University of Montevallo: merit scholarships by ACT score
University of Montevallo awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 24 and reach $9,000 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
Montevallo does not publish an entry year for these figures. Students must be admitted by the March 1 priority date to be evaluated, and after it awards are made on a funds-available basis — so meeting a band after that date is not enough.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Freshman Leadership Scholarship
$6,000 / year
About $24,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
1 more point (a 30) moves you to Presidential Honors Scholarship — $9,000 a year. That is $3,000 more a year, or $12,000 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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Want to know what one more point would change? The Merit Plan prices the next point at every school.
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Can you get merit aid at Montevallo without an ACT score?
Yes. A score is genuinely optional and genuinely worth money. Every award up to $4,500 is reachable on GPA alone, but the $6,000 and $9,000 tiers exist only on the test route — so the ceiling without a score is half the ceiling with one.
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.
The published Montevallo merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from University of Montevallo’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.
Entering freshman academic scholarships
Three awards are reachable on GPA alone and three require a score with a 3.0 GPA. A student who qualifies both ways receives the higher award; they do not stack.
$9,000
Presidential Honors Scholarship
ACT 30–36 · 3.00+ with a score
Without a score: not available
$6,000
Freshman Leadership Scholarship
ACT 27–29 · 3.00+ with a score
Without a score: not available
$4,500
Academic Recognition Scholarship
ACT 24–26 · 3.00+ with a score
Without a score: GPA 3.75
$4,500
Academic Recognition Scholarship (no test score)
No score needed
$2,500
Montevallo Academic Leadership Scholarship
No score needed
$1,500
Freshman Achievement Scholarship
No score needed
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential Honors Scholarship | ACT 30–36 · 3.00+ with a score | not available | $9,000 |
| Freshman Leadership Scholarship | ACT 27–29 · 3.00+ with a score | not available | $6,000 |
| Academic Recognition Scholarship | ACT 24–26 · 3.00+ with a score | GPA 3.75 | $4,500 |
| Academic Recognition Scholarship (no test score) | — | not available | $4,500 |
| Montevallo Academic Leadership Scholarship | — | not available | $2,500 |
| Freshman Achievement Scholarship | — | not available | $1,500 |
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.
- Montevallo Ambassador Program Scholarship (M.A.P.S.) — ACT 30+ with 3.50+ with a 30 ACT: Room, board, tuition and fees
Source: Entering freshman academic scholarships · verified 2026-10-24
Does Montevallo superscore for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and Montevallo says so about scholarships specifically rather than admission. It states that academic scholarships are awarded on the superscored ACT or SAT, which means a retake can only help a student who is on the test route.
“Academic scholarships are awarded based on the student's superscored ACT or SAT (optional) and/or high school GPA.”
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.
Montevallo scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Freshman academic scholarship priority deadline — be admitted by this date | March 1 |
| M.A.P.S. competitive scholarship application | January 15 |
| Fall admission application | August 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 Montevallo’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 ceiling without a test score is $4,500. With one it is $9,000 — the $6,000 and $9,000 tiers have no GPA-only route.
- The Academic Recognition Scholarship is the crossover award: $4,500 either at a 3.75 GPA with no score, or at a 24 ACT with a 3.0.
- Awards do not stack. A student who qualifies on both routes receives the single higher amount.
- Non-residents who already hold a UM scholarship may also receive an Out-of-State Scholarship of up to $12,480 a year. It is additive and conditional on holding another award, so it is not a band on this grid.
- M.A.P.S. — room, board, tuition and fees at a 30 ACT and 3.5 GPA — is competitive, limited to twelve students and requires an interview, so it is excluded from the lookup.
- Students must be admitted by March 1 to be evaluated. After that, awards are made only while funds remain.
- Montevallo publishes no entry year for these amounts.
- Institutional aid is capped at the direct cost of attendance.
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 Montevallo.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Montevallo?
Automatic merit aid at University of Montevallo starts at an ACT composite of 24, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $9,000 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 Montevallo test-optional?
Montevallo has waived the test requirement for admission and states plainly that applicants without a score are not disadvantaged in review. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is genuinely optional and genuinely worth money. Every award up to $4,500 is reachable on GPA alone, but the $6,000 and $9,000 tiers exist only on the test route — so the ceiling without a score is half the ceiling with one. 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 Montevallo?
On Montevallo's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Presidential Honors Scholarship at $9,000 a year, about $36,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Montevallo?
The most valuable single point on Montevallo's published grid is 23 to 24, at a 3.0 GPA: it moves the award by $3,000 a year, or $12,000 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 Montevallo superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Yes. Yes, and Montevallo says so about scholarships specifically rather than admission. It states that academic scholarships are awarded on the superscored ACT or SAT, which means a retake can only help a student who is on the test route. Academic scholarships are awarded based on the student's superscored ACT or SAT (optional) and/or high school GPA.
When are Montevallo scholarship deadlines?
Freshman academic scholarship priority deadline — be admitted by this date: March 1. M.A.P.S. competitive scholarship application: January 15. Fall admission application: August 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 Montevallo scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from University of Montevallo'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 Montevallo. 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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