Ferris State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Ferris State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 31 and reach $10,000 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
Only the top award uses a test score. The Founder's Scholarship needs a 31 ACT AND a 3.90 GPA together — meeting one of them is not enough. Every other Woodbridge N. Ferris award is decided on the high school GPA alone, and Ferris pays only one WNF scholarship per student: the highest you qualify for, not the sum.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Provost's Scholarship
$5,500 per year / year
About $22,000 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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Can you get merit aid at Ferris State without an ACT score?
Yes. Not required, but worth real money at the top. Four of the five WNF tiers are GPA-only, so a student with no score still has an award. A 31 ACT on top of a 3.90 GPA moves that student from $5,500 or $6,500 a year to $10,000 — the single largest jump on the page.
Read the two columns in the grid below as a trade. The same award is reachable either way — with a score at a lower GPA, or with no score at a higher one. A score is worth real money to a student whose GPA sits under the test-optional line, and worth little to one comfortably above it.
“Scholarships will be based on the highest submitted ACT Composite score (which includes English, math, reading and science) or the SAT combined score (reading and math, NOT writing) on a single test date.”
The published Ferris State merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Ferris 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.
Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarships
Automatic on admission with no separate application, for new freshmen at the Big Rapids campus and Kendall College of Art and Design. Only the Founder's Scholarship uses a test score; the four tiers below it run on the high school GPA alone, so each of those is also the award a student with no score receives.
$10,000 per year
Founder's Scholarship
ACT 31–36 · 3.90+ / 4.00 scale HS GPA, with a 31 ACT or 1350 SAT
Without a score: not available
$6,500 per year
President's Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 4.00
$5,500 per year
Provost's Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$4,500 per year
Dean's Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.25
$3,000 per year
Crimson Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founder's Scholarship | ACT 31–36 · 3.90+ / 4.00 scale HS GPA, with a 31 ACT or 1350 SAT | not available | $10,000 per year |
| President's Scholarship | — | GPA 4.00 | $6,500 per year |
| Provost's Scholarship | — | GPA 3.50 | $5,500 per year |
| Dean's Scholarship | — | GPA 3.25 | $4,500 per year |
| Crimson Scholarship | — | GPA 3.00 | $3,000 per year |
Source: Incoming Freshmen Scholarships — Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarships · verified 2026-10-23
Ferris Forward Scholarship
A separate, one-time award for students below the WNF floor. Ferris states it is not a WNF scholarship, is not renewable, and may not be combined with one — so it is shown as its own track rather than as the bottom row of the grid above.
$1,000 per year
Forward Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 2.25
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward Scholarship | — | GPA 2.25 | $1,000 per year |
Source: Incoming Freshmen Scholarships — Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarships · verified 2026-10-23
Does Ferris State superscore for scholarships?
No. No. Ferris uses the best single sitting and says outright that subscores from different dates cannot be combined for scholarship purposes. Its composite also has to include Science, so the four-section score is the one that counts.
“Components from different test dates may not be combined into a "SuperScore" for FSU scholarship purposes.”
This matters more than it sounds. A student whose superscore crosses a band but whose best single sitting does not will be paid on the lower band. Look up your best single sitting in the grid above, then find what is costing you points on one test.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Ferris State scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Updated transcript or ACT result must reach Ferris to be bumped up to a higher WNF award | Prior to the first day of classes |
| Bulldog First Year Alumni Scholarship application in ScholarshipUniverse | Feb. 28 |
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 Ferris 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.
- Incoming Freshmen Scholarships — Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-23
- Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Woodbridge N. Ferris (WNF) Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-23
- How to Apply — Test Scoresverified 2026-10-23
- The Founder's Scholarship is an AND, not an either/or: a 31 ACT (or 1350 SAT) and a 3.90 GPA. A 34 with a 3.8 takes the Provost's at $5,500, not the Founder's.
- A 31 is worth $3,500 a year to a 4.0 student and $4,500 a year to a 3.90-3.99 student. Below a 3.90 GPA a score changes nothing at Ferris.
- No superscore for scholarships. Ferris uses the highest composite from a single test date, and that composite must include Science.
- Retaking is one-way risk-free: a higher final GPA or a later ACT arriving before the first day of classes bumps you up, and a lower retake score does not cost you the offer you already have.
- One WNF award per student — the highest you qualify for. They do not stack, and the Ferris Forward Scholarship cannot be combined with a WNF award either.
- There is no slide down on renewal. Miss the renewal GPA and the scholarship is lost permanently rather than dropping to a lower tier.
- No out-of-state grid exists because Ferris charges every US and Canadian undergraduate the Michigan resident tuition rate; the old Bulldog Award was retired in Fall 2018.
- The Michigan Achievement Scholarship, the Ferris Pledge and the Detroit Promise are state, federal and city money layered on top — none of them is Ferris merit aid, and none is in the grid above.
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 Ferris State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Ferris State?
Automatic merit aid at Ferris State University starts at an ACT composite of 31, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $10,000 a year at the top of the 2 grids it publishes. The bands are steps rather than a slope, so the only score that matters is the next threshold above where you are now.
Is Ferris State test-optional?
A score is not needed to be admitted. Ferris's How to Apply page (the ferris-apply source below) says applications are processed without ACT or SAT scores once the high school transcript arrives, and separately encourages a score for course placement rather than for admission. For merit aid the answer is different: not required, but worth real money at the top. Four of the five WNF tiers are GPA-only, so a student with no score still has an award. A 31 ACT on top of a 3.90 GPA moves that student from $5,500 or $6,500 a year to $10,000 — the single largest jump on the page. 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 Ferris State?
On Ferris State's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarships — Provost's Scholarship at $5,500 a year, about $22,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Ferris State?
The most valuable single point on Ferris State's published grid is 30 to 31, at a 3.9 GPA: it moves the award by $4,500 a year, or $18,000 across a four-year degree on the Woodbridge N. Ferris Scholarships grid. 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 Ferris State superscore the ACT for scholarships?
No. No. Ferris uses the best single sitting and says outright that subscores from different dates cannot be combined for scholarship purposes. Its composite also has to include Science, so the four-section score is the one that counts. Components from different test dates may not be combined into a "SuperScore" for FSU scholarship purposes.
When are Ferris State scholarship deadlines?
Updated transcript or ACT result must reach Ferris to be bumped up to a higher WNF award: Prior to the first day of classes. Bulldog First Year Alumni Scholarship application in ScholarshipUniverse: Feb. 28. 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 Ferris State scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Ferris State University'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 Ferris 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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