Columbia College: merit scholarships by GPA
Columbia College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to GPA — the ACT is not used. Awards start at a 2.76 GPA and reach $13,000 a year. Because the bands are steps rather than a slope, a hundredth of a GPA point is worth nothing inside a band and the whole step at the edge of one.
Enter a GPA below to see which band it actually lands in, what that band pays, and what the next band needs.
Read this first
Columbia College also publishes a GPA-by-ACT matrix whose cells could not be read reliably, so it is NOT reproduced here — only the GPA-only route is. The school states that GPA alone is capped at the CC Distinction level ($13,000 a year); the CC Excellence award at $16,000 a year requires a test score. A student with a score should expect more than this grid shows and should read the school's own table.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — a 3.60 GPA
CC Achievement Scholarship
$11,000 a year ($44,000 over four years) / year
About $44,000 over four years, if it renews.
Columbia College (MO) awards this on GPA alone, so an ACT score does not change it. A higher score can still matter for admission, for honours programmes, and at other schools on the list — but not for this award.
The ACT doesn't move the money here — but it still decides admission, honours eligibility, and what they is worth at the other schools on the list, where most awards are score-keyed.
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The published Columbia College (MO) merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Columbia College’s own pages for 2026-27 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
GPA-only route (no test score submitted)
The route Columbia College uses when no score is submitted. It is capped at the CC Distinction level by the school's own statement — the higher CC Excellence award needs a score.
$13,000 a year ($52,000 over four years)
CC Distinction Scholarship
No score needed
$11,000 a year ($44,000 over four years)
CC Achievement Scholarship
No score needed
$10,000 a year ($40,000 over four years)
CC Recognition Scholarship
No score needed
$4,000 a year ($16,000 over four years)
Navy & Silver Award
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| CC Distinction Scholarship | — | $13,000 a year ($52,000 over four years) |
| CC Achievement Scholarship | — | $11,000 a year ($44,000 over four years) |
| CC Recognition Scholarship | — | $10,000 a year ($40,000 over four years) |
| Navy & Silver Award | — | $4,000 a year ($16,000 over four years) |
Source: Scholarships for traditional students · verified 2026-10-24
Does Columbia College (MO) superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. A student planning a retake should confirm in writing which composite the scholarship matrix reads.
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 Columbia College (MO)’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.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Columbia 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.
- A test score is worth at least $3,000 a year here: GPA alone is capped at CC Distinction ($13,000), and CC Excellence ($16,000) requires a score.
- Columbia College's full GPA-by-ACT matrix is not reproduced on this page. Two extraction passes disagreed about its cells, so no figure from it is published here.
- The matrix contains "Up to" cells, which are open-ended rather than flat amounts.
- Each award is also printed as a four-year total: $64,000 for Excellence, $52,000 Distinction, $44,000 Achievement, $40,000 Recognition and $16,000 Navy & Silver.
- Institutional aid is stackable but may not exceed the cost of tuition.
- Awards are made at the beginning of the first term and are not available for summer terms.
- Federal and state aid are applied before institutional aid.
- Only the ACT is named on the page; the SAT is not mentioned.
- The page does not say whether the GPA is weighted or unweighted.
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 Columbia College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Columbia College (MO)?
Columbia College publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is Columbia College (MO) test-optional?
The scholarships page does not state an admission testing requirement, so nothing is claimed about it here. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is optional and it raises the ceiling. Columbia College says GPA alone is considered only up to the CC Distinction level, so without a score the most a student can reach is $13,000 a year; the CC Excellence award at $16,000 requires one. The school's full GPA-by-ACT matrix could not be read, so the size of the gain at each GPA is not reproduced here. 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 Columbia College (MO)?
On Columbia College (MO)'s published grid for 2026-27 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for CC Achievement Scholarship at $11,000 a year, about $44,000 over four years if it renews.
Does Columbia College (MO) superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. A student planning a retake should confirm in writing which composite the scholarship matrix reads.
Is this Columbia College (MO) scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Columbia 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
Columbia College (MO) awards on GPA — but the ACT still decides what you're worth elsewhere.
Most schools in this comparison are score-keyed even though Columbia College (MO) is not, so the same test still moves the money everywhere else on the list.
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