Southern Arkansas University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Southern Arkansas University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 18 and reach $12,000 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
SAU states that every award is granted "as funds allow" and that meeting the criteria does not guarantee one. The three largest awards all require a test score, so $4,000 a year is the ceiling without one. SAU prints its lower criteria as closed windows; they are modelled as floors here, because read literally they would pay a 3.9 with no test nothing, and pay a 27 less than a 26. The top award drops from $12,000 to $11,000 for a student living off campus.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
SAU Success Scholarship (score route)
$4,000 a year / year
About $16,000 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.
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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Can you get merit aid at Southern Arkansas without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional up to $4,000 a year and required above it. The three lower awards are explicitly labelled "test or GPA", so a student with no score reaches $4,000 at a 3.50. The Blue & Gold, Presidential and Presidential Distinguished awards all name a score, which puts $8,000 a year beyond reach without one.
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.
“SAU Success $4,000/yr · TEST OR GPA REQUIREMENTS · ACT 24-26 or SAT 1160-1250 · GPA: 3.50-3.74”
The published Southern Arkansas merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Southern Arkansas University’s own pages for Fall 2027 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Academic scholarships
The three lower awards are labelled "test or GPA" and are reachable either way. The three above them all name a score, so no GPA alone reaches them.
$12,000 a year
Presidential Distinguished Scholarship
ACT 30–36 · 4.00+
Without a score: not available
$11,000 a year
Presidential Scholarship
ACT 28–36 · 3.75+
Without a score: not available
$7,000 a year
Blue & Gold Excellence Scholarship
ACT 27–36 · 3.75+
Without a score: not available
$4,000 a year
SAU Success Scholarship (score route)
ACT 24–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 24–26)
Without a score: not available
$4,000 a year
SAU Success Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$3,000 a year
Scholastic Merit Scholarship (score route)
ACT 21–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 21–23)
Without a score: not available
$3,000 a year
Scholastic Merit Scholarship (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.25
$2,000 a year
Achievement Award (score route)
ACT 18–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 18–20)
Without a score: not available
$2,000 a year
Achievement Award (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential Distinguished Scholarship | ACT 30–36 · 4.00+ | not available | $12,000 a year |
| Presidential Scholarship | ACT 28–36 · 3.75+ | not available | $11,000 a year |
| Blue & Gold Excellence Scholarship | ACT 27–36 · 3.75+ | not available | $7,000 a year |
| SAU Success Scholarship (score route) | ACT 24–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 24–26) | not available | $4,000 a year |
| SAU Success Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.50 | $4,000 a year |
| Scholastic Merit Scholarship (score route) | ACT 21–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 21–23) | not available | $3,000 a year |
| Scholastic Merit Scholarship (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.25 | $3,000 a year |
| Achievement Award (score route) | ACT 18–36 · any GPA (SAU prints ACT 18–20) | not available | $2,000 a year |
| Achievement Award (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.00 | $2,000 a year |
Source: Academic scholarships — Fall 2027 freshmen · verified 2026-10-24
Does Southern Arkansas superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. SAU names closed score windows for its lower tiers and floors for its upper ones, but never addresses superscoring, so a student planning a retake should confirm in writing.
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 Southern Arkansas’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.
Southern Arkansas scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Early decision for Fall 2027 freshmen | January 15 |
| Priority deadline | March 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 Southern Arkansas 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.
- Without a test score the ceiling is $4,000 a year. With one, the top award is $12,000.
- A 27 at a 3.75 is worth $7,000; a 28 is worth $11,000. That single point is the most valuable one on this grid.
- The three lower awards are labelled "test or GPA" on the page itself, so either route works.
- SAU prints the lower awards' criteria as closed windows — ACT 24–26, 21–23, 18–20 and the matching GPA ranges. They are modelled as floors, because as printed a 2.5 GPA with a 27 ACT would fall out of SAU Success without reaching Blue & Gold and be paid nothing, less than the same student with a 26.
- The Presidential Distinguished award drops from $12,000 to $11,000 if the student lives off campus.
- SAU says one application considers a student for every award, and also that awards are granted as funds allow.
- SAT equivalents are published alongside every tier: 1360+, 1300+, 1260+, 1160–1250, 1060–1150 and 960–1050.
- The page pairs a GPA with a score on the top three tiers without saying "and" outright, so a student near one of those thresholds should confirm whether both are required.
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 Southern Arkansas University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Southern Arkansas?
Automatic merit aid at Southern Arkansas University starts at an ACT composite of 18, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $12,000 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 Southern Arkansas test-optional?
The scholarship page does not state the admission testing requirement, so nothing is claimed about it here. For merit aid the answer is different: optional up to $4,000 a year and required above it. The three lower awards are explicitly labelled "test or GPA", so a student with no score reaches $4,000 at a 3.50. The Blue & Gold, Presidential and Presidential Distinguished awards all name a score, which puts $8,000 a year beyond reach without one. 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 Southern Arkansas?
On Southern Arkansas's published grid for Fall 2027 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for SAU Success Scholarship (score route) at $4,000 a year, about $16,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Southern Arkansas?
The most valuable single point on Southern Arkansas's published grid is 27 to 28, at a 3.75 GPA: it moves the award by $4,000 a year, or $16,000 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 Southern Arkansas superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. SAU names closed score windows for its lower tiers and floors for its upper ones, but never addresses superscoring, so a student planning a retake should confirm in writing.
When are Southern Arkansas scholarship deadlines?
Early decision for Fall 2027 freshmen: January 15. Priority deadline: March 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 Southern Arkansas scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Southern Arkansas University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-24. 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 Southern Arkansas. The question is whether you can move it.
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