Morehead State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Morehead State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 20 and reach $11,000 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
Read the housing clause before the numbers: 'Scholarships require on-campus housing for a minimum of 4 semesters. A 50% reduction in scholarship if the housing requirement is not met.' Commuting halves the award. Three other things: a 20 ACT is the floor and nothing is published below it, Morehead State refuses superscores so only a single-sitting composite counts, and awards are 'contingent upon the availability of funding'. The GPA used is UNWEIGHTED, unlike Northern Kentucky and Tennessee State which both use weighted.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Merit Scholarship
$5,000 / year
About $20,000 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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Is Morehead State test-optional?
For admission, largely yes. Not required for admission — Morehead State states that plainly, and then states in the same sentence that it uses scores for scholarships.
For money, no. Required in practice. There is no test-optional band on this grid, so a student admitted without a score is not on it at all. A family that reads “test-optional” and skips the ACT can be admitted and still walk away from every dollar on the grid below.
“We don't require ACT or SAT scores for admission”
The published Morehead State merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Morehead 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.
Kentucky residents
Automatic on the admission application. At a 3.8+ GPA one point from 21 to 22 doubles the award; below a 3.4 the grid flattens and every score from 21 up pays the same.
$8,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.8+ GPA
$7,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · 3.8+ GPA
$7,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 22–24 · 3.8+ GPA
$3,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 21 · 3.8+ GPA
$2,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 20 · 3.8+ GPA
$5,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.5-3.79 GPA
$4,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · 3.5-3.79 GPA
$3,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 22–24 · 3.5-3.79 GPA
$3,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 21 · 3.5-3.79 GPA
$2,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 20 · 3.5-3.79 GPA
$5,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.4-3.49 GPA
$4,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · 3.4-3.49 GPA
Show the other 13 published rows
$3,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 22–24 · 3.4-3.49 GPA
$3,500
Merit Scholarship
ACT 21 · 3.4-3.49 GPA
$2,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 20 · 3.4-3.49 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.3-3.39 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · 3.3-3.39 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 22–24 · 3.3-3.39 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 21 · 3.3-3.39 GPA
$1,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 20 · 3.3-3.39 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.0-3.29 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 25–27 · 3.0-3.29 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 22–24 · 3.0-3.29 GPA
$3,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 21 · 3.0-3.29 GPA
$1,000
Merit Scholarship
ACT 20 · 3.0-3.29 GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.8+ GPA | $8,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · 3.8+ GPA | $7,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 22–24 · 3.8+ GPA | $7,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 21 · 3.8+ GPA | $3,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 20 · 3.8+ GPA | $2,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.5-3.79 GPA | $5,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · 3.5-3.79 GPA | $4,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 22–24 · 3.5-3.79 GPA | $3,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 21 · 3.5-3.79 GPA | $3,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 20 · 3.5-3.79 GPA | $2,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.4-3.49 GPA | $5,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · 3.4-3.49 GPA | $4,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 22–24 · 3.4-3.49 GPA | $3,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 21 · 3.4-3.49 GPA | $3,500 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 20 · 3.4-3.49 GPA | $2,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.3-3.39 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · 3.3-3.39 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 22–24 · 3.3-3.39 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 21 · 3.3-3.39 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 20 · 3.3-3.39 GPA | $1,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.0-3.29 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 25–27 · 3.0-3.29 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 22–24 · 3.0-3.29 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 21 · 3.0-3.29 GPA | $3,000 |
| Merit Scholarship | ACT 20 · 3.0-3.29 GPA | $1,000 |
Source: Kentucky Scholarships, 2027-28 · verified 2026-10-21
Non-residents
Three tiers rather than a matrix, and larger than the Kentucky awards. Students from Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee, and students from West Virginia, have their own better-paying schedules -- pick those tracks instead.
$10,000
Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 1
ACT 28–36 · 3.75 GPA
$7,000
Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 2
ACT 24–36 · 3.5 GPA
$4,500
Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 3
ACT 21–36 · 3.0 GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 1 | ACT 28–36 · 3.75 GPA | $10,000 |
| Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 2 | ACT 24–36 · 3.5 GPA | $7,000 |
| Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 3 | ACT 21–36 · 3.0 GPA | $4,500 |
Source: Out-of-State Scholarships, 2027-28 · verified 2026-10-21
Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee
A flat award rather than tiers, and it replaces the general non-resident schedule rather than adding to it. Morehead excludes students already in the Ohio Regional Tuition Advantage reciprocity programme, which offers in-state rates to several Ohio counties instead.
$11,000 (renewable)
Eagle Leader Scholarship
ACT 21–36 · 2.85 GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Leader Scholarship | ACT 21–36 · 2.85 GPA | $11,000 (renewable) |
Source: Out-of-State Scholarships, 2027-28 · verified 2026-10-21
West Virginia residents
Morehead files this under 'Automatic Incoming Student Scholarship', so it needs no application -- unlike the separate YMCA Eagle SOAR award, which is competitive and does. Full tuition from a 21, the cheapest route to full tuition anywhere in this dataset.
Full tuition
SOAR Higher Scholarship
ACT 21–36 · 3.0 GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| SOAR Higher Scholarship | ACT 21–36 · 3.0 GPA | Full tuition |
Source: Out-of-State Scholarships, 2027-28 · verified 2026-10-21
Does Morehead State superscore for scholarships?
No. No, and this makes four Kentucky publics in the dataset refusing superscores in writing — after Western Kentucky, Murray State and Eastern Kentucky. Only a single-sitting composite counts.
“Only composite ACT scores are accepted for scholarship consideration. Superscore ACT results are not accepted.”
This matters more than it sounds. A student whose superscore crosses a band but whose best single sitting does not will be paid on the lower band. Look up your best single sitting in the grid above, then find what is costing you points on one test.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Morehead 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.
- Kentucky Scholarships, 2027-28verified 2026-10-21
- Out-of-State Scholarships, 2027-28verified 2026-10-21
- The on-campus housing requirement runs four semesters, and failing it cuts the scholarship by half. It appears in the Notes beside the grid rather than with the awards.
- At a 3.8+ GPA, going from a 21 to a 22 moves the award from $3,500 to $7,000 — the steepest single-point step in this dataset.
- Below a 3.4 GPA the grid is flat: every score from 21 to 36 pays $3,000.
- A 20 ACT is the floor. Nothing is published below it at any GPA.
- The GPA is UNWEIGHTED, which matters when comparing against Kentucky and Tennessee schools that use weighted figures.
- Awards are 'contingent upon the availability of funding and may be subject to change'.
- The out-of-state Eagle Leader award at $11,000 excludes students already in the Ohio Regional Tuition Advantage reciprocity programme.
- Morehead State's Ohio Regional track publishes a grid byte-identical to the Kentucky one for students from eleven named Ohio counties.
- No renewal GPA is published anywhere, and the full-tuition awards carry an unstated 'early deadline'.
- Morehead State 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 Morehead State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Morehead State?
Automatic merit aid at Morehead State University starts at an ACT composite of 20, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $11,000 a year at the top of the 4 grids it publishes. The bands are steps rather than a slope, so the only score that matters is the next threshold above where you are now.
Is Morehead State test-optional?
Not required for admission — Morehead State states that plainly, and then states in the same sentence that it uses scores for scholarships. For merit aid the answer is different: required in practice. There is no test-optional band on this grid, so a student admitted without a score is not on it at all. 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 Morehead State?
On Morehead State's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Kentucky residents — Merit Scholarship at $5,000 a year, about $20,000 over four years if it renews; Non-residents — Non-Resident Merit Scholarship Tier 2 at $7,000 a year, about $28,000 over four years if it renews; Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee — Eagle Leader Scholarship at $11,000 a year, about $44,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Morehead State?
The most valuable single point on Morehead State's published grid is 21 to 22, at a 3.8 GPA: it moves the award by $3,500 a year, or $14,000 across a four-year degree on the Kentucky residents grid. 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 in-state or out-of-state change merit aid at Morehead State?
Yes. Morehead State publishes separate grids: West Virginia residents run up to full tuition a year, and Non-residents run $4,500 to $10,000. Check which grid applies to you before planning around a figure.
Does Morehead State superscore the ACT for scholarships?
No. No, and this makes four Kentucky publics in the dataset refusing superscores in writing — after Western Kentucky, Murray State and Eastern Kentucky. Only a single-sitting composite counts. Only composite ACT scores are accepted for scholarship consideration. Superscore ACT results are not accepted.
Is this Morehead State scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Morehead 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 Morehead State. 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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