Taylor University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Taylor University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 27 and reach $21,000 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
Taylor's table is conjunctive and the ACT only acts above a 3.70 GPA. The President's row needs a 3.70 GPA AND a 32, so a 3.5 GPA with a 34 lands on the Trustee row at $15,000 rather than the top one. The three rows below the Dean's Scholarship are printed "No Scores Required", so a score cannot move them at all. Taylor also heads the score column "Minimum Scores of Recipients" and prints the dollar figures without a period label — the amounts appear under a heading of "Amount: $11,000-$21,000" and the renewal note is per-year, so they are read here as annual. Scores must reach Taylor by April 1 to count toward merit.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Trustee Scholarship
$15,000 / year
About $60,000 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 Taylor without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional, and precisely bounded. Three of the five rows are printed "No Scores Required", so below a 3.70 GPA a score cannot change the award. At or above a 3.70 the score is the only thing that separates $17,000, $19,000 and $21,000 — and it has to arrive by April 1.
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.
“Test scores must be received by April 1 for merit scholarship consideration.”
The published Taylor merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Taylor 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.
First-year academic scholarships
Awarded on the admission review — Taylor publishes no separate scholarship application for these five. The GPA column gates the row; the ACT column only exists on the top two rows.
$21,000
President Scholarship
ACT 32–36 · 3.70+ GPA and an ACT 32 — both required
Without a score: not available
$19,000
Dean Scholarship
ACT 27–36 · 3.70+ GPA and an ACT 27 — both required
Without a score: not available
$17,000
Faculty Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.70
$15,000
Trustee Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.30
$11,000
Director Award
No score needed · GPA 0.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| President Scholarship | ACT 32–36 · 3.70+ GPA and an ACT 32 — both required | not available | $21,000 |
| Dean Scholarship | ACT 27–36 · 3.70+ GPA and an ACT 27 — both required | not available | $19,000 |
| Faculty Scholarship | — | GPA 3.70 | $17,000 |
| Trustee Scholarship | — | GPA 3.30 | $15,000 |
| Director Award | — | GPA 0.00 | $11,000 |
Competitive awards — not automatic
Meeting these makes you eligible to be reviewed, not to receive the award, so they are kept out of the calculator above.
- Alice Hamilton Scholarship — ACT 32+ with 3.9 GPA and a 32 ACT, accepted by November 1, and then invited to interview on Scholars Day — competitive, not a lookup: 100% of tuition
Source: Available Scholarships for Taylor Students — freshman academic scholarship table · verified 2026-10-23
Does Taylor superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Taylor's scholarship page, its application page or its testing-and-placement guide, and Taylor publishes no sentence on combining section scores across dates. Ask Admissions before paying to retest for the $19,000 or $21,000 rung.
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 Taylor’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.
Taylor scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Next application deadline as the apply page states it | 10/15 |
| Priority deadline for Scholars Day consideration | 12/15 |
| Honors Program and endowed scholarships | December 15 |
| Accepted for admission, to be eligible for a Scholars Day invitation (Alice Hamilton) | November 1 |
| Test scores received, for merit scholarship consideration | April 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 Taylor 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.
- Available Scholarships for Taylor Students — freshman academic scholarship tableverified 2026-10-23
- How to Apply — test policy and application deadlinesverified 2026-10-23
- Grants — Indiana state grant programs and the church matching grantverified 2026-10-23
- Taylor's two Scholars Day deadlines conflict across its own pages. The apply page gives 12/15 as the "Priority deadline for Scholars Day consideration"; the scholarship page says a student "must apply for admission to Taylor University and be accepted by November 1 to be eligible to be invited to Scholars Day". Treat November 1 as the binding one and confirm with Admissions.
- The Academic Merit Award for National Merit Finalists is $21,000 and REPLACES the grid rather than stacking: "This award replaces the President, Dean, Faculty, or Trustee Scholarship."
- The Alice Hamilton Scholarship is 100% of tuition but is invitation-only and decided by interview, so it is carried here as a competitive band and excluded from the lookup. The November 2027 Scholars Day is the event it is awarded at.
- Transfer students get a separate GPA-only ladder — $18,000 at 3.75+, $16,000 at 3.5–3.74, $14,000 at 3.25–3.4, $12,000 at 3.0–3.24, $10,000 at 2.99 and below — awarded "in lieu of other academic scholarships". Do not read the freshman rows across to a transfer.
- Taylor's transfer table has a gap of its own: the rows run 3.5-3.74 then 3.25-3.4, so a 3.45 college GPA has no row.
- A church matching grant adds money on top rather than replacing the academic award: "Taylor University will match your church's gift up to $2,000 per year per student, or a maximum of $1,000 per semester per student." The church's pledge form is due April 1 and the funds by July 1.
- Indiana's state money is separate from everything above and is administered by the state, not Taylor: the Indiana Freedom of Choice Grant (the private-college arm of the Frank O'Bannon Grant) at up to $10,600, and the Indiana 21st Century Scholars Grant, which Taylor lists as needing a 3.7 minimum GPA. Neither is in the grid.
- Several Indiana-resident awards are real money but need an application, a video interview and need-based eligibility — Alspaugh Family at $7,000 (Education majors), Reynolds Memorial at up to $9,000 (business majors), Muselman Memorial at $2,000–$10,000 — all with a February 1 deadline and a February 15 video. None is automatic.
- The Academic Summer Programs Scholarship is $1,000 and requires having attended an eligible Taylor camp during high school before senior year, which is a window that closes long before an application does.
- Taylor accepts the CLT alongside the ACT and SAT, at 103 for the President row and 90 for the Dean row.
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 Taylor University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Taylor?
Automatic merit aid at Taylor University starts at an ACT composite of 27, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $21,000 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 Taylor test-optional?
Taylor calls itself "test-preferred, but flexible" and will read a file either way. Without scores it may ask for more information instead. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and precisely bounded. Three of the five rows are printed "No Scores Required", so below a 3.70 GPA a score cannot change the award. At or above a 3.70 the score is the only thing that separates $17,000, $19,000 and $21,000 — and it has to arrive by April 1. 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 Taylor?
On Taylor's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Trustee Scholarship at $15,000 a year, about $60,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Taylor?
The most valuable single point on Taylor's published grid is 26 to 27, at a 3.7 GPA: it moves the award by $2,000 a year, or $8,000 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 Taylor superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word superscore appears nowhere on Taylor's scholarship page, its application page or its testing-and-placement guide, and Taylor publishes no sentence on combining section scores across dates. Ask Admissions before paying to retest for the $19,000 or $21,000 rung.
When are Taylor scholarship deadlines?
Next application deadline as the apply page states it: 10/15. Priority deadline for Scholars Day consideration: 12/15. Honors Program and endowed scholarships: December 15. Accepted for admission, to be eligible for a Scholars Day invitation (Alice Hamilton): November 1. Test scores received, for merit scholarship consideration: April 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 Taylor scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Taylor 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
You know what a score is worth at Taylor. 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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