College. UTA does not publish hard cutoffs, but in prior cycles winning profiles have clustered roughly around top 5% class rank, ~3.9 unweighted GPA, and ACT 31 / SAT 1400 — with rigorous coursework. Submitting test scores is required.

App Required

Robert D. Riley Endowed Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 31
✓ Renews

$4,000/yr

✔ Stackable

Holistic / Status Based

✚

Stacking & Combining

Endowed Honors award for incoming freshmen. Stacks with Presidential Honors, Presidential, Maverick Academic, and other UTA aid up to cost of attendance.

📄

How to Apply

Incoming freshmen admitted to the Honors College apply in Mav ScholarShop by March 31. The Riley application is separate from the Conditional Application bundle for current students.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Reclassified from hidden_gem to honors based on the live Honors College listing as an Incoming Freshman Scholarship with a March 31 deadline. Apply via Mav ScholarShop.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Incoming Honors freshmen with strong academics and a clear story about what they'll contribute to the Honors community.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Honors College General Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

$1,000–$2,000/yr

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Typical awards run around $1,000 to $2,000 per year and may be stacked with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits. Funding levels can vary year to year.

📄

How to Apply

Log into Mav ScholarShop with your NetID and complete the Honors College Conditional Application by March 1. The single Conditional Application considers you for ten different Honors awards at once — including this one. You'll upload a résumé, a personal statement, and one letter of recommendation from a UTA staff or faculty member.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Awarded via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop. Same application considers you for nine other named Honors scholarships. Specific award amounts depend on annual funding.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Engaged Honors students with solid academics and visible involvement in the Honors community — leadership, research, service, mentoring. The Conditional App is a one-stop way to be considered for nine other named awards too, so it's worth investing real time in the résumé and personal statement.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Honors Presidential Scholarship (Honors Internal)

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Awarded by the Honors College itself, separate from the FAO's incoming-freshman Presidential Honors package. Stacks with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. Upload a résumé, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation. This is the Honors-internal Presidential award — distinct from the FAO's Presidential Honors Scholarship given to incoming freshmen at admission.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Listed inside the Honors College Conditional Application as Honors Presidential Scholarship — distinct from the FAO's incoming-freshman Presidential Honors Scholarship. Award amounts not published; vary by year.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Top Honors students with sustained academic excellence and a clear contribution to the Honors community — leadership, mentoring, research, or service.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Carolyn A. Barros Founding Dean Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Endowed Honors award; may be combined with other Honors and institutional scholarships within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1 — one application covers ten Honors awards at once. Upload a résumé, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation from a UTA staff or faculty member. Highlight your leadership and contributions to the Honors community in your materials.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Named endowed Honors scholarship awarded via the Conditional Application. Dollar amounts are not published and depend on annual endowment payout.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

High-achieving Honors students with a clear leadership thread — Honors College Council, Programming Board, Advocates, peer mentoring, or other sustained involvement in the college's life.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Charles R. Knerr Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

May be combined with other Honors and donor awards within overall aid limits.

📄

How to Apply

Submit the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. The one application covers ten Honors awards including this one. Upload a résumé, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation from a UTA staff or faculty member.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Merit-focused Honors award via the Conditional Application; specific dollar amounts vary by year.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Consistently high-performing Honors students — strong UTA GPAs, steady progress toward the Honors degree, and meaningful engagement with the college.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Nancy C. Sommerman Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stacks with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. The one application covers ten Honors awards. Upload a résumé, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation. Submitting the FAFSA helps if financial need is part of the consideration.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Need-and-merit hybrid Honors scholarship awarded via the Conditional Application. Amounts vary by year.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students who pair documented financial need with strong academic performance and meaningful service or engagement.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Dana Dunn Scholarship for Service Learning

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stacks with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Submit the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1, highlighting your service-learning and community engagement on your résumé and personal statement. The same application covers nine other Honors awards.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Service-learning-focused Honors award via the Conditional Application. Amounts vary by year.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students with a sustained, visible service-learning record — community-based research, ongoing volunteer leadership, civic engagement work — alongside strong academics.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Watters Scholarship for Higher Education — General

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

General Honors endowed award. Stacks with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. Upload a résumé, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation. The one Conditional Application considers you for nine other Honors awards.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

General-track Honors endowed scholarship — not major-restricted. Awarded via the Honors Conditional Application.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Engaged Honors students with strong academics and meaningful contribution to the Honors community — any major welcome.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Watters Scholarship for Higher Education — Engineering

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Honors major-restricted endowed award. Stacks with College of Engineering, Honors, and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. Make the engineering thread clear in your personal statement and résumé — coursework, design projects, undergraduate research, internships. The same application covers nine other Honors awards.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors scholarship reserved for engineering majors. Awarded via the Honors Conditional Application; amounts not published.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students in UTA's College of Engineering with strong academics and tangible engineering involvement — research, design competitions, internships, or industry experience.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Dan Dipert Nursing Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Honors major-specific endowed award. Stacks with other Honors, College of Nursing, and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. Highlight your nursing trajectory in your personal statement and résumé. The one Conditional Application covers ten Honors awards.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors scholarship reserved for nursing students. Awarded via the Honors Conditional Application; amounts not published.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students in UTA's College of Nursing with strong academic records and a clear nursing career direction.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Luther Wayne Odom Scholarship for Political Science Students

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Major-restricted Honors endowed award. Stacks with other Honors and institutional aid within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply via the Honors College Conditional Application in Mav ScholarShop by March 1. Use your personal statement and résumé to highlight your political science interests and activities. The one application covers nine other Honors awards too.

✎ Essays💌 Letters of Rec

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors scholarship reserved for political science majors. Awarded via the Honors Conditional Application; amounts not published.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students majoring in political science with sustained academic engagement — think research, mock trial, debate, internships, or civic involvement.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Stuckler Family Endowed Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 1
✓ Renews

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Endowed Honors award. Stacks with other Honors and donor awards within institutional limits. Funding levels depend on annual endowment payout.

📄

How to Apply

This one requires a separate application in Mav ScholarShop (it's not in the Conditional Application bundle). Log in with your NetID, find the Stuckler Family Endowed Scholarship application, and submit by the March 1 Honors deadline.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors scholarship that requires its OWN application — not part of the Conditional Application. Find it in Mav ScholarShop.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Most winners: Engaged Honors leaders with strong academics and a meaningful contribution to the Honors community or broader campus life.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Dean Robert F. McMahon Honors College Study Abroad Scholarship

📅 Deadline: March 31
Non-Renewable

$500–$2,000

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stackable with the International Education Fee Scholarship and other study abroad funding, subject to cost-of-attendance limits. Awards typically fall in the $500 to $2,000 range per trip.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through Mav ScholarShop and the Honors College by March 31 with your study abroad program details, an essay or statement of purpose, and any documentation of academic engagement. Coordinate with the Office of International Education on program approval.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors-only study abroad endowment with a March 31 deadline. Pair this with the IEFS for the best chance of meaningful funding.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students with a substantive study abroad plan — language immersion, research, or an academically meaningful program — and a clear statement of how the experience ties into their Honors trajectory.

App Required⚠ All Undergrad Only

Alan & Bonnie Petsche Award for Honors Study Abroad

📅 Deadline: March 31
Non-Renewable

Varies

✔ Stackable

🎓 All Undergrad

✚

Stacking & Combining

Stacks with IEFS and other UTA or external study abroad funding within cost-of-attendance limits.

📄

How to Apply

Apply through Mav ScholarShop and the Honors College by March 31 with a project proposal, your study abroad program details, and faculty support. This award is specifically for project-based, independent study abroad experiences — be ready to articulate the academic project you'll pursue overseas.

✎ Essays

💡

Strategic Detail

Honors-only award targeted at independent, project-based study abroad. Listed on the OIE study abroad scholarships page as the Petsche Scholarship for Independent Study Abroad.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students with a real, faculty-supported project to pursue abroad — independent research, creative work, fieldwork — not a standard semester program.

App Required⚠ Upperclassmen Only

Honors College Early Completion Scholarship

📅 Deadline: April 1
Non-Renewable

$500

✔ Stackable

🎓 Upperclassmen

✚

Stacking & Combining

One-time $500 stipend. Combinable with other UTA scholarships up to cost of attendance.

📄

How to Apply

If you'll finish all Honors requirements — including the Senior Project — before your final undergraduate semester, download the Honors Early Completion Scholarship application from the Honors College website, complete it, and submit by the posted April 1 deadline.

💡

Strategic Detail

$500 one-time award for students who complete the Senior Project and remaining Honors hours before their final undergraduate semester. Listed for students graduating in Spring 2027 or Fall 2027 who finish Honors work in Spring 2026 or Fall 2026.

🕵

Who Actually Wins

Honors students who finish all Honors requirements early and can document that completion before their senior year. If you're on track to wrap your Capstone and Honors hours ahead of schedule, this is basically free money for organizing your timeline well.

*Most named Honors endowments do not publish dollar amounts, because awards depend on annual endowment payout. Amounts and availability vary year to year.*

Three Honors deadlines, not one

March 1: the Conditional Application, covering ten named awards, plus the Stuckler Family Endowed Scholarship, which requires its own separate application in Mav ScholarShop.
March 31: study abroad endowments (McMahon and Petsche) and the Robert D. Riley award for incoming Honors freshmen.
April 1: the Honors Early Completion Scholarship, a $500 one-time award for students who finish their Senior Project and remaining Honors hours before their final undergraduate semester.

Beyond the scholarship list

The Archer Fellowship: a semester in Washington, D.C. through the UT System, one of the more resume-changing things a UTA undergraduate can do.
Texas Legislative Fellowship: placement in Austin during the legislative session.
Mavs in the Metro: professional placement built around the Dallas-Fort Worth job market, which is the whole point of being at this campus.
Undergraduate Research Fellowships: funded research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, with a March 1 summer deadline.
Bridge to Graduate School Fellowship: the Torgerson fund, aimed at Honors students continuing into graduate study.

Honors College — FAQs (UT Arlington)

Does my student have to apply to Honors separately?
Not as an incoming freshman. The UTA application doubles as the Honors application, and invitations go out by email within about 30 days of admission. Students who are not invited can request a holistic review through the Honors portal. Transfer and current UTA students always apply through the holistic process.

Does Honors admission come with money?
Not automatically, but it is the gateway to UTA’s largest freshman award. Every incoming freshman admitted to Honors is reviewed for the $13,000 Presidential Honors Scholarship with no additional application. A small number of the strongest profiles are selected. Consideration is not a guarantee.

Is there an Honors fee?
UTA does not publish a separate Honors program charge the way some Texas publics do. Confirm current terms with the Honors College before you budget, since fee structures do change.

Can out-of-state students join Honors?
Yes, and there is real financial upside in doing so. Presidential Honors recipients from outside Texas are eligible for the full non-resident tuition waiver, which effectively converts them to in-state rates for up to four years.

What does the Honors degree actually require?
Honors coursework taken through a contracting system, plus a Capstone or Senior Project. Students who finish those requirements early can claim the Early Completion Scholarship, which is a small but real reward for good planning.

My student is doing CAP. Can they be in Honors?
Possibly, but with conditions. CAP students who are not automatically admitted must apply for their entering fall semester, and if admitted they must earn early registration by attending at least three Honors registration reward events in their first semester. The Honors College will not admit CAP students in their second semester. Also remember that CAP students remain ineligible for UTA’s general academic scholarships.

Sources:
https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/honors/prospective-students/admission-requirements
https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/honors/prospective-students/apply
https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/honors/current-students/scholarships-fellowships
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/presidential-honors-scholarship

⭐ College Specialty

UTA sits in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with about 41,000 students, and it is a Carnegie R1 research university, which puts it in the top 5 percent of research institutions nationally. It is also one of only a handful of Texas Tier One universities. What makes it unusual is that it carries that research profile while remaining an access school with roughly an 80 percent acceptance rate. Most universities pick one identity or the other.

For families, the practical version is this: the outcomes data is the story here, not the admissions selectivity. The Wall Street Journal has ranked UTA the number one university in DFW, and U.S. News has ranked it number one in DFW for the least debt among graduates. Forbes places it sixth among Texas public universities. Those are value numbers, and value is what UTA is genuinely built to deliver.

Nationally Known Program:
College of Nursing and Health Innovation — the largest nursing program at any public university in the country, and the largest producer of bachelor’s-prepared registered nurses in Texas. That scale means clinical placements across one of the biggest hospital markets in America, and it is the reason a UTA nursing degree carries weight far outside the Metroplex. If your student is headed toward nursing, this is the headline.

Engineering: seven departments with strength in mechanical and aerospace, computer science and engineering, bioengineering, and materials science. Aerospace in particular has drawn national recognition, and DFW’s aviation and defense employers are a short drive away.
Business: the College of Business anchors a deep DFW corporate pipeline, and its part-time MBA has landed in Fortune’s rankings among public universities. Finance, accounting, and information systems all feed directly into local employers.
Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA): one of UTA’s genuinely distinctive colleges, combining architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, urban planning, and public policy in one place. Worth repeating: CAPPA sets its own admission deadlines, separate from the university’s.
Education: the College of Education’s online master’s programs ranked eighth nationally out of more than 320 institutions in 2026, and fourth among programs for veterans. A serious teacher pipeline for North Texas.
Social work and public health: UTA’s School of Social Work is well established regionally, with an Honors track and a bridge fellowship toward the MSW.
Where UTA graduates land: the Metroplex itself. Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth largest metro in the country, and UTA is physically in the middle of it. For students who want to intern during the school year rather than only in summers, that geography is worth more than a ranking.

🔗 Official UT Arlington Links

Every link below was checked against UTA’s live site. Use these to confirm deadlines, award terms, and cost figures before you make a decision, because universities update these pages more often than you would expect.

Undergraduate Admissions:
https://www.uta.edu/admissions
First-Year Requirements, Priority Dates & Scholarship Deadlines:
https://www.uta.edu/admissions/apply/freshmen
Financial Aid & Scholarships (main hub):
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships
Average Cost of Attendance (2026-2027 figures):
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/average-cost
Blaze Forward Program (100% tuition for qualifying Texas families):
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/grants/bfp
Non-Resident Tuition Waiver & Grants (the out-of-state ladder):
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/competitive-scholarship-non-resident-tuition-waiver
Mav ScholarShop (departmental & endowed awards):
https://uta.scholarships.ngwebsolutions.com/
Honors College Admission Requirements:
https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/honors/prospective-students/admission-requirements
Terry Scholarships at UTA:
https://www.uta.edu/student-success/resources/terry-scholars
Guaranteed Tuition Rate Plan FAQ:
https://www.uta.edu/admissions/afford/guaranteed-tuition/faq
Tuition & Mandatory Fee Charts (Student Accounts):
https://www.uta.edu/business-affairs/student-accounts/about-tuition
Net Price Calculator (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board):
https://apps.highered.texas.gov/apps/NPC/?Fice=003656
Scholarship Renewal Requirements:
https://www.uta.edu/administration/fao/scholarships/scholarship-policies/renewal-requirements

Note: UTA does not publish a public Common Data Set page. For third-party institutional data, use the College Scorecard or the Texas Institutional Resume.

✅ Wrapping It Up

UT Arlington is a different kind of scholarship school than the ones most families compare it to. There is no stat grid to reverse-engineer and no long menu of essay competitions. What there is, instead, is a single well-timed application that quietly does three jobs at once: it gets your student admitted, it puts them in front of the Scholarship Committee for the automatic awards, and it puts them in the Honors invitation pool where the $13,000 Presidential Honors Scholarship lives. One form, three doors.

The catch is that UTA is honest about something other schools paper over. Automatic here means auto-considered, not auto-awarded, and every offer depends on funding. So the smart move is to be early and complete rather than to be clever. February 15 for admission priority, March 1 for the money, and give yourself two weeks of slack because documents take time to process.

If you are a Texas family at or under $100,000 in combined income, stop reading and go check whether your student qualifies for Blaze Forward, because 100 percent of tuition and course fees is a bigger number than anything else on this page and it costs nothing but paperwork on time. If you are out of state, the number to circle is $8,000, because that is where the non-resident waiver kicks in and you start paying Texas rates. And no matter where you live, get into Mav ScholarShop after admission, finish the General Scholarship Application, and check back every few weeks, because the system will never email you to say no.

UTA is not going to impress your neighbors at a dinner party. It is going to graduate your student with the least debt of anyone in Dallas-Fort Worth, from an R1 research campus, into the fourth largest job market in the country. For a lot of families, that trade is not close.

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.

Leo Dimilo
Leo built CollegeReadyParent after watching too many families get blindsided by a financial aid letter that did not match the brochure. He reads the fine print on scholarship pages so parents do not have to, and he writes it up the way he would explain it across a kitchen table. More about Leo →

University of Texas at Arlington Scholarships (2026–2027)

📊 Admissions Snapshot

📌 University of Texas at Arlington at a Glance

FAQ

💰 Cost of Attendance at University of Texas at Arlington 2026-2027

📌 Regional Tuition & Waiver Options

FAQ — Cost of Attendance at UT Arlington

📅 The UTA Timeline in Plain English

Automatic Merit Scholarships — UT Arlington

💵 The Out-of-State Waiver Ladder (This Is the Whole Ballgame)

Automatic Merit — FAQs (UT Arlington)

🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)

✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at UTA?

❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs

🧠 Parent Strategy: The Second Login Nobody Tells You About

💎 Hidden Gem Scholarships

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Honors College at UT Arlington

Honors College Scholarships & Fellowships

Honors College — FAQs (UT Arlington)

⭐ College Specialty

🔗 Official UT Arlington Links

The Project

Scholarships & Aid

Planning Tools

Follow

University of Texas at Arlington Scholarships (2026–2027)

📊 Admissions Snapshot

📌 University of Texas at Arlington at a Glance

FAQ

💰 Cost of Attendance at University of Texas at Arlington 2026-2027

📌 Regional Tuition & Waiver Options

FAQ — Cost of Attendance at UT Arlington

📅 The UTA Timeline in Plain English

Automatic Merit Scholarships — UT Arlington

💵 The Out-of-State Waiver Ladder (This Is the Whole Ballgame)

Automatic Merit — FAQs (UT Arlington)

🏆 Flagship Scholarships (Competitive Scholarships)

✅ Can You Stack Scholarships at UTA?

❓ Flagship / Competitive Scholarship FAQs

🧠 Parent Strategy: The Second Login Nobody Tells You About

💎 Hidden Gem Scholarships

❓ Hidden Gems FAQ

Honors College at UT Arlington

Honors College Scholarships & Fellowships

Honors College — FAQs (UT Arlington)

⭐ College Specialty

🔗 Official UT Arlington Links

✅ Wrapping It Up

Your kid did everything right. That does not mean the money follows.

The Project

Scholarships & Aid

Planning Tools

Follow