Texas Lutheran University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Texas Lutheran University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to the ACT alone, with no GPA criterion. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $3,000 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
This grid is TLU's SAT/ACT award only, and that award is additive — $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 a year ON TOP of the academic scholarship. Read the $3,000 as a bonus, not a ceiling: every admitted full-time first-year student also receives an academic scholarship of $18,000 to $28,000, and that ladder is deliberately not modelled here because TLU keys it to a RECALCULATED core-course GPA on a 5.0 SCALE (its top band needs a 4.60). This dataset's GPA axis is a 4.0 scale, and converting between the two would mean inventing a number TLU has not published. So the GPA input does not affect this lookup at all. One real deadline on the money: 'Test scores must be received by June 1 to be eligible for an SAT/ACT award.'
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
SAT/ACT Award — 28 or above
$2,000 per year / year
About $8,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
2 more points (a 31) moves you to SAT/ACT Award — 31 or above — $3,000 per year a year. That is $1,000 more a year, or $4,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether 2 points is worth having. It's whether they can move them — which starts with knowing exactly which questions they're missing, and why.
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The published Texas Lutheran merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Texas Lutheran University’s own pages for 2026-27 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
SAT/ACT Awards
These three rows are automatic and need no application — 'Your application for admission also serves as your application for TLU's academic scholarships' — but a score has to be sent, because TLU does not require one to apply. They ADD to the academic scholarship rather than replacing it: 'students who have earned qualifying test scores may submit them to receive additional awards.' Several other additive awards of $1,000 a year sit outside this grid (Legacy, Lutheran Advantage, Lutheran Clergy) along with Performing Arts awards of up to $7,500; all are listed in the notes.
$3,000 per year
SAT/ACT Award — 31 or above
ACT 31–36 · 31 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1400; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count.
$2,000 per year
SAT/ACT Award — 28 or above
ACT 28–36 · 28 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1300; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count.
$1,000 per year
SAT/ACT Award — 22 or above
ACT 22–36 · 22 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1100; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count.
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| SAT/ACT Award — 31 or above | ACT 31–36 · 31 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1400; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count. | $3,000 per year |
| SAT/ACT Award — 28 or above | ACT 28–36 · 28 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1300; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count. | $2,000 per year |
| SAT/ACT Award — 22 or above | ACT 22–36 · 22 ACT or above. The SAT alternative is 1100; only the ACT route is modelled here. No GPA criterion applies to the SAT/ACT award — TLU's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course GPA on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the GPA input does not narrow this grid. Scores must reach TLU by June 1 to count. | $1,000 per year |
Source: 2026–2027 Academic Scholarships, and the SAT/ACT Awards table · verified 2026-10-23
Does Texas Lutheran superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears nowhere on TLU's scholarship page, its first-year admissions page or its admissions FAQs. Each row says only '31 ACT or above', with no statement about whether that composite may be assembled across sittings. What TLU does say is that it will accept scores as a student-downloaded PDF rather than only an official report — 'You may download your scores from the College Board website or the ACT website and send them to us as a PDF' — which makes sending every sitting cheap and fast. Ask admissions whether the best sections across them can be combined.
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 Texas Lutheran’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.
Texas Lutheran scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Early Action | Apply by November 15 |
| Regular Decision | Apply by February 1 |
| Late Decision | Applications received after February 1 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received to be eligible for the SAT/ACT award | June 1 |
| $400 enrollment 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 Texas Lutheran 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.
- 2026–2027 Academic Scholarships, and the SAT/ACT Awards tableverified 2026-10-23
- First-Year Admissions — application deadlines and the test-score policyverified 2026-10-23
- Admissions FAQs — the additional award list and the SAT/ACT figures restatedverified 2026-10-23
- THE $3,000 IS A BONUS, NOT THE WHOLE OFFER. TLU's academic scholarship ladder runs $18,000 (Commendation), $20,000 (Heritage), $22,000 (Academic Excellence), $24,000 (Distinction), $26,000 (Presidential) and $28,000 (Regent's), and 'If you gain admission as a full-time first-year student, you will automatically receive an academic scholarship ranging from $18,000 to $28,000 per year.' The SAT/ACT award stacks on top of whichever one you land on.
- THAT LADDER IS ON A 5.0 SCALE AND IS RECALCULATED, WHICH IS WHY IT IS NOT IN THE GRID. TLU's bands are 4.60 or above, 4.10–4.59, 3.70–4.09, 3.30–3.69, 2.80–3.29 and 2.79 or below, against a GPA that counts core classes only, excludes electives, and is 'calculated on a 5.0 scale'. A visitor's unweighted 4.0 is not the same number as TLU's 4.0, and this dataset publishes no conversion because TLU publishes none. Work out which band you land in from your own core-course, 5.0-scale recalculation — or ask TLU — rather than reading it off a 4.0 GPA.
- The score deadline is a real one and unusually late: 'Test scores must be received by June 1 to be eligible for an SAT/ACT award.' A spring-of-senior-year ACT still counts, which is worth knowing for a student deciding whether one more sitting is worth it. At a 29 or 30 the next point is worth $1,000 a year — $4,000 over a degree — for moving to a 31.
- FOUR MORE ADDITIVE AWARDS, AND TWO OF THEM ARE DENOMINATIONAL. TLU is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and publishes a Lutheran Advantage at $1,000 a year and a Lutheran Clergy Award at $1,000 a year, plus a Legacy Award at $1,000 a year for family of alumni. Performing Arts awards run 'Up to $7,500 per year for majors' and 'Up to $3,000 per year for non-majors'. None of them is keyed to a test score, so none is in the grid; all of them add to it.
- THE TUITION EQUALIZATION GRANT (TEG) IS STATE OF TEXAS MONEY AND DOES NOT APPEAR ON TLU'S SCHOLARSHIP PAGE AT ALL. This matters because TEG is the award Texas private-college families most often mistake for institutional generosity: it exists specifically for Texas residents attending private, non-profit Texas colleges, it is need-based, it is rationed annually by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and it arrives in the same award letter as TLU's own awards. If a TLU offer looks larger than $28,000 plus the additive awards above, check whether the difference is TEG, a Pell Grant or a loan rather than TLU money. None of it belongs in this grid.
- AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT WITH CLASS RANK IS REQUIRED, even though rank is not a published award criterion: 'Request for your official high school transcript to be sent directly from your high school to TLU with your current class ranking and cumulative GPA.' TLU also requires a writing sample of at least 500 words, which is unusual for a test-optional school at this size.
- The transfer ladder is a separate set of figures keyed to a cumulative COLLEGE GPA from all institutions attended — $17,000 at 3.25 or above, $16,000 at 3.0–3.24, $15,000 at 2.7–2.99, $14,000 at 2.5–2.69 and $9,000 at 2.49 or below — and it renews for six semesters rather than four years. It uses no test score, so a transfer applicant gets nothing from this grid.
- TLU is silent on the Enhanced ACT and silent on superscoring. It does accept scores as a self-downloaded PDF, which removes the usual cost of sending several sittings.
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 Texas Lutheran University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Texas Lutheran?
Automatic merit aid at Texas Lutheran University starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $3,000 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 Texas Lutheran test-optional?
Test-optional, and TLU's admissions FAQ frames it as having always been so — the quote below is from that FAQ rather than the scholarship page this testPolicy cites for the merit half. Review is holistic, an official score is not needed for the file, and the required pieces are an application, a 500-word writing sample and an official transcript carrying the current class ranking and cumulative GPA. For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and precisely bounded. A score is worth exactly one thing at TLU — the SAT/ACT award of $1,000 to $3,000 a year — and it is worth nothing to the main academic scholarship, which is read off the recalculated GPA alone. A student with no score at all still receives an academic scholarship of at least $18,000 as a full-time admitted first-year student, which is why no band here carries a testOptionalGpa: the test-optional path is not a route to these three rows but a route around them. 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 Texas Lutheran?
On Texas Lutheran's published grid for 2026-27 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for SAT/ACT Award — 28 or above at $2,000 a year, about $8,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Texas Lutheran?
The most valuable single point on Texas Lutheran's published grid is 27 to 28, at a GPA of 28 act or above. the sat alternative is 1300; only the act route is modelled here. no gpa criterion applies to the sat/act award — tlu's separate academic scholarship ladder is keyed to a recalculated core-course gpa on a 5.0 scale, which this tool's 4.0 axis cannot represent, so the gpa input does not narrow this grid. scores must reach tlu by june 1 to count.: it moves the award by $1,000 a year, or $4,000 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 Texas Lutheran superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word 'superscore' appears nowhere on TLU's scholarship page, its first-year admissions page or its admissions FAQs. Each row says only '31 ACT or above', with no statement about whether that composite may be assembled across sittings. What TLU does say is that it will accept scores as a student-downloaded PDF rather than only an official report — 'You may download your scores from the College Board website or the ACT website and send them to us as a PDF' — which makes sending every sitting cheap and fast. Ask admissions whether the best sections across them can be combined.
When are Texas Lutheran scholarship deadlines?
Early Action: Apply by November 15. Regular Decision: Apply by February 1. Late Decision: Applications received after February 1. SAT/ACT scores must be received to be eligible for the SAT/ACT award: June 1. $400 enrollment 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 Texas Lutheran scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Texas Lutheran 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 Texas Lutheran. 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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