Academic Scholarships

Southwestern Oklahoma State University offers an array of different scholarships based upon students' academic achievements. These are distributed between five basic categories of Oklahoma resident students:

• New Freshmen
• Continuing Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students
• Transfer Students
• Departmental Awards

New Freshmen

All Oklahoma residents who are incoming freshman students are encouraged to complete the Freshman Scholarship Application and send it to our office by March 1st preceding their start in college the following fall semester. Scholarships are awarded competitively using a point total comprised of your highest ACT Composite X 10 + your high school cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale X 100. The highest academic honors, our Regents' Academic Scholar and Regents' Baccalaureate Scholarship, have additional criteria described on the scholarship application.

The values of our different freshman scholarships are listed below. These may change annually depending upon scholarship funding availability and other institutional factors.

• Regents' Academic Scholar Nomination
  • $2,000 a year + full tuition waiver each term + room/yr. (renewable)
• Regents' Baccalaureate
  • Scholarship $3,000 a year + full tuition waiver each term + room/yr. (renewable)
• University Scholar
  • 16 hours of tuition paid per semester + fees for two semesters (renewable)
• Distinguished Freshman
  • 16 hours of tuition paid per semester for two semesters
• SWOSU Scholar
  • 12 hours of tuition paid per semester for two semesters
• Freshman Scholar
  • $1000 one year
• Valedictorian Scholarship
  • $600 one year and $500 room scholarship (renewable)
• Salutatorian Scholarship
  • $300 one year
• Room Scholarship
  • For scoring 28 on ACT

Notices are sent out to students who qualify for freshman scholarships in March. Please note that students may only receive one academic honor listed above. Should a student qualify for two categories, the larger value award will be given.

Continuing Undergraduate Students

All Oklahoma resident undergraduate students will be considered for the Continuing Student Tuition Waiver Scholarship. A completed FAFSA (Free Application of Federal Student Aid) is required to be on file by July 15th. A scholarship application is not required.

This fund is awarded competitively based upon a point total comprised 50% by their cumulative college grade point average, 25% by the most recent fall semester grade point average and 25% by the most recent spring semester grade point average. In using this method, annually a student's ability to earn an award depends half on their cumulative work and half on the academic merit shown during the most recent year.

Scholarship values vary annually based upon the pool of applicants, but typically vary from 12 to 6 credit hours of tuition paid per semester for those who qualify.

Graduate Students

The SWOSU Graduate School awards scholarships to students who have been fully admitted into graduate studies based upon criteria they set annually. All graduate students are encouraged to contact the SWOSU Graduate School for applications and scholarship consideration.

Transfer Students

Oklahoma resident students interested in transferring to SWOSU should complete the Transfer Student Scholarship Application by the May 15th deadline prior to attendance in the following fall semester. Applications must be submitted by December 15th to be considered for the spring semester. Full academic transcripts from all prior colleges must be on file in the registrar's office by June 15th for the fall awards or January 15th for the spring awards. Awards are highly competitive with values ranging from 12 to 6 credit hours of tuition paid per semester for one year. The spring semester after a student transfers to SWOSU they will be considered for the Continuing Student Tuition Waiver Scholarship. No application is required.

Resident and non-resident students interested in transferring to SWOSU should complete the Weatherford Community Scholarship Application by the June 15th deadline prior to attendance in the following fall semester. Applications must be submitted by December 15th for the spring semester. This application may be completed by any transfer student who graduates with an Associate Degree and a minimum of a 3.25 cumulative GPA. This award may be applied toward tuition, fees, room, board and/or books at SWOSU.

Departmental Awards

Some academic honors are awarded to students based upon scholastic achievement made within a particular department on campus. Scholarships are sometimes awarded by the department chair and/or a committee of professors. These are competitively based. Students must apply for this type of funding by contacting their respective school dean or department chair.