Central Baptist College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Central Baptist College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 19 and reach $11,000 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
The two ladders below are ADDED together, not compared — Central Baptist's chart says to take the GPA amount and the ACT amount and sum them. The chart is also a maximum rather than a promise: it says the total is "the maximum academic OR academic/athletic award", athletic money combines rather than stacks, and grants may be reduced depending on the overall aid package. Its GPA windows leave holes at 3.91-3.99, 3.41-3.49 and 2.91-2.99, so each rung is extended upward here.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
← Drag either slider to your own numbers
Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Magna Scholarship
$7,250 a year, before the ACT amount is added / year
About $29,000 over four years, if it renews.
There is no higher band to reach at this GPA — more points would not change the award here. They may still matter for admission, for honours programmes, or at other schools on the list.
Knowing where a score sits is the easy part. Moving it starts with knowing exactly which questions they're being missed, 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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Can you get merit aid at Central Baptist without an ACT score?
Yes. The GPA ladder pays on its own, and the ACT ladder adds to it. A score cannot cost anything here — the most it can add is $2,500 a year, and it starts paying at a 19.
Read the two columns in the grid below as a trade. The same award is reachable either way — with a score at a lower GPA, or with no score at a higher one. A score is worth real money to a student whose GPA sits under the test-optional line, and worth little to one comfortably above it.
“Use the charts below to determine the amounts based on your GPA AND ACT, then add those amounts together.”
The published Central Baptist merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Central Baptist College’s own pages for the current cycle. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Step 1 — the GPA amount
The larger of the two ladders. Read this one from the transcript, then add the ACT amount below.
$11,000 a year, before the ACT amount is added
Distinguished Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 4.00
$9,000 a year, before the ACT amount is added
Summa Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.76
$7,250 a year, before the ACT amount is added
Magna Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$5,500 a year, before the ACT amount is added
Honors Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.00
$4,500 a year, before the ACT amount is added
Merit Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 2.50
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distinguished Scholarship | — | GPA 4.00 | $11,000 a year, before the ACT amount is added |
| Summa Scholarship | — | GPA 3.76 | $9,000 a year, before the ACT amount is added |
| Magna Scholarship | — | GPA 3.50 | $7,250 a year, before the ACT amount is added |
| Honors Scholarship | — | GPA 3.00 | $5,500 a year, before the ACT amount is added |
| Merit Scholarship | — | GPA 2.50 | $4,500 a year, before the ACT amount is added |
Source: Academic scholarship chart (PDF) · verified 2026-10-24
Step 2 — the ACT amount, added on top
Pure upside: this adds to the GPA amount and cannot reduce it. Arkansas students at 32 or above are referred to the state Governor's scholarship instead of a printed figure.
Adds $2,500 a year on top of the GPA amount
Governor's Level ACT amount
ACT 32–36 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder
Adds $2,000 a year on top of the GPA amount
ACT 28-31 amount
ACT 28–31 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder
Adds $1,500 a year on top of the GPA amount
ACT 24-27 amount
ACT 24–27 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder
Adds $1,000 a year on top of the GPA amount
ACT 20-23 amount
ACT 20–23 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder
Adds $500 a year on top of the GPA amount
ACT 19 amount
ACT 19 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Governor's Level ACT amount | ACT 32–36 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder | Adds $2,500 a year on top of the GPA amount |
| ACT 28-31 amount | ACT 28–31 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder | Adds $2,000 a year on top of the GPA amount |
| ACT 24-27 amount | ACT 24–27 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder | Adds $1,500 a year on top of the GPA amount |
| ACT 20-23 amount | ACT 20–23 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder | Adds $1,000 a year on top of the GPA amount |
| ACT 19 amount | ACT 19 · No GPA threshold on the ACT ladder | Adds $500 a year on top of the GPA amount |
Source: Academic scholarship chart (PDF) · verified 2026-10-24
Does Central Baptist superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. Since each ACT band is worth $500 or more, a student near a boundary should ask whether the better composite is read.
With nothing published, plan for the stricter reading: look up your best single sitting in the grid above, work out your superscore as well, and ask Central Baptist’s financial aid office which one they read before you count on the higher band.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Central Baptist scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Application | March 15 |
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 Central Baptist College’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- The award is the GPA amount plus the ACT amount — this is the only additive grid in this dataset.
- The ACT can add at most $2,500 a year, $10,000 across four.
- The ACT ladder starts paying at a 19, with $500.
- The GPA ladder runs from $4,500 at a 2.50 to $11,000 at a 4.00.
- A score cannot reduce the award — there is no window to fall out of.
- Arkansas students at 32 or above are referred to the state Governor's scholarship rather than given a printed figure; the $2,500 shown is the published non-Arkansas amount.
- Athletic awards combine with rather than stack on the chart total, so the chart is a ceiling for both together.
- The chart's GPA windows leave holes at 3.91-3.99, 3.41-3.49 and 2.91-2.99; the rungs are extended upward here.
- Fine arts awards do not combine with academic awards.
- No SAT equivalents are printed on the ACT ladder.
- Central Baptist publishes no renewal condition on these pages.
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 Central Baptist College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Central Baptist?
Automatic merit aid at Central Baptist College starts at an ACT composite of 19, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $11,000 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 Central Baptist test-optional?
Central Baptist's how-to-apply list says to submit an ACT or SAT score, and the site also links an Accuplacer page, so the requirement is not clearly stated either way. For merit aid the answer is different: the GPA ladder pays on its own, and the ACT ladder adds to it. A score cannot cost anything here — the most it can add is $2,500 a year, and it starts paying at a 19. 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 Central Baptist?
On Central Baptist's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Step 1 — the GPA amount — Magna Scholarship at $7,250 a year, about $29,000 over four years if it renews; Step 2 — the ACT amount, added on top — ACT 28-31 amount at $2,000 a year, about $8,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Central Baptist?
The most valuable single point on Central Baptist's published grid is 19 to 20, on the row where it is largest: it moves the award by $500 a year, or $2,000 across a four-year degree on the Step 2 — the ACT amount, added on top 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 Central Baptist superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. Since each ACT band is worth $500 or more, a student near a boundary should ask whether the better composite is read.
When are Central Baptist scholarship deadlines?
Application: March 15. 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 Central Baptist scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Central Baptist College's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-24. 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 Central Baptist. 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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