University of Colorado Colorado Springs: merit scholarships by ACT score
University of Colorado Colorado Springs awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $6,250 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
UCCS's award pages still say awarding ends June 1 for Summer and Fall 2025 and have not been updated, so these are last cycle's published terms. The four-year figures are worded as a maximum. A student between a 3.0 and a 3.49 without a qualifying score is not automatically awarded but is invited to submit a supplemental form for committee review, which cannot be predicted and so is not a band. The GPA is weighted, and the awards are for full-time first-time freshmen seeking a first bachelor's degree; international students are excluded.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Peak Award — on a score
$6,250 a year, up to $25,000 over four / year
About $25,000 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 UCCS without an ACT score?
Yes. The score does not raise the award — it lowers the GPA requirement from a 3.5 to a 3.0. For a student between those numbers a 22 is worth the entire award; above a 3.5 it is worth nothing.
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.
“Automatically awarded to students with 3.0 weighted HS GPA or higher with either a minimum ACT score of 22 or SAT score of 1110”
The published UCCS merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from University of Colorado Colorado Springs’s own pages for Fall 2025 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Non-residents outside the WUE states — Peak Award
Two and a half times the resident award on identical criteria. Automatically awarded.
$6,250 a year, up to $25,000 over four
Peak Award — on a score
ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ weighted with a 22 or better
Without a score: not available
$6,250 a year, up to $25,000 over four
Peak Award — without a score
No score needed · GPA 3.50
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak Award — on a score | ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ weighted with a 22 or better | not available | $6,250 a year, up to $25,000 over four |
| Peak Award — without a score | — | GPA 3.50 | $6,250 a year, up to $25,000 over four |
Source: Peak Award — non-residents outside WUE · verified 2026-10-24
Colorado residents and WUE-state students — Chancellor's Award
The same thresholds as the Peak Award at a smaller figure. Automatically awarded.
$2,500 a year, up to $10,000 over four
Chancellor's Award — on a score
ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ weighted with a 22 or better
Without a score: not available
$2,500 a year, up to $10,000 over four
Chancellor's Award — without a score
No score needed · GPA 3.50
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chancellor's Award — on a score | ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ weighted with a 22 or better | not available | $2,500 a year, up to $10,000 over four |
| Chancellor's Award — without a score | — | GPA 3.50 | $2,500 a year, up to $10,000 over four |
Source: Chancellor's Award — Colorado residents and WUE · verified 2026-10-24
Does UCCS superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Stated on the admissions page. Worth knowing when a single 22 is the whole lever.
“If you take the same test more than once, we combine your scores on each subsection to give you the highest overall composite score.”
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.
UCCS scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Awarding ends | June 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 Colorado Colorado Springs’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Chancellor's Award — Colorado residents and WUEverified 2026-10-24
- Peak Award — non-residents outside WUEverified 2026-10-24
- First-year admissionsverified 2026-10-24
- A 22 ACT lowers the GPA requirement from a 3.5 to a 3.0 — it does not raise the award.
- For a student between a 3.0 and a 3.49 the score is worth the entire award; above a 3.5 it is worth nothing.
- Non-residents outside WUE get $6,250 a year; Colorado residents and WUE students get $2,500, on identical criteria.
- The GPA is weighted, so honours and AP coursework help clear the 3.5 no-score route.
- UCCS superscores, combining subsection bests across sittings.
- A student between a 3.0 and a 3.49 without a score is invited to a committee review via supplemental form, which is not predictable and not a band.
- The four-year figures are worded as a maximum.
- The posted pages still refer to Summer and Fall 2025.
- Renewal needs 30 credit hours a year at a 3.0 UCCS GPA.
- International students are excluded.
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 Colorado Colorado Springs.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at UCCS?
Automatic merit aid at University of Colorado Colorado Springs starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $6,250 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 UCCS test-optional?
A score is never required, and on this grid it changes the threshold rather than the amount. For merit aid the answer is different: the score does not raise the award — it lowers the GPA requirement from a 3.5 to a 3.0. For a student between those numbers a 22 is worth the entire award; above a 3.5 it is worth nothing. 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 UCCS?
On UCCS's published grid for Fall 2025 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Non-residents outside the WUE states — Peak Award — Peak Award — on a score at $6,250 a year, about $25,000 over four years if it renews; Colorado residents and WUE-state students — Chancellor's Award — Chancellor's Award — on a score at $2,500 a year, about $10,000 over four years if it renews.
Does in-state or out-of-state change merit aid at UCCS?
Yes. UCCS publishes separate grids: Colorado residents and WUE-state students — Chancellor's Award run $2,500 to $2,500 a year, and Non-residents outside the WUE states — Peak Award run $6,250 to $6,250 — a difference of $3,750 a year at the top. Check which grid applies to you before planning around a figure.
Does UCCS superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Stated on the admissions page. Worth knowing when a single 22 is the whole lever. If you take the same test more than once, we combine your scores on each subsection to give you the highest overall composite score.
When are UCCS scholarship deadlines?
Awarding ends: June 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 UCCS scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from University of Colorado Colorado Springs'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
You know what a score is worth at UCCS. 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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