Southeast Missouri State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Southeast Missouri State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 28 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
The ACT does one thing at SEMO: paired with a 4.0 GPA, a 28 opens the $8,000 President's Scholarship instead of the $5,000 a 4.0 earns on GPA alone. It is all-or-nothing — a 3.99 GPA or a 27 ACT drops you to the Copper Dome figure. Two smaller gaps: the $8,000 carries no printed unit (the annual reading comes from SEMO's renewal section, while Copper Dome is explicitly 'Yearly Value'), and SEMO never says whether the two awards stack.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
No automatic award at this combination
A 29 with a 3.60 GPA does not reach the published grid under President's Scholarship — the one award that uses a score. That is not a verdict on admission — only on automatic merit.
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 SEMO merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Southeast Missouri 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.
President's Scholarship — the one award that uses a score
No separate application, and SEMO frames the deadline as a guarantee: 'To make certain you receive a President's Scholarship, apply to SEMO by the deadline!' Scores through March 31 count for fall applicants.
$8,000
President's Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 4.0 cumulative high school GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| President's Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 4.0 cumulative high school GPA | $8,000 |
Source: SEMO Scholarships 2027-2028 · verified 2026-10-21
Copper Dome — GPA only, no score needed
SEMO prints these GPA rows as single values rather than ranges, so they are recorded as open floors. The table also carries separate HiSET and GED columns, which reach the same dollar figures without a high school GPA at all.
$5,000
Copper Dome Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 4.00
$4,500
Copper Dome Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.85
$3,500
Copper Dome Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$2,500
Copper Dome Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.10
$500
Copper Dome Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 2.90
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Dome Scholarship | — | GPA 4.00 | $5,000 |
| Copper Dome Scholarship | — | GPA 3.85 | $4,500 |
| Copper Dome Scholarship | — | GPA 3.50 | $3,500 |
| Copper Dome Scholarship | — | GPA 3.10 | $2,500 |
| Copper Dome Scholarship | — | GPA 2.90 | $500 |
Source: SEMO Scholarships 2027-2028 · verified 2026-10-21
Does SEMO superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and for scholarships specifically — SEMO combines best subscores across sittings rather than taking a single composite.
“Did you take the ACT or SAT more than once? We will combine your best subscores when considering you for SEMO scholarships.”
So the number that matters here is your superscore, not your best single test. Work out your superscore and look that score up in the grid above — it may sit a band higher than the one you have been planning around.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
SEMO scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| President's Scholarship, fall applicants | March 1 |
| Copper Dome, fall applicants | June 1 |
| Latest ACT test date counted, fall applicants | March 31 |
| Either scholarship, spring applicants | November 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 Southeast Missouri 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.
- SEMO Scholarships 2027-2028verified 2026-10-21
- Freshman admissions — test policy and superscoringverified 2026-10-21
- SEMO never states whether the President's Scholarship stacks on Copper Dome or replaces it, and a 4.0 student with a 28 qualifies for both. Do not assume they combine.
- The Copper Dome table publishes HiSET and GED equivalents alongside the GPA column, so a student without a high school GPA still has a stated award.
- The renewal GPA for the President's Scholarship is 3.5 against 2.0 for Copper Dome — the larger award is also much harder to keep.
- Missouri Bright Flight is not mentioned anywhere on the page, so no state money is folded into these figures. Access Missouri appears only inside the separate SEMO Promise need award.
- The SEMO Promise Award covers remaining tuition and fees after Pell, Access Missouri and other aid — last-dollar, with no figure of its own, so it is not modelled.
- SEMO adds its own $500 recognition award for Missouri A+ completers and another $500 for a state CTE certificate.
- A sibling page for 2026-2027 is also live with the same dollar figures but a differently-shaped Copper Dome table. The 2027-2028 page is the current one.
- SEMO 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 Southeast Missouri State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at SEMO?
Automatic merit aid at Southeast Missouri State University starts at an ACT composite of 28, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $8,000 a year at the top of the 2 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 SEMO test-optional?
Optional, with three published routes: a 2.75 GPA with no score, a 2.5 GPA with a 19 superscored ACT, or a 21 superscored ACT with no minimum GPA at all. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and SEMO says so in its own marketing: its scholarships are 'test-optional, superscore-friendly'. The test-optional path reaches Copper Dome; the President's Scholarship cannot be earned without a score. 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 SEMO?
On SEMO's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Copper Dome — GPA only, no score needed — Copper Dome Scholarship at $3,500 a year, about $14,000 over four years if it renews.
Does SEMO superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and for scholarships specifically — SEMO combines best subscores across sittings rather than taking a single composite. Did you take the ACT or SAT more than once? We will combine your best subscores when considering you for SEMO scholarships.
When are SEMO scholarship deadlines?
President's Scholarship, fall applicants: March 1. Copper Dome, fall applicants: June 1. Latest ACT test date counted, fall applicants: March 31. Either scholarship, spring applicants: November 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 SEMO scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Southeast Missouri 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.
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What to do next
You know what a score is worth at SEMO. 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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