Midwestern State University: merit scholarships by ACT score and class rank
Midwestern State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 34 and reach $3,500 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
The ACT reaches MSU Texas money in one place only: a 34 paired with a top-5% class rank. The other three freshman bands are pure unweighted GPA, so for most applicants the score is worth nothing here. The amounts also carry NO stated period — the figure is part of the award's name and the freshman table has no unit column, while MSU's other tables say 'Annual Award' and 'per year'. MSU adds that 'all scholarships are subject to available funding', caps total MSU scholarships at the cost of attendance, and publishes no renewal GPA at all.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
$1500 Freshmen Outstanding
$1500 (MSU states no period for this figure) / year
About $6,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
5 more points (a 34) moves you to $3500 Freshmen Scholar — $3500 (MSU states no period for this figure) a year. That is $2,000 more a year, or $8,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether 5 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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The published MSU Texas merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Midwestern State University’s own pages for 2027-28 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Freshmen Merit Scholarships
Automatic on admission by the priority deadline, with no separate application. The top band is the only one with a score requirement, and it needs the class rank as well.
$3500 (MSU states no period for this figure)
$3500 Freshmen Scholar
ACT 34–36 · a top 5% class rank
Without a score: not available
$2500 (MSU states no period for this figure)
$2500 Freshmen Distinction
No score needed · GPA 3.90
$2000 (MSU states no period for this figure)
$2000 Freshmen Excellence
No score needed · GPA 3.79
$1500 (MSU states no period for this figure)
$1500 Freshmen Outstanding
No score needed · GPA 3.50
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3500 Freshmen Scholar | ACT 34–36 · a top 5% class rank | not available | $3500 (MSU states no period for this figure) |
| $2500 Freshmen Distinction | — | GPA 3.90 | $2500 (MSU states no period for this figure) |
| $2000 Freshmen Excellence | — | GPA 3.79 | $2000 (MSU states no period for this figure) |
| $1500 Freshmen Outstanding | — | GPA 3.50 | $1500 (MSU states no period for this figure) |
Source: Admissions Merit Scholarships · verified 2026-10-21
Does MSU Texas superscore for scholarships?
Not stated for merit. MSU does publish a superscore rule on its ADMISSIONS page, but it is SAT-specific and says superscoring occurs only within the same version of the SAT — it never mentions the ACT or scholarships, so it is not carried across.
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 MSU Texas’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.
MSU Texas scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Freshmen priority deadline, fall 2027 | June 1, 2027 |
| Priority deadline, spring 2027 | November 1, 2026 |
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 Midwestern 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.
- Admissions Merit Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-21
- Financial aid scholarships — the funding caveatverified 2026-10-21
- Admission requirements — test-optional policyverified 2026-10-21
- MSU publishes no renewal GPA or credit requirement, saying only that 'in most cases' there are requirements and to consult your scholarship.
- Its SAT footnote is pre-2016 language — 'combined Critical Reading and Math scores only' — and the 1500 figure paired with the 34 ACT is inconsistent with a 1600-scale SAT. The ACT number is the reliable half of that cell.
- The GPA bands leave a gap at 3.78 to 3.79, and nothing below a 3.5 receives an award.
- Total MSU scholarships cannot exceed the cost of attendance, so an outside award can displace MSU money.
- The Regents valedictorian and salutatorian awards pay $3,000 and $2,000 a year on class rank alone with no score, and the local-district version pays $4,000 — but they cannot be combined with each other.
- Phi Theta Kappa stacks; transfer awards cannot be combined with freshman merit.
- The Redwine Honors and Priddy Scholars programmes are competitive and require separate applications, so they are not modelled.
- MSU Texas is silent on the Enhanced ACT.
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 Midwestern State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at MSU Texas?
Automatic merit aid at Midwestern State University starts at an ACT composite of 34, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $3,500 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 MSU Texas test-optional?
Test-optional, with several routes in. A 3.00-4.00 GPA is admitted unconditionally regardless of scores, and score pathways run from a 21 to a 24 by rank quartile. For merit aid the answer is different: mSU publishes no merit test policy, so this is read off the grid itself: one band of four names a score, and the other three are reachable on GPA alone. 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 MSU Texas?
On MSU Texas's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for $1500 Freshmen Outstanding at $1,500 a year, about $6,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at MSU Texas?
The most valuable single point on MSU Texas's published grid is 33 to 34, 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 MSU Texas superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated for merit. MSU does publish a superscore rule on its ADMISSIONS page, but it is SAT-specific and says superscoring occurs only within the same version of the SAT — it never mentions the ACT or scholarships, so it is not carried across.
When are MSU Texas scholarship deadlines?
Freshmen priority deadline, fall 2027: June 1, 2027. Priority deadline, spring 2027: November 1, 2026. 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 MSU Texas scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Midwestern State University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-21. 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 MSU Texas. 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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