University of Missouri–Kansas City: merit scholarships by ACT score
University of Missouri–Kansas City awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 22 and reach $7,500 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
Every rung is keyed to UMKC's high school CORE GPA, not the overall GPA on a transcript, and UMKC does not publish which courses count toward it. Check the core GPA with an admissions counsellor before planning around a band.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Chancellor's Award
$3,500 / year
About $14,000 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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The published UMKC merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from University of Missouri–Kansas City’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.
Automatic awards on admission
No separate application. The $5,000 rung is called Curator's Scholars for Missouri residents and Academic Excellence for everyone else; the thresholds and the amount are identical, so it is one band here.
$7,500
Torchbearer's Fellow
ACT 30–36 · 3.65+ core GPA
$5,000
Curator's Scholars / Academic Excellence
ACT 28–36 · 3.75+ core GPA
$3,500
Chancellor's Award
ACT 25–36 · 3.50+ core GPA
$2,000
Provost's Award
ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ core GPA
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Torchbearer's Fellow | ACT 30–36 · 3.65+ core GPA | $7,500 |
| Curator's Scholars / Academic Excellence | ACT 28–36 · 3.75+ core GPA | $5,000 |
| Chancellor's Award | ACT 25–36 · 3.50+ core GPA | $3,500 |
| Provost's Award | ACT 22–36 · 3.00+ core GPA | $2,000 |
Source: Scholarships for first-time college students · verified 2026-10-24
Does UMKC superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear on UMKC's first-time college student scholarship page, so a student planning a retake should ask in writing whether a superscore counts for these awards.
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 UMKC’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.
UMKC scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Apply for admission to be considered — fall semester | January 15 |
| Apply for admission to be considered — spring semester | November 15 |
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 Missouri–Kansas City’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- The GPA is a CORE GPA, which is not the overall GPA on a transcript. UMKC does not publish which courses count toward it.
- The $5,000 rung has two names for the same money: Curator's Scholars for Missouri residents, Academic Excellence for Kansas and other domestic non-residents. The ACT and GPA thresholds are identical.
- The Torchbearer's Fellow at a 30 requires a LOWER core GPA (3.65) than the $5,000 rung below it (3.75), so a student between those GPAs skips a rung.
- Every automatic award names an ACT minimum. There is no published GPA-only path to any of them.
- A $1,000 Metro Kansas City High School award exists for Missouri and Kansas residents but names no ACT or GPA threshold, so it is not a band on this grid.
- The Trustee's Scholars award and KC Scholars are competitive, need a separate application and are not part of this grid.
- Renewal terms are not published alongside the awards, so the four-year value of any rung is not confirmed on the source page.
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 Missouri–Kansas City.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at UMKC?
Automatic merit aid at University of Missouri–Kansas City starts at an ACT composite of 22, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $7,500 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 UMKC test-optional?
UMKC's first-time student scholarship page does not state an admission testing requirement, so nothing is claimed about it here. For merit aid the answer is different: every rung on the automatic ladder names an ACT minimum, and UMKC publishes no GPA-only alternative to any of them. A student with no score reaches none of these four awards at any core GPA. 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 UMKC?
On UMKC's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Chancellor's Award at $3,500 a year, about $14,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at UMKC?
The most valuable single point on UMKC's published grid is 29 to 30, at a 3.65 GPA: it moves the award by $4,000 a year, or $16,000 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 UMKC superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word does not appear on UMKC's first-time college student scholarship page, so a student planning a retake should ask in writing whether a superscore counts for these awards.
When are UMKC scholarship deadlines?
Apply for admission to be considered — fall semester: January 15. Apply for admission to be considered — spring semester: November 15. 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 UMKC scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from University of Missouri–Kansas City'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.
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What to do next
You know what a score is worth at UMKC. 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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