Research · Scholarships · October 2026
Scholarships in Arkansas: the 1 state program and what each asks for
As of October 2026: Arkansas has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship: Four-year institutions: $2,000 (Year 1), $4,000 (Year 2), $4,000 (Year 3), $5,000 (Year 4).
The table holds every state-funded award we could confirm for a Arkansas high school graduate going to college. It does not hold federal aid, or a scholarship that comes from one college rather than from the state.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
Arkansas runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores. Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship is one of them. 1 of the 1 programs we could read name a GPA, and 1 name a test score. A need-based award asks about family income instead, through the FAFSA.
Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship is the award to read first. What Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship pays: Four-year institutions: $2,000 (Year 1), $4,000 (Year 2), $4,000 (Year 3), $5,000 (Year 4). The table carries the deadline and the renewal rule for each one.
What this table does not tell you. Every figure on the table was read off the state's own page for that program. Nothing is estimated and nothing is carried over from an earlier year.
Every state scholarship in Arkansas
Read the row, then open the state's own page before you count on a figure.
| Program | Merit or need | What it pays | GPA it asks for | Test score it asks for | Who qualifies | Deadline | Renewable | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship | Merit | Four-year institutions: $2,000 (Year 1), $4,000 (Year 2), $4,000 (Year 3), $5,000 (Year 4); two-year institutions: $2,000 (Year 1), $3,000 (Year 2); additional 'Challenge PLUS' funding available based on Student Aid Index | 2.5 cumulative GPA by the end of each spring semester to renew; non-traditional students without college credit may qualify initially with a 3.00 high school GPA | ACT composite 19 or higher, SAT 990 or higher, or Accuplacer average of 246 or higher (traditional path) | Arkansas resident for at least 12 months prior to enrollment and a U.S. citizen/lawful permanent resident; FAFSA required; full-time enrollment (15+ credit hours) for traditional students; must lead toward a baccalaureate degree; income is not a determining factor | Annual Deadline: July 1 | Traditional students: earn 27 credit hours in year 1 and 30 hours each year after, with a 2.5 cumulative GPA; non-traditional: 15 hours full-time or 6 hours part-time with a 2.5 GPA | Source |
Every row is a state-funded or state-administered award for a Arkansas high school graduate going to an undergraduate program, as of October 2026. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out. A blank cell means the state's own page does not state it. Dollar figures and GPA floors change every year.
How to read a state scholarship
State awards come in two shapes. A merit award asks about grades, a course list, or a test score, and it does not care what a family earns. A need-based award asks about income and assets through the FAFSA, and it does not care about grades. Some awards ask about both, and the table calls those merit and need.
The deadline column is the one families miss. For most need-based state aid the deadline is really the FAFSA deadline, and it falls months before a college asks for a decision. A merit award more often has no application at all: the state or the high school nominates the student from records it already holds.
What a family should do with this
Open the official page in the last column for the one or two programs your student plausibly qualifies for, and write down two dates: the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline. Those are the two that close. In Arkansas the earliest date on this table is the one to put on the calendar first.
Then look past the state. A state award is usually the smaller half of an offer. The college's own merit grid and its net price for your family income move more money than any state program on this page, and both are published.
Questions parents ask
What scholarships does Arkansas offer?
Arkansas has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship: Four-year institutions: $2,000 (Year 1), $4,000 (Year 2), $4,000 (Year 3), $5,000 (Year 4).
Does Arkansas have a merit scholarship?
Arkansas runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores, and Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship is one of them.
How do I find the rules for a Arkansas scholarship?
Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.
Method & sources: Programs come from the Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE) and the agency's own program pages, read in October 2026. The population is a student who graduates from a Arkansas high school and enrolls as an undergraduate. A scholarship offered by one college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all out of scope. A value the agency's own page does not state is left blank rather than filled from elsewhere, and a page that could not be read drops every figure.
This brief as data: /research/scholarships-in-arkansas.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Merit scholarships by college · State scholarships in every state · High schools in Arkansas · Scholarship deadlines