LaGrange College: merit scholarships by ACT score
LaGrange College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 19 and reach $20,000 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
Three things change how this grid should be read. First, LaGrange recalculates your GPA using only college prep courses from five named subject areas, and that recalculated number — not your transcript GPA — is what the award is read off. Second, each row says students 'typically need' its thresholds, which is the college's own hedge; there is no separate application or committee, but the word is theirs. Third, the GPA and the score are joined by 'and', so both have to clear, while the SAT and the ACT are alternatives and only the ACT route is shown here. One more gap worth knowing: Gateway is published as a closed 2.5–2.9 band and Hilltop starts at 3.2, so a recalculated 3.0 to 3.19 matches no published row. The same closed windows mean a better GPA can land on a lower rung at one score: at an ACT 23 a 3.49 reaches Tower's $17,000 while a 3.5 needs an ACT 24 for Founders and otherwise falls back to Hilltop's $16,000. Both are reproduced as published rather than smoothed. Ask LaGrange rather than assuming. And none of these stack — 'Scholarships cannot be combined or stacked.'
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Founders Scholarship
$18,500 / year
About $74,000 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.
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The published LaGrange merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from LaGrange College’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.
First-year, full-time day students
Every row is restricted to 'entering, full-time, first-year day students only', and all five awards are decided as part of the admission review — no separate scholarship application exists. They are mutually exclusive: LaGrange says scholarships cannot be combined or stacked. Additive money does exist elsewhere (United Methodist matching awards, the ministerial discount, departmental awards in Art, Music, Theatre and Nursing), but it sits outside this grid and carries its own applications.
$15,000
Gateway Scholarship
ACT 19–36 · 2.5–2.9 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1000; only the ACT route is modelled here.
$16,000
Hilltop Scholarship
ACT 21–36 · 3.2 or higher recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1070; only the ACT route is modelled here.
$17,000
Tower Scholarship
ACT 23–36 · 3.25–3.49 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1140; only the ACT route is modelled here.
$18,500
Founders Scholarship
ACT 24–36 · 3.5–3.74 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1180; only the ACT route is modelled here.
$20,000
Fellows Scholarship
ACT 27–36 · 3.75–4.0 (published as a range, but this is the top row — no ceiling is applied) recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1300; only the ACT route is modelled here.
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Scholarship | ACT 19–36 · 2.5–2.9 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1000; only the ACT route is modelled here. | $15,000 |
| Hilltop Scholarship | ACT 21–36 · 3.2 or higher recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1070; only the ACT route is modelled here. | $16,000 |
| Tower Scholarship | ACT 23–36 · 3.25–3.49 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1140; only the ACT route is modelled here. | $17,000 |
| Founders Scholarship | ACT 24–36 · 3.5–3.74 recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1180; only the ACT route is modelled here. | $18,500 |
| Fellows Scholarship | ACT 27–36 · 3.75–4.0 (published as a range, but this is the top row — no ceiling is applied) recalculated GPA or higher — both required. The SAT alternative is 1300; only the ACT route is modelled here. | $20,000 |
Competitive awards — not automatic
Meeting these makes you eligible to be reviewed, not to receive the award, so they are kept out of the calculator above.
- The Presidential Learning Scholarship — ACT 24+ with Invitation only. You must first qualify for the Founders or Fellows Scholarship — so a 3.5 recalculated GPA with an ACT composite of 24 or higher — then be admitted by January 15 and win a competition. Two are awarded each year.: Full tuition
Source: Scholarships — merit-based, state and other awards · verified 2026-10-23
Does LaGrange superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' does not appear on LaGrange's scholarship page, its freshman application requirements, its aid pages or its deadlines page, and the grid rows say only 'an ACT composite of 21 or higher' without saying whether that composite may be assembled across sittings. Ask admissions directly before deciding whether to send every sitting.
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 LaGrange’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.
LaGrange scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Fall applications — preferred deadline for scholarship consideration | July 1 |
| Spring applications — preferred deadline | Dec. 15 |
| Financial aid | Mar. 15 |
| Apply for admission, to be considered for the Presidential Learning Scholarship | January 1 of their senior year |
| Be admitted, to be invited to compete for the Presidential Learning Scholarship | January 15 |
| Enrollment deposit (non-refundable after this date) | May 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 LaGrange 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.
- Scholarships — merit-based, state and other awardsverified 2026-10-23
- Application requirements for incoming freshmen, and how LaGrange recalculates GPAsverified 2026-10-23
- Dates and deadlinesverified 2026-10-23
- On-campus cost of attendance for undergraduate students 2026–27verified 2026-10-23
- Nothing stacks. 'Scholarships cannot be combined or stacked,' so these five are mutually exclusive with each other — a student receives one, not the best two. The Presidential Learning Scholarship goes further: it 'supersedes all other LaGrange College scholarships and aid.'
- The GPA in the grid is not the GPA on the transcript. LaGrange recalculates it from college prep coursework only — 4 units of English, 4 of Mathematics (including two above Algebra I), 3 of Science, 3 of Social Studies or History and 2 of Foreign Language. Electives, PE and honours weighting outside those five areas do not count.
- A recalculated GPA of 3.00 to 3.19 matches no published row: Gateway is printed as a closed 2.5–2.9 band and Hilltop begins at 3.2. The gap is reproduced here rather than filled in. Ask LaGrange which award applies rather than assuming it is the lower one.
- Georgia's HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships are STATE money, not LaGrange's. The same page lists both at $5,970 a year for full-time students ($2,985 a semester) and Zell Miller is ACT-keyed — 'a HOPE-calculated GPA of 3.7 or higher and ... a 26 composite on the ACT before graduating high school', or valedictorian/salutatorian. Both are administered by the state through gafutures.org and travel to any eligible Georgia college, and both are reviewed again at 30, 60 and 90 hours. They are deliberately kept out of the grid above.
- Two more Georgia state awards sit on the same page and are also not institutional money: the Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant, $1,100 a year for Georgia residents enrolled full time at any private Georgia college, and Georgia HERO, up to $2,000 a year for Guard and Reserve members who served in a combat zone and their children and spouses. The Public Safety Memorial Grant, up to $18,000 a year, is a state grant for the dependent children of Georgia public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
- The Presidential Learning Scholarship is full tuition, but only two are awarded each year, it is invitation-based, and the invitation requires already qualifying for Founders or Fellows and being admitted by January 15. It is shown as competitive and never promised.
- Each merit row says students 'typically need' its thresholds rather than stating them as a guarantee. There is no separate application and no committee — the conditions are to apply, be admitted with no academic conditions, and enroll — but the hedge is LaGrange's own word.
- The deadlines table has gone stale: it is still headed Summer 2025, Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 while the cost page beside it is headed 2026–27. LaGrange also says applications are rolling, with the published dates described only as 'preferred'. Treat the dates as the right shape and confirm the year.
- Additive money exists but sits outside this grid: United Methodist matching awards worth $2,000–$4,000, a $4,000 non-need-based tuition discount for children of ordained UMC ministers, and departmental awards in Art, Music, Theatre and Nursing. LaGrange warns that 'students who receive an academic scholarship may not always qualify for departmental funding as well.'
- The international scholarship ladder is a separate, competitive set — Presidential (International) at full tuition, room and board, Global Scholars and LaGrange Scholars — keyed to GPA equivalents with letters of recommendation and interviews, limited in number, and not reachable by a domestic applicant.
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 LaGrange College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at LaGrange?
Automatic merit aid at LaGrange College starts at an ACT composite of 19, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $20,000 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 LaGrange test-optional?
LaGrange does not publish a test policy for freshman admission. The freshman requirements page asks for an application and a transcript and never mentions a score; the words 'test-optional' and 'test-blind' appear nowhere on the admissions or aid pages. A score is required for one group only — transfer applicants with fewer than 30 semester hours, who must send 'an official high school transcript including SAT or ACT scores'. So this is the absence of a statement rather than a stated position. For merit aid the answer is different: required, and conjunctively. Every one of the five merit rows pairs a recalculated GPA with a test score using 'and', so clearing the GPA alone reaches nothing. The only choice offered is which test: each row gives an SAT figure or an ACT composite as alternatives. LaGrange publishes no test-optional merit route at any GPA, so there is no testOptionalGpa on any band here. 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 LaGrange?
On LaGrange's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Founders Scholarship at $18,500 a year, about $74,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at LaGrange?
The most valuable single point on LaGrange's published grid is 26 to 27, at a 3.75 GPA: 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 LaGrange superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' does not appear on LaGrange's scholarship page, its freshman application requirements, its aid pages or its deadlines page, and the grid rows say only 'an ACT composite of 21 or higher' without saying whether that composite may be assembled across sittings. Ask admissions directly before deciding whether to send every sitting.
When are LaGrange scholarship deadlines?
Fall applications — preferred deadline for scholarship consideration: July 1. Spring applications — preferred deadline: Dec. 15. Financial aid: Mar. 15. Apply for admission, to be considered for the Presidential Learning Scholarship: January 1 of their senior year. Be admitted, to be invited to compete for the Presidential Learning Scholarship: January 15. Enrollment deposit (non-refundable after this date): May 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 LaGrange scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from LaGrange College'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
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