State University of New York College at Cortland: merit scholarships by GPA
State University of New York College at Cortland awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to GPA — the ACT is not used. Awards start at a 90.0 GPA and reach $5,000 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
The GPA is an UNWEIGHTED 100-point high school average, not a 4.0. Cortland pairs every number with "rigorous coursework and strong performance in main subject areas" and says that meeting the minimum criteria does not guarantee an award, so the grid is necessary rather than sufficient. The President's, Merit and Dean's awards all require living on campus to renew.
Out of 100, the way New York high schools report it — which is how this school publishes its grid.
← Drag either slider to your own numbers
Example — a 3.60 GPA
No automatic award at this combination
A 29 with a 3.60 GPA does not reach the published grid. That is not a verdict on admission — only on automatic merit.
SUNY Cortland 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.
Free preview of the top schools · the full ranked list, with deadlines, is $19.
Want to know what one more point would change? The Merit Plan prices the next point at every school.
Free · no account, no card · the first school is on this screen
The published SUNY Cortland merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from State University of New York College at Cortland’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.
Merit scholarships
No separate application. Keyed to an unweighted 100-point high school average, plus coursework rigour the grid cannot represent.
$5,000 per year
President's Scholarship
No score needed
$3,300 per year
Merit Scholarship
No score needed
$1,000 per year
Cortland College Foundation 21st Century Fund
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| President's Scholarship | — | $5,000 per year |
| Merit Scholarship | — | $3,300 per year |
| Cortland College Foundation 21st Century Fund | — | $1,000 per year |
Source: Merit scholarships · verified 2026-10-24
Does SUNY Cortland superscore for scholarships?
Not stated, and it would not matter. The merit criteria name no test score.
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 SUNY Cortland’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.
SUNY Cortland scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Early action (non-binding) | November 15 |
| Fall deposit | 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 State University of New York College at Cortland’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Merit scholarshipsverified 2026-10-24
- First-year requirements — test policy and datesverified 2026-10-24
- The GPA is an unweighted 100-point high school average, the way New York reports it.
- Cortland publishes TWO awards at the same 93 threshold — the $3,300 Merit Scholarship and a $2,500 Dean's Scholarship — and does not say what separates them. Only the better one is a row here, because a student clearing a 93 can never be told the lower figure is their answer; the Dean's award is real and its criteria are identical.
- Every award pairs its number with rigorous coursework and strong performance in main subject areas, which this grid cannot check.
- Cortland says meeting the minimum criteria does not guarantee an award.
- The President's, Merit and Dean's awards require living on campus to renew; the 21st Century Fund award does not.
- The 21st Century Fund award also renews on a 2.8 GPA rather than a 3.0.
- Below a 90 average the page publishes no award.
- No test score appears anywhere in the merit criteria.
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 State University of New York College at Cortland.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at SUNY Cortland?
State University of New York College at Cortland publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is SUNY Cortland test-optional?
Cortland is test-optional; scores are not required in the admissions process. For merit aid the answer is different: the merit page states a GPA and a coursework-rigour criterion and mentions no test at all, so a score cannot move any of these awards. A student with no ACT reaches the $5,000 President's Scholarship at a 95 average exactly as one with a 36 would. Being admitted without a score and qualifying for money without a score are two separate questions.
Does SUNY Cortland superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated, and it would not matter. The merit criteria name no test score.
When are SUNY Cortland scholarship deadlines?
Early action (non-binding): November 15. Fall deposit: 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 SUNY Cortland scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from State University of New York College at Cortland'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
SUNY Cortland awards on GPA — but the ACT still decides what you're worth elsewhere.
Most schools in this comparison are score-keyed even though SUNY Cortland is not, so the same test still moves the money everywhere else on the list.
Free · About 3 minutes · No account needed · Not affiliated with State University of New York College at Cortland