University of Central Oklahoma: merit scholarships by ACT score
University of Central Oklahoma awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 23 and reach $1,000 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
These are TUITION WAIVERS, not cash: UCO applies them only up to the tuition charged on the account, and says that where multiple waivers land 'the full amount of all awards may not apply'. Oklahoma regents policy also bars waiving a non-resident's tuition below the resident rate. The two awards do stack, so the maximum automatic total is $2,000 a year — but UCO never prints that figure. The page also carries no cycle year, and its renewal terms link to a guide that does not exist.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Broncho Bronze — Outstanding
$750 per year / year
About $3,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Broncho Bronze — Elite — $1,000 per year a year. That is $250 more a year, or $1,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether a point is worth having. It's whether they can move it — which starts with knowing exactly which questions they're missing, and why.
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The published UCO merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from University of Central Oklahoma’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.
Broncho Bronze Achievement Award — keyed to the ACT alone
No GPA requirement at all. This award stacks with Broncho Blue, so a student can hold both.
$1,000 per year
Broncho Bronze — Elite
ACT 30–36 · no GPA requirement
$750 per year
Broncho Bronze — Outstanding
ACT 26–29 · no GPA requirement
$500 per year
Broncho Bronze — Distinguished
ACT 23–25 · no GPA requirement
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Broncho Bronze — Elite | ACT 30–36 · no GPA requirement | $1,000 per year |
| Broncho Bronze — Outstanding | ACT 26–29 · no GPA requirement | $750 per year |
| Broncho Bronze — Distinguished | ACT 23–25 · no GPA requirement | $500 per year |
Source: Automatic Academic Four-Year Scholarships · verified 2026-10-21
Broncho Blue Achievement Award — keyed to GPA alone
No score required. Stacks on top of Broncho Bronze, so the ACT award and the GPA award are additive rather than alternatives.
$1,000 per year
Broncho Blue — Elite
No score needed · GPA 4.00
$800 per year
Broncho Blue — Outstanding
No score needed · GPA 3.75
$650 per year
Broncho Blue — Distinguished
No score needed · GPA 3.50
$500 per year
Broncho Blue — Excellence
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broncho Blue — Elite | — | GPA 4.00 | $1,000 per year |
| Broncho Blue — Outstanding | — | GPA 3.75 | $800 per year |
| Broncho Blue — Distinguished | — | GPA 3.50 | $650 per year |
| Broncho Blue — Excellence | — | GPA 3.00 | $500 per year |
Source: Automatic Academic Four-Year Scholarships · verified 2026-10-21
Does UCO superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and said plainly. Note that UCO's definition is already behind the format: it describes the superscore as averaging reading, English, maths and SCIENCE, and the Enhanced ACT removes Science from the composite. UCO has not updated the sentence.
“Thus, your new composite score will be higher, and it will be used for academic scholarship purposes.”
So the number that matters here is your superscore, not your best single test. Work out your superscore and look that score up in the grid above — it may sit a band higher than the one you have been planning around.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
UCO scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Priority deadline — application, transcript and ACT scores received | 5 p.m. Feb. 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 University of Central Oklahoma’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Automatic Academic Four-Year Scholarshipsverified 2026-10-21
- Apply to UCO — test-optional policy and superscoringverified 2026-10-21
- The two awards stack, so a 30 ACT with a 4.0 GPA reaches $2,000 a year — but that total is arithmetic, not a figure UCO publishes.
- The ACT axis is fully independent of the transcript here, which makes UCO the clearest place in this dataset to see what a score is worth on its own: $500 at a 23, $750 at a 26, $1,000 at a 30.
- UCO prints its first ACT band high-to-low, as '25-23', while printing the second low-to-high as '26-29'. A quirk of its own page.
- Its published SAT ranges leave a gap — Outstanding tops out at 1,350 and Elite starts at 1,360, so a 1,355 falls in no band. Reported as printed rather than reconciled.
- No renewal GPA or credit-hour requirement is published anywhere. The page points to 'Scholarship Guide links below' and there are no such links.
- The Leaders of Tomorrow and President's Leadership scholarships offer tuition plus a housing and meal stipend at a 3.0 GPA and a 20 ACT, but each names only 20 to 25 students a year and interviews finalists. Not modelled.
- The Oklahoma State Regents awards on the same page — Regional Baccalaureate, Oklahoma Rising Scholar — are state money rather than UCO's, require interviews, and cap their numbers at 14 or 15 a year.
- The Oklahoma Rising Scholar Automatic Qualifier pays $13,000 a year plus full tuition but is keyed to the 99.5th percentile rather than a score, so no ACT minimum can be derived.
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 University of Central Oklahoma.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at UCO?
Automatic merit aid at University of Central Oklahoma starts at an ACT composite of 23, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $1,000 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 UCO test-optional?
Test-optional, with a score as one route in: a 20 composite admits on its own, as does a 2.7 GPA with a top-half class rank. Homeschool and unaccredited-school applicants are the exception and must submit a score. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is what unlocks Broncho Bronze — no score means no Bronze money. Broncho Blue remains fully reachable on GPA alone, so skipping the test costs between $500 and $1,000 a year rather than everything. 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 UCO?
On UCO's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Broncho Bronze Achievement Award — keyed to the ACT alone — Broncho Bronze — Elite at $1,000 a year, about $4,000 over four years if it renews; Broncho Blue Achievement Award — keyed to GPA alone — Broncho Blue — Distinguished at $650 a year, about $2,600 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at UCO?
The most valuable single point on UCO's published grid is 25 to 26, at a GPA of act 26-29 — no gpa requirement: it moves the award by $250 a year, or $1,000 across a four-year degree on the Broncho Bronze Achievement Award — keyed to the ACT alone grid. 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 UCO superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and said plainly. Note that UCO's definition is already behind the format: it describes the superscore as averaging reading, English, maths and SCIENCE, and the Enhanced ACT removes Science from the composite. UCO has not updated the sentence. Thus, your new composite score will be higher, and it will be used for academic scholarship purposes.
When are UCO scholarship deadlines?
Priority deadline — application, transcript and ACT scores received: 5 p.m. Feb. 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 UCO scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from University of Central Oklahoma's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-21. 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 UCO. 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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