Grove City College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Grove City College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 26 and reach $8,000 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 of these award families require a test score — there is no score-free route to either. The one award reachable without a score, the Academic Excellence Alumni Merit at $2,000, needs a full application with a recommendation letter by March 15, so it is not on this grid. The awards do not stack with each other. Grove City's launch announcement states the President's award as $7,500 where the award page says $8,000; the award page is used here.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Provost's Scholarship, Tier A
$6,000 annually / year
About $24,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
2 more points (a 31) moves you to President's Scholarship — $8,000 annually a year. That is $2,000 more a year, or $8,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether 2 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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Is Grove City test-optional?
For admission, largely yes. Grove City is test-optional for admission, and recommends submitting scores for merit scholarship consideration.
For money, no. Both the President's and Provost's Scholarships are defined by a test score, and neither publishes a score-free route. A student with a 4.0 and no ACT reaches nothing on this grid — the only no-score award at Grove City requires a separate application with a recommendation letter. A family that reads “test-optional” and skips the ACT can be admitted and still walk away from every dollar on the grid below.
“Grove City College is test-optional”
The published Grove City merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Grove City College’s own pages for Fall 2026 onward entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
President's and Provost's Scholarships
All three need the same 3.5 high school GPA; the ACT superscore alone decides the tier. Awarded provisionally on acceptance, confirmed by the final transcript.
$8,000 annually
President's Scholarship
ACT 31–36 · 3.50+ with the score
$6,000 annually
Provost's Scholarship, Tier A
ACT 28–30 · 3.50+ with the score
$4,000 annually
Provost's Scholarship, Tier B
ACT 26–27 · 3.50+ with the score
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| President's Scholarship | ACT 31–36 · 3.50+ with the score | $8,000 annually |
| Provost's Scholarship, Tier A | ACT 28–30 · 3.50+ with the score | $6,000 annually |
| Provost's Scholarship, Tier B | ACT 26–27 · 3.50+ with the score | $4,000 annually |
Source: President's Scholarship Program · verified 2026-10-24
Does Grove City superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and it is written into the thresholds themselves — Grove City states them as an "ACT super score". The admissions page confirms the College records the highest sub-scores achieved and keeps considering the best ones across different sittings.
“the College will record the highest sub-scores achieved and will continue to consider your best sub-scores, even if from different 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.
Grove City scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Application for priority consideration | January 31 |
| Test scores and transcripts | January 31 |
| Academic Excellence Alumni Merit application | March 15 |
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 Grove City College’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- President's Scholarship Programverified 2026-10-24
- Provost's Scholarshipverified 2026-10-24
- Academic Excellence Alumni Merit Scholarshipverified 2026-10-24
- Freshman applicants — test and superscore policyverified 2026-10-24
- The GPA is a single 3.5 gate shared by every award. Above it, the ACT alone decides the amount.
- A 25 earns nothing on this grid and a 26 earns $4,000 a year — the steepest single-point step at this school.
- From a 27 to a 28 is worth $2,000 a year, and from a 30 to a 31 another $2,000.
- Grove City superscores the ACT and says so in the thresholds, so retaking one section to clear a tier is a real strategy here.
- SAT and CLT are published as alternative routes to the same awards — 1400 or 100 for President's, 1300–1399 or 92–99 for Tier A, 1250–1299 or 88–91 for Tier B.
- The awards do not stack with each other or with the Trustee awards.
- The Academic Excellence Alumni Merit award pays $2,000 at a 3.8 GPA with no test, but needs an application and a recommendation letter by March 15, so it is not assured.
- The 24 Trustee awards — eight full rides and sixteen half-tuition — are competitive, as are the Engineering, Leadership and Schwab awards.
- A National Merit award of $2,000 is automatic for Finalists but is one year only and is not tied to the ACT.
- The page does not say whether the 3.5 GPA is weighted or unweighted.
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 Grove City College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Grove City?
Automatic merit aid at Grove City College starts at an ACT composite of 26, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $8,000 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 Grove City test-optional?
Grove City is test-optional for admission, and recommends submitting scores for merit scholarship consideration. For merit aid the answer is different: both the President's and Provost's Scholarships are defined by a test score, and neither publishes a score-free route. A student with a 4.0 and no ACT reaches nothing on this grid — the only no-score award at Grove City requires a separate application with a recommendation letter. 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 Grove City?
On Grove City's published grid for Fall 2026 onward entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Provost's Scholarship, Tier A at $6,000 a year, about $24,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Grove City?
The most valuable single point on Grove City's published grid is 27 to 28, at a 3.5 GPA: it moves the award by $2,000 a year, or $8,000 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 Grove City superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and it is written into the thresholds themselves — Grove City states them as an "ACT super score". The admissions page confirms the College records the highest sub-scores achieved and keeps considering the best ones across different sittings. the College will record the highest sub-scores achieved and will continue to consider your best sub-scores, even if from different sittings
When are Grove City scholarship deadlines?
Application for priority consideration: January 31. Test scores and transcripts: January 31. Academic Excellence Alumni Merit application: March 15. 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 Grove City scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Grove City College'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 Grove City. 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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