Emporia State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Emporia State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 21 and reach $3,000 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
Emporia State takes whichever of your GPA and ACT qualifies you higher — the column header reads 'GPA or ACT Required' — so a score can carry a weaker transcript. The GPA used is UNWEIGHTED, the opposite of nearby Pittsburg State. Renewal is the real cost: a 3.0 Emporia State GPA AND 24 completed Emporia State hours every year. The page is also undated, and the per-year reading comes from a sentence below the table rather than the amount cells themselves.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
$2,500 / year
About $10,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Presidential Scholarship (score route) — $3,000 a year. That is $500 more a year, or $2,000 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 Emporia State merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Emporia 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.
Presidential Scholarship — one grid for everyone
No residency split is published. No separate application: Emporia State says the admission application and transcripts alone determine eligibility.
$3,000
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 30–36 · GPA 3.95+ or ACT 30+ — the score alone qualifies
Without a score: not available
$3,000
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.95
$2,500
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 28–29 · GPA 3.75-3.94 or ACT 28-29 — the score alone qualifies
Without a score: not available
$2,500
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.75
$2,000
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 25–27 · GPA 3.5-3.74 or ACT 25-27 — the score alone qualifies
Without a score: not available
$2,000
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$1,500
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 23–24 · GPA 3.25-3.49 or ACT 23-24 — the score alone qualifies
Without a score: not available
$1,500
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.25
$1,250
Presidential Scholarship (score route)
ACT 21–22 · GPA 3.0-3.24 or ACT 21-22 — the score alone qualifies
Without a score: not available
$1,250
Presidential Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 30–36 · GPA 3.95+ or ACT 30+ — the score alone qualifies | not available | $3,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.95 | $3,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 28–29 · GPA 3.75-3.94 or ACT 28-29 — the score alone qualifies | not available | $2,500 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.75 | $2,500 |
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 25–27 · GPA 3.5-3.74 or ACT 25-27 — the score alone qualifies | not available | $2,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.50 | $2,000 |
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 23–24 · GPA 3.25-3.49 or ACT 23-24 — the score alone qualifies | not available | $1,500 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.25 | $1,500 |
| Presidential Scholarship (score route) | ACT 21–22 · GPA 3.0-3.24 or ACT 21-22 — the score alone qualifies | not available | $1,250 |
| Presidential Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.00 | $1,250 |
Source: Presidential Scholarship · verified 2026-10-21
Does Emporia State superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear on any Emporia State page checked, so no position is recorded in either direction.
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 Emporia State’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.
Emporia State scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| No scholarship application — but official transcripts must arrive | By the 20th day of your starting semester |
| Separate competitive Scholarship Library application | December 1 |
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 Emporia 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.
- Emporia State uses the UNWEIGHTED GPA and Pittsburg State the weighted one, so the two Kansas regionals are not comparable on the same GPA number.
- The amount cells print bare dollars; the per-year reading comes from the sentence 'Amounts shown are the amount awarded per year.' below the table.
- A legacy award stacks automatically and needs no score: $1,000 renewable for students with a parent, stepparent or grandparent who graduated from Emporia State, and from 2026 it extends to second-bachelor students.
- Total aid including stackable scholarships cannot exceed the cost of attendance — Emporia State prints that caveat on both pages.
- The Honors College award adds $1,000 but requires acceptance into the Honors College, so it is not modelled.
- Spring starters receive half the award and must complete 12 hours at a 3.0 to renew, then get seven further semesters.
- No National Merit award and no regional tuition programme appear on these pages.
- Emporia State 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 Emporia State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Emporia State?
Automatic merit aid at Emporia State University starts at an ACT composite of 21, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $3,000 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 Emporia State test-optional?
One of three alternative routes: a 2.25 unweighted GPA, an ACT composite of 21, or an SAT of 1060. A score is a path rather than a requirement. For merit aid the answer is different: considered as one of two alternative qualifying routes, never as a penalty. Transfers get a GPA-only version of the same ladder. 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 Emporia State?
On Emporia State's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Presidential Scholarship (score route) at $3,000 a year, about $12,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Emporia State?
The most valuable single point on Emporia State's published grid is 24 to 25, at a GPA of gpa 3.5-3.74 or act 25-27 — the score alone qualifies: it moves the award by $500 a year, or $2,000 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 Emporia State superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear on any Emporia State page checked, so no position is recorded in either direction.
When are Emporia State scholarship deadlines?
No scholarship application — but official transcripts must arrive: By the 20th day of your starting semester. Separate competitive Scholarship Library application: December 1. 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 Emporia State scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Emporia 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.
Other schools to check
What to do next
You know what a score is worth at Emporia State. 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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