USA Scholarships
UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship 2027
The UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship is the home-state half of the University of Louisville admissions ladder, and it is a different set of awards from the out-of-state one. It covers first-time freshmen entering in Fall 2027 who live in Kentucky or in the seven Southern Indiana counties that already pay the Kentucky rate: Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Scott and Washington. Most of it arrives without a form. Trustees Scholarships pay $2,500, $3,500, $4,500, $6,000, $7,000 or $8,000 a year on a weighted GPA of 3.5 plus either a test score or transferable credit hours, and students who complete the Governor's Scholars Program, the Governor's School for the Arts, the Governor's School for Entrepreneurs, the Gatton Academy, the Craft Academy or Rogers Scholars are paid $5,000 to $10,000. National Merit finalists and semifinalists with a 3.5 weighted GPA get full in-state tuition and no minimum test score is asked for. Four awards need a separate application by 1 December 2026. The Henry Vogt Scholarship pays $16,000 a year to about 150 scholars, Trustees Competitive awards add $1,000 to $5,000 on top of the automatic Trustees award, and the three mentored programmes take ten students each per year: Grawemeyer at $22,000 a year for in-state students, the Martin Luther King Scholarship at full in-state tuition plus up to $10,000 more, and the McConnell Scholarship at full in-state tuition plus funded travel the centre values at over $10,000. In-state tuition and fees run to $13,614 for 2026-27, so the top awards genuinely clear the tuition line. Students on an F-1 visa are not eligible for any of it.
What is the UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship?
The UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship is not one award. It is the University of Louisville's home-state admissions ladder, a stack of awards running from $2,500 a year up to full in-state tuition and beyond, all of it aimed at first-time freshmen entering in Fall 2027 who live in Kentucky or in one of the seven Southern Indiana counties that hold reciprocity with the state. Those counties are Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Scott and Washington, and they matter because their residents already pay the Kentucky rate, which is why they sit on this page rather than the out-of-state one.
Most of the money needs nothing more than an admission application. Trustees Scholarships run $2,500, $3,500, $4,500, $6,000, $7,000 and $8,000 a year, and you move up the ladder on a weighted GPA of 3.5 plus either a test score or transferable credit hours from AP, CLEP, IB or dual credit coursework. The hours column is the useful part: three courses of transferable credit gets you onto the bottom rung without any test at all, and ten or more courses reaches $6,000. Only the top two rungs insist on a score. Students who came through the Governor's Scholars Program, the Governor's School for the Arts or for Entrepreneurs, the Gatton Academy, the Craft Academy or Rogers Scholars get their own table paying $5,000 to $10,000, and a National Merit finalist or semifinalist with a 3.5 weighted GPA is paid full in-state tuition with no minimum score asked for. Nothing here stacks. UofL pays the highest single amount you qualify for.
Five awards ask for real work, and they all close on 1 December 2026. The Henry Vogt Scholarship pays $16,000 a year to roughly 150 scholars, which makes it the most winnable of the large awards by some distance. Trustees Competitive Scholarships add $1,000 to $5,000 on top of whatever automatic Trustees award you already hold. Then there are three mentored programmes that take ten students each: Grawemeyer at $22,000 a year for in-state students, built around undergraduate research; the Martin Luther King Scholarship at full in-state tuition plus up to $10,000 more, with coursework in ethical leadership and a travel experience in the second year; and the McConnell Scholarship, a four-year renewable award guaranteeing full in-state tuition alongside funded travel that includes Washington DC and an international trip after junior year. Each of the three wants an essay, letters of recommendation, a two-page student-involvement resume scored against a published rubric, and admission to the University Honors Program.
Two things decide whether this page is worth your time. The first is the 3.5 weighted GPA, which is the floor for everything here with no lower tier underneath it, unlike the out-of-state ladder where a 3.0 still pays. If you are below it, the need-based route matters more: the Cardinal Commitment Grant pays $2,000 to $5,000 a year to many Kentucky residents who miss out on a Pell Grant, and covers all of tuition for students holding Pell, CAP and KEES together, with a 15 February FAFSA priority deadline and funding that runs out. The second is your visa. UofL states that students on an F1 visa are only eligible for its international scholarships, so none of this applies to them. For the other half of the ladder see the UofL Out-of-State Scholarship 2027 guide, and for comparable university-run awards elsewhere the University of Detroit Mercy Scholarships 2027 and FSU Admissions Scholarships 2026 guides cover similar automatic ladders. The full award tables are on the UofL Kentucky and Southern Indiana scholarships and aid page.
Eligibility
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✓First-time freshman entering Fall 2027The whole ladder is written for students starting college straight after high school and entering UofL in Fall 2027. Transfer and adult students have their own separate scholarship page, and returning students have another one again, so if you have enrolled anywhere since finishing high school this is not your page.
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✓You live in Kentucky or Southern IndianaUofL states that all scholarships on this page are available for students who are residents of Kentucky or Southern Indiana, and it names the Indiana counties: Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Scott and Washington. Those seven counties hold reciprocity with Kentucky and pay the in-state rate. Every other Indiana address, and every other state, falls under the separate out-of-state ladder instead.
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✓Weighted GPA of 3.5 for nearly everythingA 3.5 weighted GPA is the bar on every rung of the Trustees ladder, on all three Governor's and academy awards, on the National Merit award, on both competitive awards and on all three mentored programmes. There is no lower academic tier here, which is a real difference from the out-of-state ladder where a 3.0 still gets you onto the bottom rung.
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✓A qualifying test score, or credit hours insteadUofL encourages test scores and says they are only considered when they advantage the student. Students who have taken AP, CLEP, IB or dual credit coursework and who meet the weighted GPA requirement are considered without qualifying scores. The Trustees table runs on transferable credit hours all the way from 5-11 hours at $2,500 to 30 or more hours at $6,000, but the top two Trustees rungs, $7,000 and $8,000, list no credit-hour route and need a score.
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✓Not on an F-1 visaUofL states plainly that students attending school on an F1 visa are only eligible for its international scholarships. No award described here is open to F-1 students, whatever an aggregator post may say. The international scholarships are a separate and considerably smaller ladder run through the International Center.
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✓Honors Program admission for the mentored awardsThe Grawemeyer, Martin Luther King and McConnell Scholarships all require admission to and participation in the University Honors Program. That is an extra application in its own right, and the MLK page lists Honors acceptance as a hard eligibility requirement alongside a 3.5 weighted GPA and an ACT composite of 24 or higher.
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✓FAFSA on file for the need-based sideNone of the merit awards need it, but the Cardinal Commitment Grant does, and so does every federal and state programme. UofL asks Kentucky residents to have the FAFSA in by the 15 February priority deadline, and to refile it by 15 February every year to keep the grant. The school code is 001999.
Benefits
- Trustees Scholarship, 5-11 transferable credit hours $2,500 a year
- Trustees Scholarship, 1230-1290 SAT or 26-27 ACT, or 12-20 hours $3,500 a year
- Trustees Scholarship, 1300-1350 SAT or 28-29 ACT, or 21-29 hours $4,500 a year
- Trustees Scholarship, 1360-1380 SAT or 30 ACT, or 30+ hours $6,000 a year
- Trustees Scholarship, 1390-1560 SAT or 31-35 ACT $7,000 a year, no credit-hour route
- Trustees Scholarship, 1570-1600 SAT or 36 ACT $8,000 a year, no credit-hour route
- GSA, GSP, GSE, Gatton, Craft or Rogers Scholars award $5,000 to $10,000 a year, full programme participation required
- National Merit finalist or semifinalist Full in-state tuition, no minimum test score
- Scholarship application None required, and no deadline
- Weighted GPA below 3.5 No award on this page, every rung needs 3.5
- Henry Vogt Scholarship $16,000 a year
- Henry Vogt places About 150 Vogt Scholars each year
- Trustees Competitive Scholarship $1,000 to $5,000 a year on top of the automatic Trustees award
- Academic bar for both 3.5 weighted GPA and 1390 SAT or 31 ACT
- Route without test scores 4.0 GPA with 21 or more transferable credit hours, or the $10,000 academy award
- Application deadline 1 December 2026, with a student-involvement resume
- Guaranteed on admission No, these are competitive and not guaranteed
- Grawemeyer Scholarship $22,000 a year for in-state students
- Martin Luther King Scholarship Full in-state tuition plus up to $10,000 a year more
- McConnell Scholarship Full in-state tuition plus funded travel valued at over $10,000
- Places per programme Ten students a year for each of the three
- Academic bar 3.5 weighted GPA, 1160 SAT or 24 ACT for Grawemeyer and MLK, 1230 or 26 for McConnell
- What comes with the money Undergraduate research, travel, leadership and service programming
- University Honors Program Admission and participation required
- Application load Application, essay, recommendation letters and resume by 1 December 2026
- Cardinal Commitment Grant $2,000 to $5,000 a year for many non-Pell Kentucky residents
- Cardinal Commitment, full tuition version 100 per cent tuition for students receiving Pell, CAP and KEES together
- Federal Pell Grant $740 to $7,395 a year
- FSEOG and Federal Work-Study $400 grant, up to $6,500 of on-campus work
- Kentucky CAP Grant and KEES $5,300 CAP for Pell-eligible students, KEES varies by GPA and score
- Room, meals and books Not covered, UofL puts room at $7,972, meals at $4,898 and books at about $980
- Stacking admissions scholarships Not allowed, you receive the highest single amount you qualify for
- F-1 visa holders Not eligible, international students have a separate ladder
Document checklist
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✓Take Flight Application or the Common AppEither route works for admission, and admission is what triggers the automatic awards. The Take Flight Application carries a non-refundable $30 fee, waived for students on free and reduced lunch. The 2027 application is open now.
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✓Official high school transcriptSent directly from your school rather than by you. Your weighted GPA is the number that decides which rung you land on, so this is the single document that sets your award. Check the Application Checklist in your UofL Gateway to see which transcripts have been requested.
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✓SAT or ACT scores, if they help youOptional for admission and for many of the automatic awards, and UofL says it does not superscore. Compare your result against the bands before you send it, because scores are only counted when they move you up. Results can come from the testing agency or appear on your official transcript.
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✓Evidence of transferable credit hoursThe alternative to a test score. AP, CLEP, IB and dual credit coursework all count toward the hours column, with thresholds at 5-11, 12-20, 21-29 and 30 or more hours on the Trustees ladder. Roughly three courses gets you onto the bottom rung, ten or more reaches $6,000.
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✓Competitive or mentored scholarship applicationRequired for the Henry Vogt, Trustees Competitive, Grawemeyer, Martin Luther King and McConnell awards, and due 1 December 2026. Students eligible to apply find their next steps in the UofL Gateway soon after they apply for admission, so the earlier your admission application goes in, the more time you have.
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✓Student-involvement resume, two pages maximumEvery competitive and mentored award asks for one, and UofL publishes the scoring rubric. It marks academic engagement, leadership initiative and extracurricular involvement, then formatting and grammar separately: headings and sections, consistent formatting, no misspellings and no more than two pages score full marks, while a page with no headings or a half-page of bullet points scores near the bottom.
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✓Essays, recommendation letters and interviewsThe mentored scholarships all require letters of recommendation and an essay. The competitive ones can ask for essays, letters or an interview depending on the award. None of this is needed for admission itself, so it is work only competitive candidates take on.
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✓FAFSA for need-based aidThe gate to the Cardinal Commitment Grant, the Pell Grant, FSEOG, Federal Work-Study, federal loans and the Kentucky CAP Grant. UofL school code is 001999, and the priority deadline for grant consideration is 15 February.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
How much is the UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship?
It depends which award you land. The automatic Trustees Scholarships pay $2,500, $3,500, $4,500, $6,000, $7,000 or $8,000 a year. Students who completed the Governor's Scholars Program, the Governor's School for the Arts or for Entrepreneurs, the Gatton Academy, the Craft Academy or Rogers Scholars are paid $5,000, $7,500 or $10,000. National Merit finalists and semifinalists receive full in-state tuition. The awards that need an application pay more: $16,000 a year for the Henry Vogt Scholarship, $1,000 to $5,000 on top of your Trustees award for a Trustees Competitive Scholarship, $22,000 a year for the Grawemeyer, and full in-state tuition plus roughly $10,000 more for the Martin Luther King and McConnell Scholarships. None of them stack. UofL states that admissions scholarships cannot be stacked with other admissions scholarships and that you receive the highest amount you qualify for.
Which Indiana counties count as Southern Indiana for UofL?
Seven of them: Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Scott and Washington. UofL names the same seven on its tuition page as the Indiana reciprocity counties, where residents pay the Kentucky in-state rate rather than the non-resident rate. Live in any of those seven and you use this scholarship page. Live anywhere else in Indiana and you are on the out-of-state page, where the Border Benefit Award applies instead.
Do I need to apply separately for a UofL scholarship?
Not for most of them. UofL states that no scholarship application is required for the automatic admissions scholarships, that there is no deadline, and that they are guaranteed to students admitted by 1 April. Students who meet the minimum criteria are notified of their award or eligibility in the UofL Gateway. Five awards are the exception. The Henry Vogt, Trustees Competitive, Grawemeyer, Martin Luther King and McConnell Scholarships each need an extra application with a student-involvement resume, and all of them close on 1 December 2026.
What GPA do you need for a UofL scholarship as a Kentucky student?
A 3.5 weighted GPA, and that figure holds right across the page. Every rung of the Trustees ladder asks for it, so do all three academy and Governor's awards, the National Merit award, both competitive awards and all three mentored programmes. This is stricter than the out-of-state ladder, where a 3.0 weighted GPA still reaches the bottom two rungs. If your weighted GPA sits below 3.5, the awards on this page are out of reach and the need-based route through the FAFSA and the Cardinal Commitment Grant is the one to work on.
What is the UofL Cardinal Commitment Grant?
A need-based grant for Kentucky residents that fills the gap between your aid and the cost of attendance. It pays $2,000 to $5,000 a year to many students who do not qualify for a Pell Grant, and it covers 100 per cent of tuition for students who receive the Pell Grant, the Kentucky CAP Grant and KEES together, all three being required for the full-tuition version. Eligible students are identified and awarded automatically once they apply to UofL and file the FAFSA, with a 15 February priority deadline, and the grants run only until the funding is exhausted. It continues each semester until your first bachelor's degree if you stay full time, keep continuous attendance, meet satisfactory academic progress and refile the FAFSA by 15 February each year.
Can international students get these UofL scholarships?
No. The page states that students attending school on an F1 visa are only eligible for international scholarships, and that rule covers every award described here, from the $2,500 Trustees rung to the $22,000 Grawemeyer. UofL runs a separate and much smaller international ladder through its International Center. If you are reading a post that presents the Vogt, Grawemeyer or McConnell Scholarship as open to international applicants, it is wrong.
What is the difference between the Grawemeyer, MLK and McConnell Scholarships?
They are the three mentored scholarships, each taking ten students a year, each requiring Honors Program admission, and each closing on 1 December. Grawemeyer pays $22,000 a year to in-state students and is aimed at students with an interest in undergraduate research. The Martin Luther King Scholarship pays full in-state tuition plus up to $10,000 a year more, is open to Kentucky and Southern Indiana students committed to ethical leadership, social change and public service, and sends scholars on a travel experience in their second year. The McConnell Scholarship pays full in-state tuition plus fully funded domestic and international travel the centre values at over $10,000, is open to graduating Kentucky high school seniors, and runs on leadership, scholarship and service, with a Washington DC trip and an international trip after junior year.
Is the UofL Kentucky & Southern Indiana Scholarship the same as the out-of-state one?
No, and it is worth being clear about because UofL uses one confusing bullet on both pages. The awards here are named differently, paid differently and gated differently: Trustees, Vogt, Grawemeyer, MLK and McConnell on this page against Border Benefit, Regional Scholars, National Scholars and a $30,000 Grawemeyer on the out-of-state page. The bullet reading that all scholarships are available for residents of Kentucky or Southern Indiana is accurate here and appears to be a copy-paste error on the out-of-state page, where the intro says the opposite. Note also that the Grawemeyer is paid at two different rates, $22,000 for in-state students and $30,000 out of state, which reflects the different tuition bills rather than two separate awards.
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