North Dakota State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
North Dakota State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 30 and reach $3,000 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
The ACT does exactly one thing at NDSU: a 30 lets a 3.0-GPA student collect the $3,000 a year that otherwise needs a 3.98. Below a 30 it is worth nothing — there is no partial credit. The grid is also a FLOOR, not a base: NDSU says a larger renewable scholarship replaces it rather than adding to it. No renewal GPA or credit-hour requirement is published.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Guaranteed Scholarship
$1,000/year (maximum of four years) / year
About $4,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Guaranteed Scholarship — top band via a 30 ACT — $3,000/year (maximum of four years) a year. That is $2,000 more a year, or $8,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether a point is worth having. It's whether they can move it — which starts with knowing exactly which questions they're missing, and why.
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Want to know what one more point would change? The Merit Plan prices the next point at every school.
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Can you get merit aid at NDSU without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional, and NDSU's own deadline wording confirms it — final transcripts and 'test scores (if applicable)'. A score matters only if it reaches 30.
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.
“First-year and transfer students who are admitted, meet the academic criteria and transcript deadlines are guaranteed a scholarship at NDSU.”
The published NDSU merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from North Dakota 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.
First-Year Guaranteed Scholarships
The top band has two doors, and NDSU prints them in one cell: a 3.98-4.00 GPA, or a 3.0 GPA with a 30 ACT. Both pay the same.
$3,000/year (maximum of four years)
Guaranteed Scholarship — top band on GPA alone
No score needed · GPA 3.98
$3,000/year (maximum of four years)
Guaranteed Scholarship — top band via a 30 ACT
ACT 30–36 · 3.0+ GPA
Without a score: not available
$2,000/year (maximum of four years)
Guaranteed Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.80
$1,500/year (maximum of four years)
Guaranteed Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.65
$1,000/year (maximum of four years)
Guaranteed Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed Scholarship — top band on GPA alone | — | GPA 3.98 | $3,000/year (maximum of four years) |
| Guaranteed Scholarship — top band via a 30 ACT | ACT 30–36 · 3.0+ GPA | not available | $3,000/year (maximum of four years) |
| Guaranteed Scholarship | — | GPA 3.80 | $2,000/year (maximum of four years) |
| Guaranteed Scholarship | — | GPA 3.65 | $1,500/year (maximum of four years) |
| Guaranteed Scholarship | — | GPA 3.00 | $1,000/year (maximum of four years) |
Source: 2027-28 First-Year Guaranteed Scholarships · verified 2026-10-21
Does NDSU superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear anywhere on NDSU's admission or scholarship pages, so no position is recorded.
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 NDSU’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.
NDSU scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Scholarship application opens | October 1 |
| First-round submission deadline | December 1 |
| Confirm plans to attend to keep scholarship offers | May 1 |
| Final transcripts and test scores received — the gate on the guaranteed grid | July 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 North Dakota 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.
- 2027-28 First-Year Guaranteed Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-21
- First-year admission — test-optional policyverified 2026-10-21
- NDSU is the only one of the three Dakota schools here that asserts its guarantee without walking it back. South Dakota State disclaims its 'Guarantee' outright and the University of North Dakota calls its funding 'limited and not guaranteed'.
- The awards are not cumulative — a larger renewable scholarship replaces the guaranteed minimum rather than adding to it.
- No renewal GPA or credit-hour requirement is published; the page states duration only, as a maximum of four years.
- National Merit Finalists receive $5,000 a year for up to four years, conditional on naming NDSU as final choice with NMSC.
- The Honors College scholarship is worth 'up to $25,000' at a 3.0 GPA with a 30 ACT, but requires Honors College admission and carries an 'up to', so it is not modelled.
- The Land Grant Access Award is a tuition waiver at a 2.75 GPA with no ACT component, worth up to $8,000 an academic year. It is a waiver rather than merit and is kept out of this grid.
- Applications arriving after February 1 are reviewed 'as funds remain available' — that qualifier applies to NDSU's general scholarship application, not to the guaranteed grid.
- NDSU 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 North Dakota State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at NDSU?
Automatic merit aid at North Dakota State University starts at an ACT composite of 30, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $3,000 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 NDSU test-optional?
Not required and not used for the admission decision, which runs on GPA and core coursework. NDSU will still use a score for maths and English placement if one is sent. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and NDSU's own deadline wording confirms it — final transcripts and 'test scores (if applicable)'. A score matters only if it reaches 30. 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 NDSU?
On NDSU's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Guaranteed Scholarship — top band via a 30 ACT at $3,000 a year, about $12,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at NDSU?
The most valuable single point on NDSU's published grid is 29 to 30, at a 3.0 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 NDSU superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear anywhere on NDSU's admission or scholarship pages, so no position is recorded.
When are NDSU scholarship deadlines?
Scholarship application opens: October 1. First-round submission deadline: December 1. Confirm plans to attend to keep scholarship offers: May 1. Final transcripts and test scores received — the gate on the guaranteed grid: July 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 NDSU scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from North Dakota 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 NDSU. 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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