OU announced OU Onward, a new scholarship program aimed at covering tuition and average fees for in-state students whose family has an adjusted gross income of $60,000 to $75,000 and do not qualify for Oklahoma’s Promise.
The scholarship will be available beginning in fall 2027 and will apply to current and incoming students who qualify. Full-time undergraduate students on the Norman, Tulsa and Harold Hamm Health campuses can qualify for the scholarship. Students must also be Oklahoma residents, file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid by March 1 and be ineligible for Oklahoma’s Promise. Online students are not eligible.
Incoming first-year students can receive the scholarship for up to four years of undergraduate study, while transfer students may receive up to three years of undergraduate study.
The university currently has the Crimson Commitment scholarship, which covers the tuition and average fees for students who qualify for Oklahoma's Promise. To qualify for Oklahoma's Promise and Crimson Commitment, a student's family federal adjusted income must not exceed:
• $60,000 with 1 or 2 dependent children
• $70,000 with 3 or 4 dependent children
• $80,000 with 5 or more dependent children
The OU Onward scholarship does not require students to share the number of dependent children in their family. Eligible students who complete their FAFSA, are enrolled in classes and maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress will automatically receive the scholarship.
In a Wednesday mass email, Harroz explained that the goal of OU Onward is help deliver the American Dream to Oklahomans. This is part of a seven-year effort to address the rising need for financial aid.
“We know there are still hardworking families who fall outside those programs and for whom the cost of college can feel out of reach,” Harroz said in the press release. “OU Onward is our commitment to them: If your student has earned a place at OU, we are going to work just as hard to help make that opportunity affordable.”
Both scholarships are "gap filling" programs, meaning that they will raise students' total gift aid to a certain amount. For students receiving the Crimson Commitment scholarship, gift aid will be raised to $10K, which will be allocated to cover fees. Students receiving the OU Onward scholarship will have their total gift aid raised to $15,532, which will cover tuition and fees.
Background
Oklahoma's Promise has seen a rise in applications between 2025 and 2026 amid expanded eligibility. The graduating class of 2025 had 6,800 applicants and 6,100 who were eligible, while the graduating class of 2026 had over 10,200 applicants.
This year, lawmakers appropriated a record $88.2 million towards Oklahoma's Promise to accommodate for rising financial need.
Additional legislation has been presented to expand the eligibility requirements for Oklahoma's Promise. In June 2025, a measure was passed to include children of certified teachers who have taught for at least 10 years in Oklahoma in the eligibility requirements. In May 2026, Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill that would open eligibility to teachers’ families earning up to 700% of the federal poverty level.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton. Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
