501 schools checked

Which colleges superscore the ACT for scholarships?

Superscoring decides whether a retake can only help you or has to beat your best day outright. We read the published merit aid rules at 501 colleges to find out who actually commits to it for scholarship money — which is a different question from superscoring for admission, and the one that pays.

66

say yes

52

say no

383

never say

The third number is the finding. Most colleges publish a merit aid grid and never state which composite they read it with, so the honest answer for 383 of 501 schools is nobody can tell you from the website. Silence is not a no — it means send every sitting and ask in writing. 107 of these answers are backed by the school’s own sentence, quoted below.

Colleges that superscore for scholarships (66)

Each of these states, in its own published words, that it will combine your best section scores when deciding merit aid. A retake here can only help you.

Colleges that do not superscore for scholarships (52)

These read a single test date for merit money. A retake has to beat your best sitting outright to move the award, so plan one properly rather than sitting the test again hopefully.

Colleges that publish no superscore policy (383)

We could not find a published position on superscoring for merit aid at these schools. That is not the same as a no. Send every sitting, and ask the financial aid office which composite they will use before the priority deadline.

Work out what your superscore actually is

Enter every date you have sat the ACT and the calculator takes your best English, Math and Reading across all of them — then tells you how much the superscore beats your best single sitting by, which is the number worth taking to a school that says yes.

Calculate your superscoreSee what each score is worth

Common questions

Which colleges superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Of the 501 colleges whose published merit aid rules we read, 66 state that they superscore for scholarship purposes, 52 state that they do not, and 383 publish no position either way. The 66 that do include Arkansas State, Auburn, AUM, Beloit, Blue Mountain, Carroll and others listed on this page.
Does superscoring for admission mean a school superscores for scholarships?
No, and this is where families lose money. The two policies are set separately at many universities: a school can combine your best sections for an admission decision and then read a single sitting for merit aid, or the reverse. Every answer on this page is specifically about scholarships. Check the scholarship page, not the admissions page.
What if a college does not say whether it superscores?
That is the most common case — 383 of 501 schools here. Silence is not a no. It means the policy is unpublished, so send every sitting and ask the financial aid office in writing which composite they will use for merit aid. Get the answer before the scholarship priority deadline, not after.
Does the Enhanced ACT change superscoring?
Yes. The Enhanced ACT composite averages English, Math and Reading only, with Science optional and outside the composite. So a superscore is built from your best English, best Math and best Reading across dates, and your Science score never moves it. A school that asks for Science looks at it separately.
Is it worth retaking the ACT if a school superscores?
Usually yes. Where a school superscores, a lower section score on a retake is simply not used, so the downside is the fee and the time. It also lets you aim a retake at one weak section instead of holding three up on the same morning. Where a school does not superscore, a retake has to beat your best single sitting outright, which is a harder ask.

Every answer comes from the school’s own financial aid or admissions pages, with the date each one was last read shown beside it. Policies change and are sometimes stated only on request — confirm with the school before a deadline depends on it. Dataset last updated 2026-10-24. Read more on how ACT superscoring works.