East Texas Baptist University: merit scholarships by ACT score
East Texas Baptist 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
All ETBU scholarships require living in on-campus housing unless the student's permanent residence is within commuting distance, and every award is capped at the cost of tuition. The top three tiers have no GPA route — without a score the ceiling is $11,000 rather than $21,000. ETBU also recalculates the GPA.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Presidential Scholarship
$14,000 / year
About $56,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
3 more points (a 32) moves you to Presidential Gold Scholarship — $17,000 a year. That is $3,000 more a year, or $12,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether 3 points is worth having. It's whether they can move them — 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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The published ETBU merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from East Texas Baptist University’s own pages for 2027-28 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Freshman academic scholarships
Criteria are alternatives — a GPA, an ACT, an SAT or a CLT — and a student receives whichever qualifies higher. The three Presidential tiers publish no GPA alternative.
$21,000
Presidential Platinum Scholarship
ACT 35–36 · No GPA needed on the score route
$17,000
Presidential Gold Scholarship
ACT 32–34 · No GPA needed on the score route
$14,000
Presidential Scholarship
ACT 28–31 · No GPA needed on the score route
$11,000
Vice President Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · No GPA needed on the score route
$11,000
Vice President Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed
$9,000
Honor Scholarship
ACT 23–24 · No GPA needed on the score route
$9,000
Honor Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed
$7,000
Dean Scholarship
ACT 21–22 · No GPA needed on the score route
$7,000
Dean Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed
$5,000
Achievement Grant
ACT 18–20 · No GPA needed on the score route
$5,000
Achievement Grant (GPA route)
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Presidential Platinum Scholarship | ACT 35–36 · No GPA needed on the score route | $21,000 |
| Presidential Gold Scholarship | ACT 32–34 · No GPA needed on the score route | $17,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship | ACT 28–31 · No GPA needed on the score route | $14,000 |
| Vice President Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · No GPA needed on the score route | $11,000 |
| Vice President Scholarship (GPA route) | — | $11,000 |
| Honor Scholarship | ACT 23–24 · No GPA needed on the score route | $9,000 |
| Honor Scholarship (GPA route) | — | $9,000 |
| Dean Scholarship | ACT 21–22 · No GPA needed on the score route | $7,000 |
| Dean Scholarship (GPA route) | — | $7,000 |
| Achievement Grant | ACT 18–20 · No GPA needed on the score route | $5,000 |
| Achievement Grant (GPA route) | — | $5,000 |
Source: Scholarships — 2027-2028 freshman academic awards · verified 2026-10-24
Does ETBU superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and ETBU names it in the scholarship criteria themselves rather than in an admissions policy — awards are made on a recalculated GPA, a test score, or a test superscore. A retake can therefore only help.
“Awarded based upon a student's recalculated GPA, standardized test score, or standardized test superscore”
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 East Texas Baptist 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 top three tiers have no GPA route. Without a test score the ceiling is $11,000; with a 35 it is $21,000.
- ETBU superscores for scholarships and says so in the award criteria, so a retake is strictly additive.
- All scholarships require living in on-campus housing unless the permanent residence is within commuting distance.
- Every award is capped at the cost of tuition.
- ETBU recalculates the GPA rather than using the transcript figure.
- The renewal GPA rises with the award — 3.2 at the Presidential tiers against 2.5 at the Achievement Grant.
- The Harrison County Promise ($20,000 a year) is county-restricted, and the maths, biology and chemistry awards are published as 'up to' figures and restricted by major, so none of them is a band here.
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 Texas Baptist University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at ETBU?
Automatic merit aid at East Texas Baptist 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 ETBU test-optional?
The scholarship page does not state the admission testing requirement, so nothing is claimed about it here. For merit aid the answer is different: a GPA route exists up to the Vice President tier at $11,000. The three Presidential tiers are reachable only on a test score, so a 35 is worth $10,000 a year more than the best no-score outcome. 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 ETBU?
On ETBU's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Presidential Scholarship at $14,000 a year, about $56,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at ETBU?
The most valuable single point on ETBU's published grid is 34 to 35, on the row where it is largest: it moves the award by $4,000 a year, or $16,000 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 ETBU superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and ETBU names it in the scholarship criteria themselves rather than in an admissions policy — awards are made on a recalculated GPA, a test score, or a test superscore. A retake can therefore only help. Awarded based upon a student's recalculated GPA, standardized test score, or standardized test superscore
Is this ETBU scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from East Texas Baptist University'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
You know what a score is worth at ETBU. 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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