I’m in the honors program right now as a sophomore, honors acceptances come out at the same time as your university acceptance, it will be somewhere on the page that explains the portals with a message that says something like “Welcome to the University Honors Program - Let us know if you would like to accept the position!” I don’t believe there is any formal connection between honors and merit scholarships, like it doesn’t say anywhere that it’s guaranteed, but I have also never met an honors student who doesn’t have a Presidential Scholarship. The amounts I know of vary, but my guess would be that if you’re qualified for the program then they see you as qualified for a merit scholarship, so the two coincide