Spring Arbor University: merit scholarships by GPA
Spring Arbor University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to GPA — the ACT is not used. Awards start at a 3.35 GPA and reach $17,500 a year. Because the bands are steps rather than a slope, a hundredth of a GPA point is worth nothing inside a band and the whole step at the edge of one.
Enter a GPA below to see which band it actually lands in, what that band pays, and what the next band needs.
Read this first
Spring Arbor's freshman merit table is keyed to a WEIGHTED high school GPA alone: 'To calculate academic merit scholarships for an incoming campus undergraduate student, use the GPA table below. The GPA is calculated on a weighted scale.' No ACT or SAT number appears in it. A score can earn money at SAU in exactly one place — the $1,000-a-year E.P. Hart Honors Program Scholarship, where a 26 composite is an alternative to a 3.6 GPA — and that also requires acceptance into the Honors Program and a separate application, so it is not in the grid. The award is also permanent at the entry figure: SAU says a student 'cannot qualify for higher merit due to increased GPA after the first year.' SAU publishes identical 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 tables; these are the figures from both.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — a 3.60 GPA
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
$12,000 per academic year / year
About $48,000 over four years, if it renews.
Spring Arbor awards this on GPA alone, so an ACT score does not change it. A higher score can still matter for admission, for honours programmes, and at other schools on the list — but not for this award.
The ACT doesn't move the money here — but it still decides admission, honours eligibility, and what they is worth at the other schools on the list, where most awards are score-keyed.
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The published Spring Arbor merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Spring Arbor 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.
Campus freshman merit scholarships
Calculated from the weighted high school GPA with no separate application, and renewable 'Up to four years' at the entry figure. Every other SAU award — the $3,000 Intercultural Leadership Scholarship, the $1,000 E.P. Hart Honors Scholarship, music, drama, art, athletics, Scholarship Day and the church and camp matching grants — sits on top of this figure or requires its own application, so none is a band here.
$17,500 per academic year
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
No score needed
$16,000 per academic year
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
No score needed
$14,000 per academic year
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
No score needed
$12,000 per academic year
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
No score needed
$10,000 per academic year
SAU Academic Merit Scholarship
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| SAU Academic Merit Scholarship | — | $17,500 per academic year |
| SAU Academic Merit Scholarship | — | $16,000 per academic year |
| SAU Academic Merit Scholarship | — | $14,000 per academic year |
| SAU Academic Merit Scholarship | — | $12,000 per academic year |
| SAU Academic Merit Scholarship | — | $10,000 per academic year |
Source: Campus Undergraduate Scholarships and Grants — 2027-2028 Freshman Merit Scholarships table · verified 2026-10-23
Does Spring Arbor superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears on neither SAU's scholarship page nor its admissions process page, and SAU never says whether the 'comp ACT of 26' that qualifies for the Honors Program scholarship may be assembled from more than one sitting. Since no row of the merit table uses a score, the answer changes nothing below $1,000 a year — but it is unstated, not 'no'.
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 Spring Arbor’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.
Spring Arbor scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Early Admissions Deadline — the only route to a Scholarship Day invitation ('earn maximum financial aid') | December 1 |
| Priority Admissions Deadline — top housing choice and priority class registration | February 1 |
| Intercultural Leadership Scholarship application deadline | Feb. 15 |
| Endowed and Annually Funded Scholarships — SAU supplemental aid application deadline, each year | Feb. 15 each year |
| Spring Admissions Deadline — best chance at preferred fall classes | May 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 Spring Arbor 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.
- Campus Undergraduate Scholarships and Grants — 2027-2028 Freshman Merit Scholarships tableverified 2026-10-23
- Undergraduate Admissions Process — automatic admittance GPA, deadlines and score submissionverified 2026-10-23
- The entry-year transcript is the whole decision, permanently. SAU states that a student 'cannot qualify for higher merit due to increased GPA after the first year', which makes the senior-year weighted GPA the single highest-leverage number a Spring Arbor applicant controls. Three hundredths of a point between 3.64 and 3.65 is $2,000 a year, $8,000 over a degree.
- SAU publishes the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 freshman tables one after the other and they are numerically identical — $17,500 / $16,000 / $14,000 / $12,000 / $10,000 against the same five GPA spans. The figures recorded here therefore hold for either entry year, which is unusual and worth checking again before a 2028 entry.
- December 1 is the real scholarship deadline even though nothing is called one. SAU says of its Early Admissions Deadline: 'Only students who apply early have the opportunity to be invited to our Scholarship Day and earn maximum financial aid!' Scholarship Day is where 'students compete for additional departmental and institutional scholarships', so applying in February forfeits access to that money entirely while still earning the full table award.
- Two church and camp matching awards are stackable but capped, and both need a third party to act: 'SAU will match, dollar for dollar, any scholarship provided to any Free Methodist student by their home church' up to $2,000, and the church has to contact Student Financial Services to participate. The Camp Matching Scholarship is listed as 'Up to $1,500' and then says SAU will match designated Christian camp gifts 'up to but not exceeding $750' — the two figures on the same line do not agree, so treat $750 as the matchable gift and confirm the total. Participating camps are named: Michindoh, Somerset Beach, Spring Hill, Covenant Hills and Camp Barakel. A $500-a-year Free Methodist Ministerial Scholarship is available where a parent or guardian is a Free Methodist pastor.
- Athletic money is nearly exclusive of everything but the grid: SAU says an athletic scholarship 'precludes all other forms of SAU aid other than academic merit awards'. So a recruited athlete keeps the merit table figure and loses the rest of the institutional stack.
- The Michigan Achievement Scholarship, Michigan Competitive Scholarship and Michigan Tuition Grant are STATE money, not SAU's, and none of them is in this grid — but SAU presents its own, federal and state aid in a single list on the same page ('The list below includes scholarships through Spring Arbor University, as well as the federal government and state government'), which is exactly how the combined number comes to be read as the university's offer. The Achievement Scholarship in particular is specifically available at Michigan private colleges like SAU and is applied for through the FAFSA, not through SAU. SAU publishes no dollar figure for any of the three and points students at the Michigan student financial aid website, so none is quoted here. SAU does flag one interaction: 'Acceptance of the TEACH Grant may reduce the Michigan Tuition Grant and Michigan Competitive Scholarship eligibility for undergraduate students.'
- Four award categories publish no amount at all and so cannot be banded: music, drama, art and athletics are each 'Award amount varies' and each requires an audition, portfolio or coach's decision. The Spring Arbor University Grant and the endowed awards also vary, the latter needing a supplemental application by Feb. 15 each year. The Student Statesmanship Institute Cobb Scholarship is 'Up to $5,000 per year' — a ceiling, not a band — and needs SSI involvement, a 3.0 GPA, a 1,000-word essay and the FAFSA, renewing at a 2.7 college GPA.
- SAU's transfer tables are a different ladder and changed between cycles, so the freshman figures must not be read across: 2026-2027 transfers see $12,000 / $10,000 / $8,000 / $6,000 against 3.65+, 3.10-3.649, 2.60-3.099 and 2.59-or-below, while 2027-2028 transfers see $14,000 / $12,000 / $10,000 / $8,000 against 3.85-4.00, 3.5-3.84, 3.0-3.49 and base-admittance-to-2.99. Phi Theta Kappa members can add $1,000 in the 2027-2028 cycle.
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 Spring Arbor University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Spring Arbor?
Spring Arbor University publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is Spring Arbor test-optional?
Optional in practice, though SAU never uses the phrase 'test-optional'. Admission is decided on GPA: 'A 3.0 GPA is required for automatic admittance. Students below a 3.0 will have the opportunity to go through a committee process for a chance to be admitted.' Scores are described only as something a student may choose to send, which is the sentence recorded here. A reader should treat this as inferred-from-wording rather than a stated policy and confirm with SAU if a score is the deciding factor. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and SAU quantifies it at exactly $1,000 a year. The freshman merit table has no score axis at all. The one award where a score is named is the E.P. Hart Honors Program Scholarship, which a 26 ACT reaches as an alternative to a 3.6 GPA — but it also requires acceptance into the Honors Program, a separate application, and maintaining a 3.6 and 'annual honors participation standards'. So a score can add $1,000 here and cannot move any row of the grid. 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 Spring Arbor?
On Spring Arbor's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for SAU Academic Merit Scholarship at $12,000 a year, about $48,000 over four years if it renews.
Does Spring Arbor superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears on neither SAU's scholarship page nor its admissions process page, and SAU never says whether the 'comp ACT of 26' that qualifies for the Honors Program scholarship may be assembled from more than one sitting. Since no row of the merit table uses a score, the answer changes nothing below $1,000 a year — but it is unstated, not 'no'.
When are Spring Arbor scholarship deadlines?
Early Admissions Deadline — the only route to a Scholarship Day invitation ('earn maximum financial aid'): December 1. Priority Admissions Deadline — top housing choice and priority class registration: February 1. Intercultural Leadership Scholarship application deadline: Feb. 15. Endowed and Annually Funded Scholarships — SAU supplemental aid application deadline, each year: Feb. 15 each year. Spring Admissions Deadline — best chance at preferred fall classes: May 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 Spring Arbor scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Spring Arbor University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-23. 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
Spring Arbor awards on GPA — but the ACT still decides what you're worth elsewhere.
Most schools in this comparison are score-keyed even though Spring Arbor is not, so the same test still moves the money everywhere else on the list.
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