Drake University: merit scholarships and what the school publishes
Drake University awards automatic merit aid from published criteria. 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 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
Drake calls the Presidential Scholarship automatically awarded but publishes no GPA, score or rank for any point in its $26,000 to $36,500 range, so no transcript can be mapped to a figure. The National Merit and Legacy awards depend on National Merit standing and family connection rather than academic performance, and the National Alumni Scholarship requires an application, so none of them is a band. Drake publishes no renewal condition for the Presidential award on this page.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Presidential Scholarship
$26,000–$36,500 per year
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.
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The published Drake merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Drake University’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.
Presidential Scholarship
Automatically awarded to first-year students of any major. One published range, no criteria.
$26,000–$36,500 per year
Presidential Scholarship
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Presidential Scholarship | — | $26,000–$36,500 per year |
Source: Scholarships and awards · verified 2026-10-25
Does Drake superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Best sections across sittings, on either test, and a withheld score carries no penalty — so repeat sittings are pure upside here.
“Drake will superscore the SAT and/or the ACT to combine your highest section scores, even if those scores are from different test sittings.”
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.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Drake 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.
- The Presidential Scholarship is $26,000 to $36,500 a year and is described as automatically awarded.
- It is open to first-year students of any major.
- No GPA, score or class rank is published for any point in the range.
- That $10,500 annual spread is a $42,000 difference over four years, on unstated criteria.
- Drake superscores both the ACT and the SAT across sittings.
- Withholding a score carries no penalty for merit consideration.
- The Drake-sponsored National Merit award pays $1,500 a year and needs National Merit standing.
- The Legacy award pays $2,500 a year and needs a Drake-graduate relative.
- The National Alumni Scholarship covers full tuition but requires an application, so it is not a band.
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 Drake University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Drake?
Drake University publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is Drake test-optional?
No score is required to apply. For merit aid the answer is different: a score costs nothing if withheld and is read if sent, with the superscore applied — which makes the test a free option rather than a hurdle. Being admitted without a score and qualifying for money without a score are two separate questions.
Does Drake superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Best sections across sittings, on either test, and a withheld score carries no penalty — so repeat sittings are pure upside here. Drake will superscore the SAT and/or the ACT to combine your highest section scores, even if those scores are from different test sittings.
Is this Drake scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Drake University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-25. 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 Drake. 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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