Thomas More University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Thomas More University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 26 and reach $23,000 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
Read this one as two numbers added together, not one. The GPA sets the academic scholarship — $20,000 at a 3.9 or above, $18,000 from 3.0 to 3.89, $16,000 for anyone admitted — and a verified ACT then adds a published Test Score Bonus on top: $1,000 at 26-27, $1,500 at 28-29, $2,000 at 30 or higher. So a 3.9 with a 31 is $22,000 a year, not $20,000. The lookup can only return one row, because the sum is arithmetic rather than a figure Thomas More prints. Three other things matter. The academic scholarships 'may not be combined with other academic scholarships', so the rows are alternatives to each other. A score counts only if it arrives as a score report from the testing agency — one on a transcript is explicitly ignored. And 'Thomas More University does not superscore', so the bonus thresholds must be cleared in a single sitting. Graduates of Diocese of Covington high schools are on the separate, better-paying track.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Dean’s Scholarship
$18,000 / year
About $72,000 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 Thomas More without an ACT score?
Yes. Optional, and priced. A score is never required — every GPA row is reachable without one, which is why each carries a testOptionalGpa — but a verified composite is worth a published amount on top: $1,000 at an ACT 26-27, $1,500 at 28-29, $2,000 at 30 or higher, every year for up to four years. A score also opens the lower-GPA route into two competitive full-tuition programs, a 3.6 with a 29 for James Graham Brown and a 3.0 with a 23 for the CIS Workship. The channel is as important as the number: only a score report sent by the testing agency counts, and Thomas More says such scores 'may be factored into admission and scholarship decisions'.
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.
“High school students with a verified test score equivalent to a 26 ACT/1240 SAT or higher are eligible for this award in addition to their academic scholarship. Amount will be added to their academic scholarship and varies depending on test score.”
The published Thomas More merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Thomas More 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, 2027-28
Automatic on admission — 'No application beyond the admission application is required for academic scholarships.' The three GPA rows are alternatives to each other, but the Test Score Bonus is NOT: it is paid 'in addition to their academic scholarship', so add it to whichever GPA row applies. More additive money sits outside this grid and stacks too — 'These awards can all be combined with your academic scholarship': a $2,000 Parochial Promise for students at Catholic high schools outside the Diocese of Covington, a $1,000 FAFSA Submission Incentive, a $2,000 Out of State Grant for non-Kentucky residents, a $1,000 Sibling/Legacy Guarantee, a $2,000 Military Award, co-curricular awards for Band, Music, Spirit and Theater, and a Chancellor's Fund Award of varying size given 'at the discretion of the Office of Enrollment'.
$20,000
Presidential Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.90
$18,000
Dean’s Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 3.00
$16,000
Thomas More Award
No score needed · GPA 0.00
$1,000 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 26-27)
ACT 26–27 · 27 (SAT 1240-1300). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
$1,500 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 28-29)
ACT 28–29 · 29 (SAT 1310-1380). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
$2,000 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 30+)
ACT 30–36 · ACT 30 or higher (SAT 1390+). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential Scholarship | — | GPA 3.90 | $20,000 |
| Dean’s Scholarship | — | GPA 3.00 | $18,000 |
| Thomas More Award | — | GPA 0.00 | $16,000 |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 26-27) | ACT 26–27 · 27 (SAT 1240-1300). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $1,000 added to your academic scholarship |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 28-29) | ACT 28–29 · 29 (SAT 1310-1380). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $1,500 added to your academic scholarship |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 30+) | ACT 30–36 · ACT 30 or higher (SAT 1390+). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $2,000 added to your academic scholarship |
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.
- Governor’s Scholars (Kentucky students only) — : $25,000
- National Merit Finalists — : Full Tuition
- James Graham Brown Scholars Program — ACT 29+ with High school seniors only. Two published routes, and only the ACT route is modelled here: a 3.6 GPA with a 29 ACT (the alternatives are a 1330 SAT or a 90 CLT). The route without a score is a 4.0 GPA. A separate application, a December 15 deadline, and 'Finalists will be selected to interview' — only the top two candidates are guaranteed full tuition.: Full tuition for the top two candidates
- Computer Information Systems Workship Program — ACT 23+ with High school seniors only, and only the ACT route is modelled here: a 3.0 GPA with a 23 ACT (the alternatives are a 1130 SAT or a 74 CLT). The route without a score is a 3.5 GPA. Must major in Computer Information Systems or Management Information Systems, apply by March 1, be selected to interview, and be 'willing to work 20 hours per week, 50 weeks per year in the Computer Center on campus'.: Full tuition award
- Msgr. Cleves University Honors Program — : Amount varies based on academic accomplishments
Source: Scholarships & Awards — 2027-28 academic amounts by GPA, the Test Score Bonus table, and the achievement awards · verified 2026-10-23
Diocese of Covington high school graduates
A separate population with its own, better, automatic figure. The Diocese of Covington Guarantee is 'Presented to high school seniors graduating from a Diocese of Covington high school' and is an academic scholarship, so it replaces the Presidential and Dean's awards rather than adding to them. The Test Score Bonus still applies on top, which makes $25,000 a year reachable automatically at a 3.9 with a 30. Note that the Parochial Promise moved the other way: it is now for 'students attending Catholic high schools outside the Diocese of Covington', so a diocesan student cannot stack it.
$23,000
Diocese of Covington Guarantee
No score needed · GPA 3.90
$20,000
Diocese of Covington Guarantee
No score needed · GPA 0.00
$1,000 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 26-27)
ACT 26–27 · 27 (SAT 1240-1300). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
$1,500 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 28-29)
ACT 28–29 · 29 (SAT 1310-1380). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
$2,000 added to your academic scholarship
Test Score Bonus (ACT 30+)
ACT 30–36 · ACT 30 or higher (SAT 1390+). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here.
Without a score: not available
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diocese of Covington Guarantee | — | GPA 3.90 | $23,000 |
| Diocese of Covington Guarantee | — | GPA 0.00 | $20,000 |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 26-27) | ACT 26–27 · 27 (SAT 1240-1300). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $1,000 added to your academic scholarship |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 28-29) | ACT 28–29 · 29 (SAT 1310-1380). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $1,500 added to your academic scholarship |
| Test Score Bonus (ACT 30+) | ACT 30–36 · ACT 30 or higher (SAT 1390+). No GPA criterion — this is paid IN ADDITION TO whichever academic scholarship your GPA earns. The SAT equivalents are the school's alternative route; only the ACT route is shown here. | not available | $2,000 added to your academic scholarship |
Source: Scholarships & Awards — 2027-28 academic amounts by GPA, the Test Score Bonus table, and the achievement awards · verified 2026-10-23
Does Thomas More superscore for scholarships?
No. No, and here that is expensive rather than academic. Thomas More states it in four words, and three published money thresholds read a single composite: the 26, 28 and 30 bonus steps, plus the 29 route into James Graham Brown and the 23 route into the CIS Workship. A student holding a 25 and a 25 with strong but differently-placed sections cannot assemble a 26 — one sitting has to clear the bar, which makes a single better test day worth $1,000 to $2,000 a year.
“Thomas More University does not superscore.”
This matters more than it sounds. A student whose superscore crosses a band but whose best single sitting does not will be paid on the lower band. Look up your best single sitting in the grid above, then find what is costing you points on one test.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Thomas More scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Academic scholarships and the Test Score Bonus — none published; awarded on admission | Rolling (no application beyond the admission application) |
| James Graham Brown Scholars Program (full tuition for the top two) | December 15 |
| Bishop Roger J. Foys Ministry and Service Scholarship — priority deadline | November 1 |
| Wilbert L. and Ellen Hackman Ziegler Scholarship (psychology majors) | December 15 |
| Msgr. Cleves University Honors Program | January 1 |
| George A. Renaker Charitable Foundation Scholarship (biology, chemistry, nursing) | January 15 |
| Computer Information Systems Workship Program, and the Music co-curricular award | March 1 |
| Utopia, Amber Johnson and Alpha Delta Gamma Founders Legacy Scholarships | 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 Thomas More 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.
- Scholarships & Awards — 2027-28 academic amounts by GPA, the Test Score Bonus table, and the achievement awardsverified 2026-10-23
- Admissions Requirements — test-optional policy, the superscore answer, and the ACT thresholds inside nursing and educationverified 2026-10-23
- Kentucky Aid — KEES, the CAP Grant and the Kentucky Tuition Grant, none of them institutional moneyverified 2026-10-23
- The Test Score Bonus is the clearest ACT price tag in this part of the dataset, and it is additive: $1,000 at an ACT 26-27, $1,500 at 28-29, $2,000 at 30 or higher, paid 'in addition to their academic scholarship'. Over four years that is $4,000, $6,000 or $8,000 for clearing a threshold on a single test day. The lookup above returns one row at a time, so add the bonus to the GPA row yourself.
- The grid has no floor. The Thomas More Award pays $16,000 a year to anyone 'Admitted to Thomas More University with GPA up to 2.99', so the published spread from 'admitted' to a 3.9 is $4,000 a year — exactly twice what the top score bonus is worth, which makes the ACT a surprisingly large share of the movable money here.
- Diocese of Covington high school graduates should read the second track, not the first. The Guarantee pays $20,000 below a 3.9 and $23,000 at a 3.9 or above, which beats the Presidential Scholarship outright, and it is an academic scholarship so it replaces rather than stacks. The Parochial Promise ($2,000) now covers Catholic high schools OUTSIDE the diocese, so it is not a top-up for diocesan students.
- The academic awards do not combine with each other, but nearly everything else combines with them: 'These awards can all be combined with your academic scholarship.' That list includes the $1,000 FAFSA Submission Incentive, the $2,000 Out of State Grant, the $1,000 Sibling/Legacy Guarantee, the $2,000 Military Award and the Chancellor's Fund Award. The explicit exception is the CIS Workship, which 'cannot be combined with other institutional scholarships and awards'.
- The ACT has non-money consequences here that cost time instead of dollars, and no grid shows them. A pre-nursing student admitted with a score 'must have a minimum of a 20 ACT/1030 SAT/66 CLT to qualify for the four-year plan'; below that, or with no score and no TEAS score of 72 or above, the nursing degree takes five academic years. And 'first-year education majors with under a 22 ACT score take EDU101 as a sixteen-week course', while students at 22 or higher 'are exempt from PRAXIS I'.
- Kentucky's KEES is NOT Thomas More's money, and it is the award Kentucky families most often mistake for college aid. Thomas More's own description: 'Merit-based award. Students earn scholarship money during high school for high grades and test scores. Students can receive scholarship money for four years in college as long as they maintain at least a 2.5 GPA and remain on track to graduate. No application is necessary. The award will be administered by your high school, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority, and your university.' It is earned year by year in HIGH SCHOOL off the high school GPA, with an extra bonus for the ACT, it travels to any participating Kentucky college, and the university decided none of it. A Kentucky student's ACT therefore pays twice — once into KEES through the state, once into the Test Score Bonus through Thomas More — and the two are entirely separate pots.
- Kentucky's two need-based state grants are also outside this grid and no score moves either. The College Access Program (CAP) Grant is awarded in 'amounts awarded up to $5,300' and requires Pell eligibility; the Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG) is 'up to $3,500' and is 'available to Kentucky residents attending a private college or university in Kentucky'. Both require the FAFSA, and Thomas More footnotes both figures as '2025-2026 amounts' — so they are last year's numbers on a page otherwise headed 2027-28.
- Several awards on the page are published as ceilings rather than amounts and are therefore not bands here: the Utopia Scholarship at 'up to $10,000' (and it now requires proficiency in a foreign or computer language), the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation Scholarship at 'up to $5,000' for one Ohio STEM student, the Amber Johnson Scholarship at 'up to $4,000', the Renaker Scholarship at 'up to $1,500', and the Bishop Foys Ministry and Service Scholarship at '$1,000-$5,000' decided by an interview with the Campus Minister.
- A sourcing trap for whoever re-checks this: thomasmore.edu's firewall returns a 403 to HTTP/2 and to most scripted clients, though its robots.txt names ClaudeBot and anthropic-ai as allowed, and the page does serve over HTTP/1.1. The Internet Archive's July 2026 snapshot of the same URL carries a SUPERSEDED grid — Presidential at 4.0, Dean's to 3.99, and the bonus as an unmapped '$1,000-$2,000' range with no score table. If a fallback ever reads the Archive instead of the live page, the figures will look plausible and be a cycle out of date.
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 Thomas More University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Thomas More?
Automatic merit aid at Thomas More University starts at an ACT composite of 26, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $23,000 a year at the top of the 2 grids it publishes. The bands are steps rather than a slope, so the only score that matters is the next threshold above where you are now.
Is Thomas More test-optional?
Test-optional for first-year applicants, and unusually strict about the channel. A score sitting on a transcript is ignored: 'Your transcript is not required to show any standardized test scores (ACT/SAT/CLT). If they are included with your transcript or on related materials, we will not consider them as part of your application for admission. We will only consider ACT/SAT/CLT scores you submit to us by score report from the testing agency.' Thomas More also states that withholding a score carries no penalty: 'It will not reflect negatively on your application if you refrain from submitting a test score.' For merit aid the answer is different: optional, and priced. A score is never required — every GPA row is reachable without one, which is why each carries a testOptionalGpa — but a verified composite is worth a published amount on top: $1,000 at an ACT 26-27, $1,500 at 28-29, $2,000 at 30 or higher, every year for up to four years. A score also opens the lower-GPA route into two competitive full-tuition programs, a 3.6 with a 29 for James Graham Brown and a 3.0 with a 23 for the CIS Workship. The channel is as important as the number: only a score report sent by the testing agency counts, and Thomas More says such scores 'may be factored into admission and scholarship decisions'. 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 Thomas More?
On Thomas More's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for First-year academic scholarships, 2027-28 — Dean’s Scholarship at $18,000 a year, about $72,000 over four years if it renews; Diocese of Covington high school graduates — Diocese of Covington Guarantee at $20,000 a year, about $80,000 over four years if it renews.
Does Thomas More superscore the ACT for scholarships?
No. No, and here that is expensive rather than academic. Thomas More states it in four words, and three published money thresholds read a single composite: the 26, 28 and 30 bonus steps, plus the 29 route into James Graham Brown and the 23 route into the CIS Workship. A student holding a 25 and a 25 with strong but differently-placed sections cannot assemble a 26 — one sitting has to clear the bar, which makes a single better test day worth $1,000 to $2,000 a year. Thomas More University does not superscore.
When are Thomas More scholarship deadlines?
Academic scholarships and the Test Score Bonus — none published; awarded on admission: Rolling (no application beyond the admission application). James Graham Brown Scholars Program (full tuition for the top two): December 15. Bishop Roger J. Foys Ministry and Service Scholarship — priority deadline: November 1. Wilbert L. and Ellen Hackman Ziegler Scholarship (psychology majors): December 15. Msgr. Cleves University Honors Program: January 1. George A. Renaker Charitable Foundation Scholarship (biology, chemistry, nursing): January 15. Computer Information Systems Workship Program, and the Music co-curricular award: March 1. Utopia, Amber Johnson and Alpha Delta Gamma Founders Legacy Scholarships: 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 Thomas More scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Thomas More 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.
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What to do next
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