Lamar University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Lamar University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to the ACT alone, with no GPA criterion. Awards start at an ACT of 19 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
At Lamar the ACT is an ALTERNATIVE route, not a requirement: each tier reads "GPA ... AND top X% of their graduating class OR submit a qualifying SAT or ACT score". Only the ACT route is shown here, so the GPA axis is deliberately open — the transcript route needs a class rank and a GPA on Lamar's 5.0 WEIGHTED scale, neither of which this grid can represent. The figures are the tuition portion; the top two tiers add $2,000 a year for housing that is forfeited if you stop living on campus.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Cardinal Elite Scholars
$8,000 a year toward tuition (plus $2,000 a year for on-campus housing) / year
About $32,000 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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The published Lamar merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Lamar 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.
Incoming freshmen — the ACT route
No application: Lamar writes "There is no application for this scholarship" and "Students are automatically considered" for all four tiers. Amounts are the tuition portion, divided evenly between fall and spring. Cardinal Elite and Academic Excellence each add a further $2,000 a year toward an on-campus residence hall, forfeited for the rest of the award if the student stops living there. The Presidential full ride at the bottom of the table is a separate, interviewed competition and is not promised to anyone who clears the score.
$8,000 a year toward tuition (plus $2,000 a year for on-campus housing)
Cardinal Elite Scholars
ACT 29–36 · ACT route — a 29–36 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 4.25+ GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-10% class rank
$6,000 a year toward tuition (plus $2,000 a year for on-campus housing)
Academic Excellence Scholars
ACT 25–28 · ACT route — a 25–28 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.95+ GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-25% class rank
$5,000
Distinguished Scholars
ACT 21–24 · ACT route — a 21–24 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.65–3.94 GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-25% class rank
$2,000
University Scholars
ACT 19–21 · ACT route — a 19–21 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.50–3.64 GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-50% class rank
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Elite Scholars | ACT 29–36 · ACT route — a 29–36 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 4.25+ GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-10% class rank | $8,000 a year toward tuition (plus $2,000 a year for on-campus housing) |
| Academic Excellence Scholars | ACT 25–28 · ACT route — a 25–28 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.95+ GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-25% class rank | $6,000 a year toward tuition (plus $2,000 a year for on-campus housing) |
| Distinguished Scholars | ACT 21–24 · ACT route — a 21–24 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.65–3.94 GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-25% class rank | $5,000 |
| University Scholars | ACT 19–21 · ACT route — a 19–21 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.50–3.64 GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-50% class rank | $2,000 |
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.
- Presidential Scholars (competitive — letter, essay and committee interview) — ACT 29+ with ACT route — a 29 or above is considered on its own; the transcript alternative is a 4.40+ GPA on Lamar's 5.0 weighted scale AND a top-10% class rank: Full ride — tuition, fees, room and board, and books ($100,000 over up to four years)
Source: Incoming Freshmen Scholarships — award amounts and criteria · verified 2026-10-23
Does Lamar superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Lamar's scholarship or admissions pages — the criteria ask only for "a qualifying SAT (1330+) or ACT (29+) score" without saying whether it may be assembled from several sittings. What Lamar does say about retakes is a deadline, not a method: updated scores may not be considered after the March 1 priority deadline.
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 Lamar’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.
Lamar scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Priority submission for most scholarships — updated test scores may not be considered after this date | March 1st |
| Priority deadline after which endowed scholarships are awarded | January 15th |
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 Lamar 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 — award amounts and criteriaverified 2026-10-23
- Scholarships — priority submission deadline and scholarship policiesverified 2026-10-23
- Freshmen admissions — test-optional review and application deadlinesverified 2026-10-23
- The ACT is a shortcut past class rank. Every tier's transcript route needs a rank — top 10%, 25% or 50% — as well as a GPA, so a strong student at a competitive high school can be ranked out of an award a single test score hands them outright. Rank is waived only where it does not exist: "Class rank requirements will not apply to homeschool students or high schools that do not rank students."
- Lamar's GPA thresholds are on a 5.0 WEIGHTED scale — "High school GPA will be calculated on a 5.0 weighted scale" — so 4.25 and 4.40 are not 4.0-scale numbers and cannot be compared with the GPA figures other schools in this dataset publish.
- An ACT of 21 sits in two published windows — University Scholars is 19–21 and Distinguished is 21–24 — so a 21 reaches the better $5,000 award. Below a 19 the ACT route pays nothing at all and only the transcript route remains.
- The top two tiers are part housing money. Cardinal Elite is $8,000 a year of tuition plus $2,000 a year for an on-campus residence hall; a commuter gets the tuition half only, and moving off campus forfeits the housing half for the rest of the award.
- A retake has a hard cutoff: "Additional documents, such as updated test scores, may not be considered after the priority deadline" of March 1. A score that arrives later may not move the award at all.
- Accelerated online students are excluded outright — "Students enrolled in accelerated online programs will not be eligible for Lamar University scholarships and will forfeit their scholarship if awarded."
- The $100,000 Presidential and Southeast Texas Legends awards are not automatic: both need a letter of interest, a resume, an essay and a committee interview, and Legends has no ACT route at all — it requires a 4.40+ GPA, a top-10% rank, demonstrated financial need and a FAFSA, and pays last-dollar only. The $74,000 Smith-Hutson is need-based with no published threshold.
- The TEXAS Grant is Texas STATE money awarded through the state's own eligibility rules, not a Lamar award, and is not in the grid above. Lamar asks for the FAFSA and TASFA (code 003581) to reach it.
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 Lamar University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Lamar?
Automatic merit aid at Lamar University starts at an ACT composite of 19, 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 Lamar test-optional?
Lamar admits without a score. A score only becomes necessary in secondary review, where an applicant who misses the test-optional criteria can still qualify on a minimum ACT or SAT composite. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and that is the point of it: every tier can be reached on the transcript alone, so the ACT is a second door for a student whose GPA or class rank will not open the first. A 29 with no class rank at all still reaches the $8,000 Cardinal Elite tier. 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 Lamar?
On Lamar's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Cardinal Elite Scholars at $8,000 a year, about $32,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Lamar?
The most valuable single point on Lamar's published grid is 20 to 21, at a GPA of act route — a 21–24 qualifies on its own; the transcript alternative is a 3.65–3.94 gpa on lamar's 5.0 weighted scale and a top-25% class rank: it moves the award by $3,000 a year, or $12,000 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 Lamar superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Lamar's scholarship or admissions pages — the criteria ask only for "a qualifying SAT (1330+) or ACT (29+) score" without saying whether it may be assembled from several sittings. What Lamar does say about retakes is a deadline, not a method: updated scores may not be considered after the March 1 priority deadline.
When are Lamar scholarship deadlines?
Priority submission for most scholarships — updated test scores may not be considered after this date: March 1st. Priority deadline after which endowed scholarships are awarded: January 15th. 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 Lamar scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Lamar 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.
Other schools to check
What to do next
You know what a score is worth at Lamar. The question is whether you can move it.
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