Sterling College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Sterling College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $21,250 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
Sterling publishes one priced academic scholarship with two alternative routes, and only the ACT route is modelled here: a 22 composite together with a 3.25 GPA, both required, for $21,250 a year. The other route is a 3.5 GPA with a 400–500 word servant-leadership essay and no score, recorded as the test-optional path. Note the conflict across Sterling's own pages: the scholarship offers a no-score route while the admissions-requirements page says every first-year student under 21 must submit an ACT or SAT before acceptance. Sterling's two Kansas geographic awards ($19,500 and $18,500) replace this scholarship rather than adding to it, and publish no academic threshold, so they are not in the grid.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
The Warrior Way Scholarship
$21,250 per year / year
About $85,000 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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Can you get merit aid at Sterling (KS) without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional for the Warrior Way award, because Sterling publishes an alternative: a 3.25 GPA with a 22 ACT, or a 3.5 GPA with a servant-leadership essay and no score. A score cannot raise the award above $21,250 — there is no second score tier — so the ACT here buys access to the award at a lower GPA rather than more money. Sterling does state that its institutional scholarships generally may read a score.
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.
“Institutional scholarships may be based on cumulative GPA, composite ACT, SAT or CLT scores and/or participation in certain activities.”
The published Sterling (KS) merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Sterling 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.
The Warrior Way Scholarship
Sterling's only academic award with a published figure. It 'replaces all other academic and activity scholarships', and the total 'includes an activity award for students who participate in arts or athletics' — so an athlete or an arts student does not add their activity money on top. The Honors Program Scholarship ($2,000 a year), the Legacy Award ($1,000 a year) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Scholarship ($1,000 a year) are the three awards Sterling does allow on top.
$21,250 per year
The Warrior Way Scholarship
ACT 22–36 · ACT 22 with a 3.25 GPA — both required, and official test scores must be sent (the ACT route only; an SAT 1100 or CLT 72 substitutes for the score)
Without a score: GPA 3.50
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Warrior Way Scholarship | ACT 22–36 · ACT 22 with a 3.25 GPA — both required, and official test scores must be sent (the ACT route only; an SAT 1100 or CLT 72 substitutes for the score) | GPA 3.50 | $21,250 per year |
Source: The Warrior Way Scholarship — amount, routes and renewal · verified 2026-10-23
Does Sterling (KS) superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears on none of Sterling's scholarship, financial aid or admissions-requirements pages. What Sterling does say is that 'official test scores required' for the ACT route of the Warrior Way Scholarship, so a self-reported or screenshot score will not do — send the official report and ask whether a composite from a single sitting is required.
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 Sterling (KS)’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.
Sterling (KS) scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Warrior Way Scholarship priority deadline | Priority Deadline-March 1 |
| Accept the Warrior Way Scholarship once awarded | Within 15 days after being awarded |
| FAFSA priority deadline | February 15 |
| Kansas Comprehensive Grant — Sterling priority date (state money, not a Sterling award) | 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 Sterling 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.
- The Warrior Way Scholarship — amount, routes and renewalverified 2026-10-23
- Scholarships, Grants and Loans — institutional, geographic and Kansas state awardsverified 2026-10-23
- Admissions Requirements — test and GPA floors for admissionverified 2026-10-23
- Financial Aid — FAFSA code and priority deadlineverified 2026-10-23
- Living off campus can end the award. Sterling's disclosure covers all of it: 'All Sterling College institutional scholarships are based on full acceptance to Sterling College, full-time enrollment and on-campus residency.'
- The no-score route is not automatic in the usual sense — it needs a 400–500 word personal essay on servant leadership, submitted as a Word document or PDF to an admissions counsellor. Sterling rejects two shortcuts explicitly: 'Essays submitted using AI will not be accepted' and 'Screenshots and GoogleDoc links are not accepted.'
- The two Kansas geographic awards are stand-alone and mutually exclusive with this one, and neither publishes an academic threshold. Heart of Kansas pays $19,500 a year ($78,000) to a graduate of a high school or home school in Rice, Reno, Ellsworth, Barton, McPherson or Stafford county, or a transfer from Barton County or Hutchinson Community College. The Sunflower Scholarship pays $18,500 a year ($74,000) to any Kansas high school graduate, Kansas community college transfer, or Kansas resident. Both state that 'students will not be eligible for an academic or activity scholarship on top of' them.
- The Room Grant is $2,500 for the freshman year only and is the one place Sterling pairs a 28 ACT with a 3.5 GPA — but it is not automatic: 'There are a limited number of spaces and students must deposit to secure the grant.' A limited-number award is not a lookup, so it is not a band.
- The Evangelical Presbyterian Church Scholarship is a denominational award of $1,000 a year 'awarded to any student who regularly attends an Evangelical Presbyterian Church, regardless of which Presbytery', and it is additive — it stacks on the Warrior Way, Heart of Kansas and Sunflower awards alike. The student must self-identify on the admissions application.
- Transfer students have their own figure: a Transfer High Academic Scholarship of $21,000 a year for a 3.5 GPA with at least 24 credits, which likewise 'replaces other academic and activity scholarships'. It is not a freshman band, so it is not in the grid.
- Sterling claims full coverage of its student body — 'Sterling College offers 100% of full time students an institutional scholarship' — through one of three routes: Athletics, Arts and Academics. The athletic and arts routes are decided by coaches and arts faculty and publish no amounts.
- The Kansas Comprehensive Grant and the Kansas State Scholarship are Kansas Board of Regents money, not Sterling money, and are kept out of the grid. Sterling does publish its own eligibility conditions for the Comprehensive Grant — Kansas resident, 2.0 GPA, 'EFC up to $18,000', FAFSA by April 1 — and notes that the Kansas State Scholarship priority date moved to June 1.
- Sterling publishes two different FAFSA dates: a 'FAFSA Priority Deadline - February 15' on its financial aid page and 'FAFSA completed on or before April 1st' with a 'Priority deadline for Sterling College is March 1st' for the Kansas Comprehensive Grant. File by the earliest of them.
- The Warrior Way page carries no entry year, so these figures are recorded as the current cycle rather than dated.
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 Sterling College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Sterling (KS)?
Automatic merit aid at Sterling College starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $21,250 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 Sterling (KS) test-optional?
Required, and unusually so for a small private college in 2026 — Sterling has not gone test-optional for admission. The published floors are a 2.2 cumulative high school GPA and an 18 ACT composite, with an appeal route to the Vice President for Enrollment Services for anyone below them. This sits awkwardly against the Warrior Way Scholarship's own no-score route. For merit aid the answer is different: optional for the Warrior Way award, because Sterling publishes an alternative: a 3.25 GPA with a 22 ACT, or a 3.5 GPA with a servant-leadership essay and no score. A score cannot raise the award above $21,250 — there is no second score tier — so the ACT here buys access to the award at a lower GPA rather than more money. Sterling does state that its institutional scholarships generally may read 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 Sterling (KS)?
On Sterling (KS)'s published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for The Warrior Way Scholarship at $21,250 a year, about $85,000 over four years if it renews.
Does Sterling (KS) superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears on none of Sterling's scholarship, financial aid or admissions-requirements pages. What Sterling does say is that 'official test scores required' for the ACT route of the Warrior Way Scholarship, so a self-reported or screenshot score will not do — send the official report and ask whether a composite from a single sitting is required.
When are Sterling (KS) scholarship deadlines?
Warrior Way Scholarship priority deadline: Priority Deadline-March 1. Accept the Warrior Way Scholarship once awarded: Within 15 days after being awarded. FAFSA priority deadline: February 15. Kansas Comprehensive Grant — Sterling priority date (state money, not a Sterling award): 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 Sterling (KS) scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Sterling College'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.
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What to do next
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