Hope College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Hope College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $22,000 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
Hope labels this grid for first-year students entering Fall 2026 while the same page states its test-optional policy for Fall 2027 applicants and lists art deadlines in 2027 — so the grid's year label and the rest of the page disagree. The Presidential figure is printed as "$14,000/year and up", making it a floor. Hope also gives every accepted student a separate $12,000 More Hope award and does not say whether it stacks with these, so it is not added here. Whether the GPA is weighted is not stated.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Distinguished Scholar Award — on a score
$12,000 a year / year
About $48,000 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 Hope without an ACT score?
Yes. A score lowers the GPA requirement by two tenths at four consecutive tiers — a 26 stands in for a 3.8, a 24 for a 3.6, a 22 for a 3.4. And the $22,000 Trustee award cannot be reached without one, which makes a 34 worth $8,000 a year over the GPA-only ceiling.
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.
“Trustee | $22,000/year | Test Score Required | 3.95+ GPA with 34+ ACT, 1490+ SAT, or 103+ CLT”
The published Hope merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Hope College’s own pages for Fall 2026 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Academic scholarships
Every award but the Trustee can be reached on GPA alone or on a lower GPA with a score. The admission application is the scholarship application, and Hope always gives the highest award a student is eligible for.
$22,000 a year
Trustee Scholarship — on a score
ACT 34–36 · 3.95+ with a 34 or better
Without a score: not available
$14,000 a year and up
Presidential Scholarship — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.95
$14,000 a year and up
Presidential Scholarship — on a score
ACT 28–36 · 3.80+ with a 28 or better
Without a score: not available
$12,000 a year
Distinguished Scholar Award — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.80
$12,000 a year
Distinguished Scholar Award — on a score
ACT 26–36 · 3.60+ with a 26 or better
Without a score: not available
$10,000 a year
Alumni Honors Scholarship — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.60
$10,000 a year
Alumni Honors Scholarship — on a score
ACT 24–36 · 3.40+ with a 24 or better
Without a score: not available
$8,000 a year
Anchor Award — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.40
$8,000 a year
Anchor Award — on a score
ACT 22–36 · 3.20+ with a 22 or better
Without a score: not available
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustee Scholarship — on a score | ACT 34–36 · 3.95+ with a 34 or better | not available | $22,000 a year |
| Presidential Scholarship — on GPA | — | GPA 3.95 | $14,000 a year and up |
| Presidential Scholarship — on a score | ACT 28–36 · 3.80+ with a 28 or better | not available | $14,000 a year and up |
| Distinguished Scholar Award — on GPA | — | GPA 3.80 | $12,000 a year |
| Distinguished Scholar Award — on a score | ACT 26–36 · 3.60+ with a 26 or better | not available | $12,000 a year |
| Alumni Honors Scholarship — on GPA | — | GPA 3.60 | $10,000 a year |
| Alumni Honors Scholarship — on a score | ACT 24–36 · 3.40+ with a 24 or better | not available | $10,000 a year |
| Anchor Award — on GPA | — | GPA 3.40 | $8,000 a year |
| Anchor Award — on a score | ACT 22–36 · 3.20+ with a 22 or better | not available | $8,000 a year |
Source: Hope College scholarships · verified 2026-10-24
Does Hope superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Hope combines the best sections across sittings, which matters most at the 34 that gates the top award.
“We will superscore applicant test score submissions.”
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.
Hope scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Submit updated grades or scores for scholarship review | February 1 of senior year |
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 Hope 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.
- Every award except the Trustee has both a GPA route and a lower-GPA-with-a-score route.
- Two ACT points stand in for two tenths of a grade point, at four consecutive tiers.
- The $22,000 Trustee award is marked "Test Score Required" and needs a 34 with a 3.95.
- For a student already at a 3.95, that one test is worth $8,000 a year — $32,000 across four.
- Hope superscores, so the 34 can be assembled across sittings.
- The Presidential award is printed as "$14,000/year and up", so it is a floor.
- Hope always awards the highest tier a student is eligible for.
- February 1 of senior year is the deadline to send updated grades or scores.
- A separate $12,000 More Hope award goes to every accepted student; Hope does not say whether it stacks with these.
- The grid's Fall 2026 label disagrees with the Fall 2027 test policy on the same page.
- Distinguished Artist Awards in music, dance, theatre, visual arts and creative writing need auditions or portfolios, so they are not bands 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 Hope College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Hope?
Automatic merit aid at Hope College starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $22,000 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 Hope test-optional?
Optional for admission, and optional for every award except the Trustee Scholarship. For merit aid the answer is different: a score lowers the GPA requirement by two tenths at four consecutive tiers — a 26 stands in for a 3.8, a 24 for a 3.6, a 22 for a 3.4. And the $22,000 Trustee award cannot be reached without one, which makes a 34 worth $8,000 a year over the GPA-only ceiling. 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 Hope?
On Hope's published grid for Fall 2026 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Distinguished Scholar Award — on a score at $12,000 a year, about $48,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Hope?
The most valuable single point on Hope's published grid is 33 to 34, at a 3.95 GPA: it moves the award by $8,000 a year, or $32,000 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 Hope superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Hope combines the best sections across sittings, which matters most at the 34 that gates the top award. We will superscore applicant test score submissions.
When are Hope scholarship deadlines?
Submit updated grades or scores for scholarship review: February 1 of senior year. 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 Hope scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Hope 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
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