East Tennessee State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
East Tennessee State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $5,000 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
Both numbers are required, not either — ETSU says a student 'must have earned both the minimum GPA and the minimum ACT or SAT score'. The GPA used is the SIXTH-SEMESTER GPA, meaning through junior year, so a strong senior year cannot raise the award. The grid covers Tennessee residents and named border counties only; ETSU's out-of-state awards publish no dollar figures and are competitive. The page carries no cycle year.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Provost
$4,000 per year / year
About $16,000 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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Is ETSU test-optional?
For admission, largely yes. Not required for admission. ETSU says so in one sentence and then says, separately, that a score is required for scholarships — the two statements sit on different pages and only together are they the whole picture.
For money, no. Required, with no test-optional merit path. A student admitted without a score is not on this grid at all, and scores must be taken by March 1 for the guaranteed awards. A family that reads “test-optional” and skips the ACT can be admitted and still walk away from every dollar on the grid below.
“ACT/ SAT scores are not required for admission to ETSU.”
The published ETSU merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from East Tennessee State 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.
Tennessee residents and eligible border counties
Border counties are an enumerated list, not whole states: Ashe, Avery, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey in North Carolina; Grayson, Lee, Scott and Washington in Virginia.
$5,000 per year
Presidential
ACT 30–36 · 3.9
$4,000 per year
Provost
ACT 27–36 · 3.5
$3,000 per year
Deans
ACT 26–36 · 3.5
$2,000 per year
Faculty — higher GPA route
ACT 22–36 · 4.0
$2,000 per year
Faculty — higher score route
ACT 25–36 · 3.5
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Presidential | ACT 30–36 · 3.9 | $5,000 per year |
| Provost | ACT 27–36 · 3.5 | $4,000 per year |
| Deans | ACT 26–36 · 3.5 | $3,000 per year |
| Faculty — higher GPA route | ACT 22–36 · 4.0 | $2,000 per year |
| Faculty — higher score route | ACT 25–36 · 3.5 | $2,000 per year |
Source: Academic Performance Scholarships (APS) for Freshmen · verified 2026-10-21
Does ETSU superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and stated for scholarships specifically rather than only for admission — one of the clearer superscore statements in the dataset.
“ETSU will superscore ACT/SAT scores for admission and scholarship decisions. Test-takers should request their scores be sent to ETSU electronically by the test agency.”
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.
ETSU scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Take the ACT or SAT by this date for the guaranteed awards | March 1 |
| Scores received by the census date — the 14th calendar day of the starting term | Census date |
| Admission application and all documents, or APS consideration is lost | First day of the term |
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 East Tennessee State 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.
- Academic Performance Scholarships (APS) for Freshmenverified 2026-10-21
- Applying as a Freshman — test policy and superscoringverified 2026-10-21
- The top three awards carry a service obligation the dollar figure does not mention: 75 APS service hours before the last day of finals, each semester, for the first four semesters. The two Faculty tiers do not.
- One ACT point is worth $1,000 between Deans and Provost — both require a 3.5 GPA and differ only by a 26 against a 27.
- The Faculty award publishes an explicit GPA-for-score trade: a 4.0 with a 22, or a 3.5 with a 25, both pay $2,000.
- '6th Semester GPA' means the GPA through the end of junior year. Senior-year grades do not change the award.
- Awards do not stack — a student receiving another listed scholarship cannot also take the Presidential APS.
- Fall and spring terms only; the scholarships are not available in summer.
- ETSU's out-of-state awards — Public Service Corps, Creative Arts, STEM Community Outreach — are all valued as the in-state tuition rate rather than a dollar figure, are competitive 'until funding is depleted', and require separate applications. Not modelled here.
- ETSU 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 East Tennessee State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at ETSU?
Automatic merit aid at East Tennessee State University starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $5,000 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 ETSU test-optional?
Not required for admission. ETSU says so in one sentence and then says, separately, that a score is required for scholarships — the two statements sit on different pages and only together are they the whole picture. For merit aid the answer is different: required, with no test-optional merit path. A student admitted without a score is not on this grid at all, and scores must be taken by March 1 for the guaranteed awards. 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 ETSU?
On ETSU's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Provost at $4,000 a year, about $16,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at ETSU?
The most valuable single point on ETSU's published grid is 25 to 26, at a 3.5 GPA: 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 ETSU superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and stated for scholarships specifically rather than only for admission — one of the clearer superscore statements in the dataset. ETSU will superscore ACT/SAT scores for admission and scholarship decisions. Test-takers should request their scores be sent to ETSU electronically by the test agency.
When are ETSU scholarship deadlines?
Take the ACT or SAT by this date for the guaranteed awards: March 1. Scores received by the census date — the 14th calendar day of the starting term: Census date. Admission application and all documents, or APS consideration is lost: First day of the term. 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 ETSU scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from East Tennessee State 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.
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What to do next
You know what a score is worth at ETSU. 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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