Concordia College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Concordia College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to the ACT alone, with no GPA criterion. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $19,500 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
Concordia pays on your GPA OR your ACT, whichever is worth more — not both. The bands below are the ACT route only, so the GPA figures in them are not a requirement you also have to clear; the matching GPA ladder is in the notes so you can see which of your two numbers wins. Every rung is reachable with no score at all through the GPA column. Note too that the page carries a second, Fall 2026 ladder that is $500 lower at every rung; only the Fall 2027 figures are recorded here.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Excellence Scholarship
$17,500 / year
About $70,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Excellence Scholarship — $18,500 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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The published Concordia Moorhead merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Concordia College’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.
Excellence Scholarship (ACT route)
Automatic on admission with no application — "To start, you automatically get an Excellence Scholarship" — and notified in the admission packet. The same rung is reachable on GPA alone, so the ACT is an alternative route rather than a gate. One hard limit: "Automatic scholarship levels will not be reevaluated after receipt of a comprehensive financial aid package", so a score that arrives after the aid offer does not raise the award.
$19,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 33–36 · ACT >=33 — no GPA required on this route; a >=3.97 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$18,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 30–32 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.85-3.96 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$17,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 28–29 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.7-3.84 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$16,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 26–27 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.55-3.69 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$15,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 24–25 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.35-3.54 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$14,500
Excellence Scholarship
ACT 22–23 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.01-3.34 GPA reaches the same amount without a score
$13,500
Excellence Scholarship
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 33–36 · ACT >=33 — no GPA required on this route; a >=3.97 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $19,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 30–32 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.85-3.96 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $18,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 28–29 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.7-3.84 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $17,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 26–27 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.55-3.69 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $16,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 24–25 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.35-3.54 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $15,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | ACT 22–23 · no GPA required on this route; a 3.01-3.34 GPA reaches the same amount without a score | $14,500 |
| Excellence Scholarship | — | $13,500 |
Source: Scholarships — Excellence Scholarship Amounts, students enrolling first time in Fall 2027 · verified 2026-10-23
Does Concordia Moorhead superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Concordia's scholarship, Value or Test Optional pages, and the table is keyed to a single composite with no wording about combining sittings. Treat it as an open question and ask the Office of Admission before paying for a retake on the assumption that section bests will be combined.
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 Concordia Moorhead’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.
Concordia Moorhead scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Financial aid (incoming students) — awarded on a rolling basis, no priority deadline published | Rolling (no priority deadline for incoming students) |
| Presidential Scholarship — qualified students are contacted with dates and deadlines | Late November (invitations sent; event dates set then) |
| Concordia Congregational Scholarship match — notification form due | Aug. 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 Concordia 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.
- Scholarships — Excellence Scholarship Amounts, students enrolling first time in Fall 2027verified 2026-10-23
- Value — the same Excellence Scholarship chart, with the automatic-award wordingverified 2026-10-23
- Presidential Scholarship — the invitation-only competitive awardverified 2026-10-23
- Apply — Test Optional policy and score codesverified 2026-10-23
- The GPA route pays the same rungs without any score: >=3.97 earns $19,500, 3.85-3.96 earns $18,500, 3.7-3.84 earns $17,500, 3.55-3.69 earns $16,500, 3.35-3.54 earns $15,500, 3.01-3.34 earns $14,500, and <=3.00 earns $13,500. Compare that figure to the one your ACT buys; Concordia pays the larger and ignores the other.
- Because the floor rung pays $13,500 with an ACT of 21 or below and a GPA of 3.00 or below, every admitted first-year student receives something. The real question at Concordia is not whether you qualify but how far up the ladder you climb — and six points of ACT, 21 to 33, is worth $6,000 a year, or $24,000 over four.
- "Automatic scholarship levels will not be reevaluated after receipt of a comprehensive financial aid package." A retake whose score lands after the aid offer arrives cannot raise the Excellence award, which makes the timing of a December or February sitting a money decision.
- The scholarship page a student lands on gives only the range, "$13,500 to $19,500 annually ($54,000 to $78,000 over four years)", plus a link to estimate the amount. The actual table is on /tuition-aid/scholarships/ and inside the admissions Value page. The four-year totals are Concordia's own arithmetic on the annual figures, not a separate award.
- The Presidential Scholarship is competitive and invitation-only: qualified students are invited to an on-campus event and "participate in a faculty-led discussion group to compete for a Presidential Gold Scholarship". Everyone who attends earns $1,000; the Gold award goes to the winners and "replaces other scholarships and gift aid" rather than stacking on the Excellence award.
- Concordia's own pages disagree about the Presidential award on both the amount and the gate — $27,000 on the Concordia Scholarships page against $26,500 on the Presidential page, and "requires at least 3.85 GPA or 30 ACT" against "generally, students with an unweighted GPA of 3.8 and an ACT composite score of 28 are eligible". It is not in the grid for either reason; confirm both numbers with admission before planning around them.
- The Concordia Promise covers full tuition for any FAFSA-eligible newly admitted student with an adjusted gross income under $90,000, from any U.S. state, renewable up to four years with an annual FAFSA. It is need-based, not score-based, and for many families it is worth far more than six points of ACT.
- Additive money kept out of the grid: a $500-a-year Alumni Legacy Grant ($2,000 over four years) for siblings, children or grandchildren of Cobbers, a $500-a-year alumni referral grant (one per student), and a congregational match of up to $500 a year if the notification form is in by Aug. 15.
- The Minnesota State Grant is state money, not Concordia's, and is not in this grid. The same goes for the Minnesota Indian Scholarship Program, the Fostering Independence Grant and the other programmes Concordia lists under other financial aid.
- Concordia says the Excellence Scholarships "will be renamed to reflect donor-funded scholarships that align with students' academic interests", so the award name on a future offer letter may not read "Excellence Scholarship" even though the amount comes off this table.
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 Concordia College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Concordia Moorhead?
Automatic merit aid at Concordia College starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $19,500 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 Concordia Moorhead test-optional?
Optional. Concordia asks only that a student who does choose to test lists its codes (ACT 2104, SAT 6113) when registering. For merit aid the answer is different: optional and genuinely alternative. Every rung of the Excellence ladder has a GPA equivalent, so a student with no score still receives $13,500 to $19,500 — but a score that beats their GPA raises the award, because Concordia pays whichever is greater. The one award a score can unlock on its own is the Presidential, where a 30 ACT qualifies a student whose GPA is below the 3.85 alternative. 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 Concordia Moorhead?
On Concordia Moorhead's published grid for Fall 2027 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Excellence Scholarship at $18,500 a year, about $74,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Concordia Moorhead?
The most valuable single point on Concordia Moorhead's published grid is 21 to 22, at a GPA of act 22-23 — no gpa required on this route; a 3.01-3.34 gpa reaches the same amount without a score: it moves the award by $1,000 a year, or $4,000 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 Concordia Moorhead superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Concordia's scholarship, Value or Test Optional pages, and the table is keyed to a single composite with no wording about combining sittings. Treat it as an open question and ask the Office of Admission before paying for a retake on the assumption that section bests will be combined.
When are Concordia Moorhead scholarship deadlines?
Financial aid (incoming students) — awarded on a rolling basis, no priority deadline published: Rolling (no priority deadline for incoming students). Presidential Scholarship — qualified students are contacted with dates and deadlines: Late November (invitations sent; event dates set then). Concordia Congregational Scholarship match — notification form due: Aug. 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 Concordia Moorhead scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Concordia College's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-23. 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.
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What to do next
You know what a score is worth at Concordia Moorhead. The question is whether you can move it.
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