Christian Brothers University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Christian Brothers University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 18 and reach $21,000 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
CBU's grid is an OR: each level publishes a GPA threshold and an ACT threshold and EITHER reaches it, so a 3.0 student with a 25 earns the $20,000 Presidential rather than the $15,000 Deans'. Each level is modelled twice to reflect that; a conjunctive reading would understate every award. The top band publishes 'N/A' for GPA — a 30 is worth $21,000 whatever the transcript says — and the $14,000 floor publishes N/A for both. CBU refuses superscores in writing for eligibility purposes, so every point must come from one sitting.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
$20,000 / year
About $80,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to 30+ Club (score route) — $21,000 a year. That is $1,000 more a year, or $4,000 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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Can you get merit aid at CBU without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional and useful: a score can reach a band the GPA alone would not, and the top award is score-only. But no band requires one, and the $14,000 floor applies with neither.
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.
“ACT Superscores cannot be used to determine eligibility.”
The published CBU merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Christian Brothers University’s own pages for Fall 2027 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Fall 2027 freshman scholarships
Awarded once a student is accepted for admission, with no separate application. Each level appears twice because CBU writes the criteria as OR: the score route needs no GPA and the GPA route needs no score.
$21,000
30+ Club (score route)
ACT 30–36 · An ACT of 30 or higher — CBU publishes N/A for GPA on this band
Without a score: not available
$20,000
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 25–29 · An ACT of 25 or higher — no GPA required on this route
Without a score: not available
$20,000
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.75
$18,000
Lasallian Scholarship (score route)
ACT 22–24 · An ACT of 22 or higher — no GPA required on this route
Without a score: not available
$18,000
Lasallian Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$16,000
Maurelian Scholarship (score route)
ACT 20–21 · An ACT of 20 or higher — no GPA required on this route
Without a score: not available
$16,000
Maurelian Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.25
$15,000
Deans' Scholarship (score route)
ACT 18–19 · An ACT of 18 or higher — no GPA required on this route
Without a score: not available
$15,000
Deans' Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.00
$14,000
University Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 0.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30+ Club (score route) | ACT 30–36 · An ACT of 30 or higher — CBU publishes N/A for GPA on this band | not available | $21,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 25–29 · An ACT of 25 or higher — no GPA required on this route | not available | $20,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.75 | $20,000 |
| Lasallian Scholarship (score route) | ACT 22–24 · An ACT of 22 or higher — no GPA required on this route | not available | $18,000 |
| Lasallian Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.50 | $18,000 |
| Maurelian Scholarship (score route) | ACT 20–21 · An ACT of 20 or higher — no GPA required on this route | not available | $16,000 |
| Maurelian Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.25 | $16,000 |
| Deans' Scholarship (score route) | ACT 18–19 · An ACT of 18 or higher — no GPA required on this route | not available | $15,000 |
| Deans' Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.00 | $15,000 |
| University Scholarship | — | GPA 0.00 | $14,000 |
Source: Scholarships — Fall 2027 Scholarships Based on GPA or ACT/SAT Submission · verified 2026-10-21
Does CBU superscore for scholarships?
No. No, stated outright. Since a single point can move a student between the $15,000 and $16,000 bands, that makes one strong sitting worth more here than a good composite assembled across several.
This matters more than it sounds. A student whose superscore crosses a band but whose best single sitting does not will be paid on the lower band. Look up your best single sitting in the grid above, then find what is costing you points on one test.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Christian Brothers 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.
- Either threshold reaches a band, so the stronger of a student's GPA and score decides the award.
- The 30+ Club publishes N/A for GPA: a 30 earns $21,000 regardless of the transcript.
- The $14,000 University Scholarship publishes N/A for all three criteria, so it is a floor rather than a band.
- Superscores are refused in writing for eligibility.
- The separate full-ride-level award requires a 32 ACT or 1430 SAT and names honours or AP coursework and extracurricular leadership as extra credit.
- A $3,000 renewable Catholic High School Scholarship is automatic for graduates of a Catholic high school with no extra application.
- From Fall 2026 the Christian Brothers Promise pays $3,000 a year to Tennessee residents with a Student Aid Index above 25,000.
- Merit scholarships are not stackable with athletic scholarships.
- CBU is silent on the Enhanced ACT.
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 Christian Brothers University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at CBU?
Automatic merit aid at Christian Brothers University starts at an ACT composite of 18, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $21,000 a year at the top. The bands are steps rather than a slope, so the only score that matters is the next threshold above where you are now.
Is CBU test-optional?
Not stated on the scholarship page. CBU's own heading frames the merit question as a choice — awards are based on GPA or on a submitted score. For merit aid the answer is different: optional and useful: a score can reach a band the GPA alone would not, and the top award is score-only. But no band requires one, and the $14,000 floor applies with neither. 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 CBU?
On CBU's published grid for Fall 2027 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for 30+ Club (score route) at $21,000 a year, about $84,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at CBU?
The most valuable single point on CBU's published grid is 21 to 22, at a GPA of an act of 22 or higher — no gpa required on this route: it moves the award by $2,000 a year, or $8,000 across a four-year degree. 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 CBU superscore the ACT for scholarships?
No. No, stated outright. Since a single point can move a student between the $15,000 and $16,000 bands, that makes one strong sitting worth more here than a good composite assembled across several.
Is this CBU scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Christian Brothers 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 CBU. 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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