Army · verified 2026-10-31
Army ROTC requirements
Army ROTC publishes the lowest score floor of any of these programmes: a 19 ACT and a 2.50 GPA. No nomination is required, which makes it the most reachable route on this page by a wide margin.
ACT minimum
19
GPA minimum
2.50
Nomination
Not required
Superscores
Not stated
The bar is a 19
A 19 is the 58th percentile. Most people get there by retaking.
Every point comes from specific concepts, not general effort. Finding which ones takes about three minutes.
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Every published requirement
Read from the official source, with nothing inferred. A blank means the institution publishes no figure, not that there is no bar.
| Requirement | What is published |
|---|---|
| Test score | A minimum of 19 on the ACT, excluding the writing test, for the four-year national scholarship. |
| GPA | A high-school cumulative GPA of at least 2.50. |
| Nomination | No congressional nomination is required for an ROTC scholarship. |
| ACT Science section | Not required. |
| Fitness | A physical fitness assessment and a medical examination are part of the process. |
| Medical | Medical qualification through DoDMERB. |
| Eligibility | US citizen, high-school student applying for a four-year national scholarship. |
Dates for this cycle
Kept as published. Where a date varies by office or board, that is stated rather than guessed.
| Milestone | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Application window | Opens in the summer before senior year and boards run through the winter — apply early; later boards award less |
Who takes your best sitting, and who does not
Two opposite retake strategies for the same applicant, and the comparison is published nowhere else. Superscoring means a later test can only help. A single-sitting rule means it has to clear the bar on its own.
| Programme | Superscores | ACT minimum | Nomination |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Point | Yes | None published | Required |
| Naval Academy | Yes | None published | Required |
| Air Force Academy | Yes | None published | Required |
| Coast Guard Academy | Not stated | None published | No |
| Army ROTC | Not stated | 19 | No |
| Air Force ROTC | No | 28 | No |
| Navy ROTC | Not stated | None published | No |
3 of these 7 take your best sections across sittings; Air Force ROTC explicitly does not. If you are applying to both kinds — and most applicants are — plan for the stricter rule, because a single strong sitting satisfies everyone and a patchwork of best sections does not.
The programmes that publish an actual floor
Only two do. The academies publish a deadline, a nomination requirement and a process — not a number.
| Programme | ACT | Percentile | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army ROTC | 19 | 58th | 2.50 |
| Air Force ROTC | 28 | 91st | 3.30 |
The gap between them is the whole story: Army ROTC at a 19 is the 58th percentile and AFROTC at a 28 is the 91st. Same uniform, nine points apart. The full percentile chart puts any score in that range.
What Army ROTC is worth, and what it costs you
Not in the abstract. Against the 504 published merit grids we hold, which is the only honest yardstick we have.
| Army ROTC | Best merit award we hold | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | Covered by the scholarship | $42,000/yr toward it |
| Room and board | Not covered | Not covered |
| Medical | Not covered | Not covered |
| Paid a salary | A monthly stipend | No |
| Four-year value | Not published as a figure | $168,000 |
The largest published annual merit award anywhere in our dataset is $42,000 a year at Simpson, and 30 of 504 colleges publish $30,000 or more anywhere in their grid. None of them covers room, board and medical as well, and none of them pays you. What your own score is worth at all 504.
The cost, which is not money
Published service obligations apply and vary by scholarship type and component; confirm with the detachment before signing. That is the part a scholarship comparison leaves out, and it is the only part that cannot be bought back. A merit award asks you to keep a GPA; this asks for years of your life, and that is the actual trade.
What a score will not do for Army ROTC
- Replace the rest of the file. No nomination is needed here, but fitness, medical qualification and the interview are each their own gate.
- Pass the fitness test or the medical. A physical fitness assessment and a medical examination are part of the process. Medical qualification through DoDMERB.
- Guarantee selection. A 19 is the published floor, not a competitive score — clearing a minimum means your application gets read, not that it wins.
- Carry an out-of-date eligibility rule. Age, citizenship and dependency rules are strict and are checked: US citizen, high-school student applying for a four-year national scholarship.
Questions about Army ROTC
What ACT score do you need for Army ROTC?
19. A minimum of 19 on the ACT, excluding the writing test, for the four-year national scholarship. A 19 is the 58th percentile nationally.
Can you send a new ACT score after you apply to Army ROTC?
Army ROTC does not publish a superscore policy. Submit your best result and ask the detachment or admissions office directly rather than assuming either way.
Does Army ROTC require a congressional nomination?
No. No congressional nomination is required for an ROTC scholarship.
Does Army ROTC need the ACT Science section?
No. Army ROTC does not require it. Worth knowing because Air Force ROTC does, and Science is optional on the Enhanced ACT — so if you are applying to both, register for Science.
When is the Army ROTC deadline?
Army ROTC does not publish a single fixed date for this cycle. Opens in the summer before senior year and boards run through the winter — apply early; later boards award less
Sources
The other academies and ROTC scholarships
- West Point requirements — no published minimum, nomination required
- Naval Academy requirements — no published minimum, nomination required
- Air Force Academy requirements — no published minimum, nomination required
- Coast Guard Academy requirements — no published minimum, no nomination
- Air Force ROTC requirements — 28 ACT minimum, no nomination
- Navy ROTC requirements — no published minimum, no nomination
Every figure on this page was read from Army ROTC’s own published pages on October 31, 2026 and is linked below. Where the institution publishes no minimum score, this page says so rather than quoting an admitted-student range as a requirement. Requirements and deadlines change between cycles and the official source is the authority. This is a reading of it, not advice, and ClutchACT is not affiliated with Army ROTC National Scholarship or the US Department of Defense.