Auburn University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Auburn University publishes merit aid criteria as a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 28 and reach $17,000 a year. Because the bands are steps rather than a slope, one point is worth nothing inside a band and the whole step at the edge of one.
Enter a score and a GPA below to see which band it actually lands in, what that band pays, and exactly how many points the next one needs.
Read this first
Auburn calls these Competitive Merit Charts. Consideration is automatic once you are admitted Early Action, but the award is not guaranteed — Auburn states each entering class competes with itself and actual awards depend on the applicant pool and available funding.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship
$5,000 / year
About $20,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship — $9,000 a year. That is $4,000 more a year, or $16,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether a point is worth having. It's whether they can move it — which starts with knowing exactly which questions they're missing, and why.
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Want to know what one more point would change? The Merit Plan prices the next point at every school.
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The published Auburn merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Auburn University’s own pages for 2027-28 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Alabama residents
Awarded to Alabama residents accepted Early Action for fall 2027. Both a minimum GPA and an ACT band must be met.
Full tuition and student services fees
Spirit of Auburn Presidential Excellence Award
ACT 35–36 · 4.0
$11,500
Spirit of Auburn Presidential Scholarship
ACT 33–36 · 3.5
$9,000
Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship
ACT 30–32 · 3.5
$5,000
Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship
ACT 28–29 · 3.5
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit of Auburn Presidential Excellence Award | ACT 35–36 · 4.0 | Full tuition and student services fees |
| Spirit of Auburn Presidential Scholarship | ACT 33–36 · 3.5 | $11,500 |
| Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship | ACT 30–32 · 3.5 | $9,000 |
| Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship | ACT 28–29 · 3.5 | $5,000 |
Source: First-Year Students — competitive merit charts, fall 2027 · verified 2026-10-21
Non-residents
A different award family entirely, not the resident awards at another rate. Awarded to non-residents accepted Early Action for fall 2027.
$17,000
Academic Presidential Scholarship
ACT 35–36 · 3.5
$15,000
Academic Presidential Scholarship
ACT 33–34 · 3.5
$11,000
Academic Heritage Scholarship
ACT 31–32 · 3.5
$7,000
Academic Charter Scholarship
ACT 29–30 · 3.5
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Presidential Scholarship | ACT 35–36 · 3.5 | $17,000 |
| Academic Presidential Scholarship | ACT 33–34 · 3.5 | $15,000 |
| Academic Heritage Scholarship | ACT 31–32 · 3.5 | $11,000 |
| Academic Charter Scholarship | ACT 29–30 · 3.5 | $7,000 |
Source: First-Year Students — competitive merit charts, fall 2027 · verified 2026-10-21
Does Auburn superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Auburn superscores for both admission and scholarships, and accepts the ACT Superscore Report directly.
“Only your best testing result will be used for admissions and scholarship consideration.”
So the number that matters here is your superscore, not your best single test. Work out your superscore and look that score up in the grid above — it may sit a band higher than the one you have been planning around.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Auburn scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Early Action deadline — scores must be RECEIVED for merit | December 1, 2026 |
| Updated scores received, for additional scholarship consideration | January 11, 2027 |
| Regular admission (too late for merit) | February 1, 2027 |
Scores take roughly two to four weeks to arrive, and official reports sent to schools can take longer, so the last useful test date is several weeks before the printed deadline. Check which test dates still make it.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Auburn University’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Awards go to Early Action admits only — both charts say 'accepted as early action'. Regular-decision admits fall outside the chart entirely.
- The GPA in this chart is a 4.0 weighted scale, and Auburn recalculates any other scale to its own admissions standard.
- 'Full tuition and student services fees' excludes professional, program and course fees.
- Renewal uses Auburn's 'unadjusted' GPA, which is not the same as the GPA a student sees on their record.
- Auburn is silent on the Enhanced ACT. Its grid is purely ACT-keyed, so how a three-section composite is treated is an open question worth asking them directly.
Check before you rely on it. Grids change by entry year and schools update them without notice. This page is a reproduction with a date on it, not a guarantee, and it is not financial aid advice. ClutchACT is not affiliated with Auburn University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Auburn?
Automatic merit aid at Auburn University starts at an ACT composite of 28, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $17,000 a year at the top of the 2 grids it publishes. The bands are steps rather than a slope, so the only score that matters is the next threshold above where you are now.
Is Auburn test-optional?
Auburn is not test-optional. A score is part of a complete application, and Auburn's own sitemap still lists a /test-optional/ page that now returns 404 — residue of a lapsed policy. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is required for merit consideration and must be received, not merely taken, by the December 1 deadline. A second deadline on January 11 lets improved scores be considered for additional awards. Being admitted without a score and qualifying for money without a score are two separate questions.
How much is a 30 on the ACT worth at Auburn?
On Auburn's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Alabama residents — Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship at $9,000 a year, about $36,000 over four years if it renews; Non-residents — Academic Charter Scholarship at $7,000 a year, about $28,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Auburn?
The most valuable single point on Auburn's published grid is 29 to 30, at a 3.5 GPA: it moves the award by $4,000 a year, or $16,000 across a four-year degree on the Alabama residents grid. The same point is worth less at other GPAs, and most points move nothing at all — the grid steps rather than slopes, which is why the only score worth aiming at is the next threshold.
Does in-state or out-of-state change merit aid at Auburn?
Yes. Auburn publishes separate grids: Alabama residents run $5,000 to full tuition a year, and Non-residents run $7,000 to $17,000. Check which grid applies to you before planning around a figure.
Does Auburn superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Auburn superscores for both admission and scholarships, and accepts the ACT Superscore Report directly. Only your best testing result will be used for admissions and scholarship consideration.
When are Auburn scholarship deadlines?
Early Action deadline — scores must be RECEIVED for merit: December 1, 2026. Updated scores received, for additional scholarship consideration: January 11, 2027. Regular admission (too late for merit): February 1, 2027. The application and the official score report are both due by that date, and ACT scores take roughly two to four weeks to arrive — so the last useful test date is several weeks earlier than the deadline suggests.
Is this Auburn scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Auburn University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-21. The sources are linked at the bottom of the page with that date. Grids change by entry year, so check the source before relying on a figure for a decision.
Other schools to check
What to do next
You know what a score is worth at Auburn. The question is whether you can move it.
A grid tells you the target. It does not tell you which questions are costing the points between here and there. That takes about three minutes to find out.
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