Research · Scholarships · October 2026
State scholarships in every state: 144 programs across all 50 states
As of October 2026: All 50 states run at least one scholarship of their own, and together they run 144 programs for students who graduate from their own high schools. 31 states have at least one award that turns on grades or a test score. In the other 19, state aid is need-based only.
The table holds one row per state: how many state programs it runs, how many turn on grades, and the award to read first. Each row links to our page for that 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
31 of the 50 states pay a student for grades. In the other 19, the state's own aid is need-based, so a strong student looking for money for grades has to look at colleges rather than at the state. A need-based award is not a smaller award, though. Several of the largest programs on this table are need-based.
Kansas lists the most programs, at 8. A long list is not the same as a lot of money. A state can run one large award and nothing else, and several do. The state page tells you which shape it is, and the official link on each state page carries the dollar figure.
Some states will not let anyone read their own rules. A few state agencies answer an automated request with a block page, so their figures are blank on our state pages rather than guessed. Those rows name the program and link to the page, which does open in a browser. We would rather show a hole than fill it.
Every state, and the programs it runs
Open your own state for the award figures and the deadlines.
| State | State programs | Turn on grades or scores | Turn on income | The award to read first | Our page for the state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 | 1 | 1 | Alabama Student Assistance Program (ASAP) | Source |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 0 | Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) | Source |
| Arizona | 1 | 0 | 0 | Arizona Promise Program | Source |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 0 | Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship | Source |
| California | 3 | 2 | 1 | Cal Grant A | Source |
| Colorado | 3 | 0 | 1 | Colorado Promise | Source |
| Connecticut | 3 | 1 | 1 | Roberta B. Willis Scholarship -- Need and Merit-Based Scholarship | Source |
| Delaware | 2 | 1 | 0 | Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED)+ Program | Source |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 0 | Bright Futures (FAS & FMS) | Source |
| Georgia | 2 | 2 | 0 | HOPE Scholarship | Source |
| Hawaii | 4 | 0 | 1 | State of Hawaii B Plus Scholarship | Source |
| Idaho | 2 | 1 | 1 | Idaho Opportunity Scholarship | Source |
| Illinois | 2 | 0 | 0 | Monetary Award Program (MAP) | Source |
| Indiana | 2 | 0 | 1 | 21st Century Scholars | Source |
| Iowa | 6 | 0 | 2 | All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship (AIOS) | Source |
| Kansas | 8 | 1 | 1 | Kansas Comprehensive Grant | Source |
| Kentucky | 2 | 1 | 0 | KEES (Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship) | Source |
| Louisiana | 5 | 5 | 0 | TOPS Opportunity | Source |
| Maine | 3 | 0 | 1 | Maine State Grant Program | Source |
| Maryland | 5 | 1 | 1 | Howard P. Rawlings Guaranteed Access (GA) Grant | Source |
| Massachusetts | 4 | 1 | 1 | MASSGrant | Source |
| Michigan | 1 | 0 | 1 | Michigan Achievement Scholarship | Source |
| Minnesota | 2 | 0 | 1 | Minnesota State Grant Program | Source |
| Mississippi | 6 | 2 | 2 | Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students (HELP) | Source |
| Missouri | 5 | 1 | 1 | Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program | Source |
| Montana | 4 | 2 | 1 | Montana University System (MUS) Honor Scholarship | Source |
| Nebraska | 3 | 0 | 2 | Nebraska Opportunity Grant (NOG) | Source |
| Nevada | 2 | 1 | 1 | Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship | Source |
| New Hampshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | New Hampshire Governor's Scholarship Program | Source |
| New Jersey | 4 | 1 | 1 | Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) | Source |
| New Mexico | 2 | 0 | 0 | Legislative Lottery Scholarship | Source |
| New York | 2 | 0 | 0 | Excelsior Scholarship | Source |
| North Carolina | 1 | 1 | 0 | Next NC Scholarship | Source |
| North Dakota | 3 | 1 | 2 | North Dakota Scholarship | Source |
| Ohio | 3 | 1 | 1 | Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) | Source |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 0 | Oklahoma's Promise (OHLAP) | Source |
| Oregon | 2 | 0 | 1 | Oregon Promise Grant | Source |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 1 | 1 | PA State Grant Program | Source |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 0 | 0 | Rhode Island Promise | Source |
| South Carolina | 4 | 3 | 1 | Palmetto Fellows Scholarship | Source |
| South Dakota | 1 | 1 | 0 | South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS) | Source |
| Tennessee | 2 | 1 | 0 | Tennessee HOPE Scholarship (TELS) | Source |
| Texas | 3 | 1 | 1 | Top 10% Automatic Admission | Source |
| Utah | 3 | 1 | 1 | Opportunity Scholarship | Source |
| Vermont | 3 | 0 | 3 | Vermont Grant | Source |
| Virginia | 4 | 1 | 0 | Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) | Source |
| Washington | 4 | 0 | 1 | WA Grant (Washington College Grant) | Source |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 | PROMISE Scholarship | Source |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 2 | 1 | Academic Excellence Scholarship (AES) | Source |
| Wyoming | 5 | 4 | 1 | Hathaway Scholarship - Honors | Source |
One row per state, as of October 2026. A program counts when the state funds or administers it and a student who graduates from that state's high schools can use it for an undergraduate degree. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out, and so is the District of Columbia, which we have not researched.
Why a state award is the first money to chase
A state scholarship is the one award a family can line up before a single admission decision arrives. The rules are published, they do not change in the middle of a year, and in most states the student does not compete against a national pool for it. That makes it the most predictable money in the whole process.
It is also the money most often left on the table, because the deadline is usually a FAFSA deadline rather than a scholarship deadline, and it falls early. A state that pays automatically off a transcript is the happy case. Most want a form.
What a family should do with this
Open your own state's row, then open the official page it links to. Write down the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline, and treat the earlier one as the real date. If your student is a junior, the GPA column tells you what the next two report cards have to hold.
If your state pays only for need, the next place to look is the merit grid at the colleges on your student's list. Those are published too, and at many colleges a single test score band moves more money than any state program.
Questions parents ask
Which states give their own high school graduates a scholarship?
All 50 states run at least one scholarship of their own, and together they run 144 programs for students who graduate from their own high schools. 31 states have at least one award that turns on grades or a test score. In the other 19, state aid is need-based only.
Which states pay a scholarship for grades?
In the other 19, the state's own aid is need-based, so a strong student looking for money for grades has to look at colleges rather than at the state.
Where do I find my own state's rules?
Open your own state's row, then open the official page it links to. Write down the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline, and treat the earlier one as the real date.
Method & sources: Programs come from each state's own higher-education agency pages, read in October 2026. A program counts when the state funds or administers it and a student graduating from that state's high schools can use it toward an undergraduate degree. A college's own scholarship, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are out of scope. A value an agency page does not state is left blank. Where an agency site could not be read at all, its programs carry no figures.
This brief as data: /research/state-scholarships-every-state.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Merit scholarships by college · Scholarship deadlines · Merit scholarship score grids