Northwestern College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Northwestern College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to the ACT alone, with no GPA criterion. Awards start at an ACT of 25 and reach $1,500 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
These bands are a bonus, not the whole award. Northwestern's GPA-based academic scholarship is produced by a calculator and published nowhere — a $10,000 to $15,000 figure appears in search caches and is not on the current page, so it is not carried here. What is guaranteed is a floor of at least $18,000 across scholarships and grants together, which includes need-based money rather than merit alone. The page does not say whether the bonus is annual, though the surrounding awards are.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Score submission bonus
$1,500 on top of the GPA-based award / year
About $6,000 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 Northwestern (IA) merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Northwestern 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.
Score submission bonus
Paid for submitting a score at all, on top of the GPA-based award. Even a score below 24 earns $500.
$1,500 on top of the GPA-based award
Score submission bonus
ACT 29–36 · No GPA threshold — this is an add-on to the GPA award
$1,000 on top of the GPA-based award
Score submission bonus
ACT 25–28 · No GPA threshold — this is an add-on to the GPA award
$500 on top of the GPA-based award
Score submission bonus
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Score submission bonus | ACT 29–36 · No GPA threshold — this is an add-on to the GPA award | $1,500 on top of the GPA-based award |
| Score submission bonus | ACT 25–28 · No GPA threshold — this is an add-on to the GPA award | $1,000 on top of the GPA-based award |
| Score submission bonus | — | $500 on top of the GPA-based award |
Source: Scholarships · verified 2026-10-25
Does Northwestern (IA) superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. With bonus thresholds at 25 and 29, a student near either should ask directly.
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 Northwestern (IA)’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.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Northwestern 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.
- Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-25
- Scholarship calculator — the GPA award lives here, not in printverified 2026-10-25
- Northwestern pays a flat bonus simply for submitting a score: $500 at a 24 or below, $1,000 from a 25, $1,500 from a 29.
- A student with a 19 who sends it is $500 better off than one who does not.
- No other school in this dataset pays for a low score.
- The GPA award the bonus sits on top of is calculator-only and published nowhere.
- The guaranteed floor is at least $18,000 across scholarships and grants — $72,000 over four years — and includes need-based money.
- Northwestern is test-optional only above a 2.65 GPA.
- The page does not say whether the bonus is annual.
- The $1,500 Honors Program award requires acceptance into the programme, so it is not a band here.
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 Northwestern College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Northwestern (IA)?
Automatic merit aid at Northwestern College starts at an ACT composite of 25, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $1,500 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 Northwestern (IA) test-optional?
Applicants below a 2.65 still need a score; above it the test is optional — and paid for. For merit aid the answer is different: the score does not place a student on a ladder; it adds a flat bonus to whatever the GPA award was. Sending any score is worth at least $500, which nothing else in this dataset does. 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 Northwestern (IA)?
On Northwestern (IA)'s published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Score submission bonus at $1,500 a year, about $6,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Northwestern (IA)?
The most valuable single point on Northwestern (IA)'s published grid is 24 to 25, on the row where it is largest: it moves the award by $500 a year, or $2,000 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 Northwestern (IA) superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. With bonus thresholds at 25 and 29, a student near either should ask directly.
Is this Northwestern (IA) scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Northwestern College's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-25. 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
You know what a score is worth at Northwestern (IA). 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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