University of West Alabama: merit scholarships by ACT score
University of West Alabama awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 21 and reach $12,000 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 awards require a scholarship application by April 15 — the criteria are numeric and UWA never calls them competitive, but the form is a gate. UWA also requires on-campus residency for the first two academic years to keep the full value of a Trustee award, and twelve on-campus credit hours a semester. The four largest awards have no GPA route at all.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
President's Award
$7,000 a year / year
About $28,000 over four years, if it renews.
What the next points are worth
2 more points (a 31) moves you to Trustee Excellence Award — $10,000 a year a year. That is $3,000 more a year, or $12,000 over four years.
The question isn't whether 2 points is worth having. It's whether they can move them — 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 UWA without an ACT score?
Yes. A score is optional up to $4,000 a year and mandatory above it. The GPA route tops out at the Director's Award; the Dean's, President's, Excellence and Superior awards are reachable only with an ACT, so a 4.0 with no score is capped at $4,000 while a 33 reaches $12,000.
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.
“Trustee Superior Award”
The published UWA merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from University of West Alabama’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.
Trustee Academic Awards
The three lower awards are reachable on a score OR a GPA. The four above them are score-only — no GPA reaches them.
$12,000 a year
Trustee Superior Award
ACT 33–36 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$10,000 a year
Trustee Excellence Award
ACT 31–32 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$7,000 a year
President's Award
ACT 29–30 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$5,000 a year
Dean's Award
ACT 27–28 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$4,000 a year
Director's Award
ACT 25–26 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$4,000 a year
Director's Award (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.75
$3,000 a year
Counselor's Award
ACT 23–24 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$3,000 a year
Counselor's Award (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.25
$2,000 a year
Tiger Achievement Award
ACT 21–22 · any GPA — this route reads the score
Without a score: not available
$2,000 a year
Tiger Achievement Award (GPA route)
No score needed · GPA 3.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustee Superior Award | ACT 33–36 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $12,000 a year |
| Trustee Excellence Award | ACT 31–32 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $10,000 a year |
| President's Award | ACT 29–30 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $7,000 a year |
| Dean's Award | ACT 27–28 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $5,000 a year |
| Director's Award | ACT 25–26 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $4,000 a year |
| Director's Award (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.75 | $4,000 a year |
| Counselor's Award | ACT 23–24 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $3,000 a year |
| Counselor's Award (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.25 | $3,000 a year |
| Tiger Achievement Award | ACT 21–22 · any GPA — this route reads the score | not available | $2,000 a year |
| Tiger Achievement Award (GPA route) | — | GPA 3.00 | $2,000 a year |
Source: Trustee Academic Awards · verified 2026-10-24
Does UWA superscore for scholarships?
Not stated on any official UWA page read for this entry. It matters here because the score windows are two points wide and the steps between them are large, so a student planning a retake should confirm in writing.
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 UWA’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.
UWA scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Scholarship application | April 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 West Alabama’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 route caps at $4,000 a year. The score route continues to $12,000.
- A 4.0 with no test score is paid $4,000; a 33 with no GPA requirement at all is paid $12,000.
- The score windows are two points wide — 21–22, 23–24, 25–26, 27–28, 29–30, 31–32, 33+ — so a single point frequently crosses a tier.
- On-campus residency is required for the first two academic years to keep the full value of a Trustee award.
- Renewal requires a 3.0 cumulative GPA and twelve on-campus credit hours a semester.
- A scholarship application is required by April 15.
- Transfer students with fewer than 24 hours are also eligible.
- An older version of the page showed GPA routes on the President's and Trustee tiers. The current page has none, and the current page is what is modelled.
- The Leadership Scholarship ($2,500) requires leadership activities and an application, so it is not a band here.
- The page does not say whether the GPA is weighted or unweighted.
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 West Alabama.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at UWA?
Automatic merit aid at University of West Alabama starts at an ACT composite of 21, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $12,000 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 UWA test-optional?
The scholarships page does not state the admission testing requirement, so nothing is claimed about it here. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is optional up to $4,000 a year and mandatory above it. The GPA route tops out at the Director's Award; the Dean's, President's, Excellence and Superior awards are reachable only with an ACT, so a 4.0 with no score is capped at $4,000 while a 33 reaches $12,000. 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 UWA?
On UWA's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for President's Award at $7,000 a year, about $28,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at UWA?
The most valuable single point on UWA's published grid is 30 to 31, on the row where it is largest: 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 UWA superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated on any official UWA page read for this entry. It matters here because the score windows are two points wide and the steps between them are large, so a student planning a retake should confirm in writing.
When are UWA scholarship deadlines?
Scholarship application: April 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 UWA scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from University of West Alabama'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 UWA. 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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