Washburn University: merit scholarships by GPA
Washburn University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to GPA — the ACT is not used. Awards start at a 3.0 GPA and reach $5,000 a year. Because the bands are steps rather than a slope, a hundredth of a GPA point is worth nothing inside a band and the whole step at the edge of one.
Enter a GPA below to see which band it actually lands in, what that band pays, and what the next band needs.
Read this first
Your ACT score cannot change Washburn's freshman merit award. Washburn states that you no longer need an ACT or SAT score to qualify and that awards are now based only on high school GPA, so every figure below is set by the transcript alone. The ACT x GPA grid still visible further down Washburn's page is labelled for "incoming Fall 2022 Freshman and prior" and no longer applies. One competitive award, the Richey, does still require a 28.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — a 3.60 GPA
Bow Tie Scholarship
$2,000 / year
About $8,000 over four years, if it renews.
Washburn awards this on GPA alone, so an ACT score does not change it. A higher score can still matter for admission, for honours programmes, and at other schools on the list — but not for this award.
The ACT doesn't move the money here — but it still decides admission, honours eligibility, and what they is worth at the other schools on the list, where most awards are score-keyed.
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The published Washburn merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Washburn University’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.
Incoming first-time freshmen
Automatic — Washburn says students "are automatically considered, no separate application required". Awards are first set from your self-reported cumulative high school GPA and finalised against the official transcript, and they are withdrawn if the transcript never arrives. You must enrol in at least 12 credit hours in both the fall and the spring at the main Topeka campus, and a GED in place of a diploma makes you ineligible for this award.
$5,000
Ichabod Scholarship
No score needed
$4,000
Bell Tower Scholarship
No score needed
$3,000
Top Hat Scholarship
No score needed
$2,000
Bow Tie Scholarship
No score needed
$1,000
Blue & White Scholarship
No score needed
| Award | With a score | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Ichabod Scholarship | — | $5,000 |
| Bell Tower Scholarship | — | $4,000 |
| Top Hat Scholarship | — | $3,000 |
| Bow Tie Scholarship | — | $2,000 |
| Blue & White Scholarship | — | $1,000 |
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.
- Richey Scholarship (invitation only, limited awards) — ACT 28+ with 3.9 or higher with a 28 ACT or higher, by invitation: $10,000
Source: Scholarship Information — Freshman Merit Scholarships, amounts by GPA tier, renewal criteria · verified 2026-10-23
Does Washburn superscore for scholarships?
Not stated, and for the freshman grid the question does not arise — Washburn uses no score at all, so there is nothing to superscore. The word does not appear on Washburn's scholarship page, its how-to-apply page or its Richey page. Where it would matter is the Richey and Shaw thresholds of 28, and Washburn has not said whether it reads a best composite across sittings or a single test date. Ask the Financial Aid Office before writing off an earlier attempt.
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 Washburn’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.
Washburn scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Freshman merit scholarship priority deadline, fall start | July 1 |
| Freshman merit scholarship priority deadline, spring start | November 1 |
| General university scholarship deadline | July 1 |
| Richey Scholarship application | February 6, 2026 |
| Specialized scholarship applications (Finnup, Glatt, Hindman, Shaw, Wiseman, Woodbury-Ramskill) — awarding continues until funds run out | February 15 |
| New Student Orientation registration (strongly encouraged) | May 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 Washburn University’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Scholarship Information — Freshman Merit Scholarships, amounts by GPA tier, renewal criteriaverified 2026-10-23
- How to Apply — test-optional policy and the July 1 general university scholarship deadlineverified 2026-10-23
- Richey Scholarship — $10,000 per year, GPA and ACT criteriaverified 2026-10-23
- Northeast Kansas Advantage — tuition-free, last-dollar regional awardverified 2026-10-23
- Out-of-State Waivers — the Interstate Advantageverified 2026-10-23
- The ACT is worth nothing in the freshman grid. Washburn deleted the score axis: "You no longer need ACT or SAT scores to qualify for merit scholarships... awards are now based only on your high school grade point average (GPA)." A 36 and a blank score line pay the same award.
- Do not read the old grid as current. The ACT x GPA table still published lower down the same page — 21-22 through 35-36 against five GPA columns, $500 to $5,000 — carries Washburn's own sentence "This grid and renewal criteria applies to incoming Fall 2022 Freshman and prior." It is history, and it paid a maximum of $5,000 a year to a 36 with a 4.0, which the current GPA-only Ichabod award matches with no test at all.
- The tier edges are where the money is, and the top two are close together. Crossing 3.64 to 3.65 is worth $1,000 a year and 3.89 to 3.90 another $1,000 — so a single B-plus turning into an A can be worth $4,000 across four years. The band from 3.90 to 4.0 is worth $1,000 a year on its own.
- A score still buys money in exactly two places, and both are gated. The Richey is $10,000 a year — "$40,000 toward your first undergraduate degree" — for a 3.9 GPA and a 28 ACT, and Washburn says the Office of Enrollment Management "invites eligible students to apply", so clearing the numbers is necessary and not sufficient. The Shaw needs a 3.5 and a 28 plus a pre-law or pre-medicine major, is listed at $1,250 with no statement of whether that is annual or one-time, and is "subject to available funds" — which is why it is a note here rather than a band.
- The Richey stacks, which is unusual. Washburn says "recipients can stack the scholarship on top of a Freshman Merit Scholarship", so a 4.0 with a 28 who is invited and selected reaches $15,000 a year. It also carries automatic entry into the Honors Program, a guaranteed Honors Learning Community spot, and a requirement to live on campus in that community during the first year.
- Washburn's two pages disagree on the Richey deadline, and the published one has already passed. The Richey page says "Deadline: February 6, 2026" while the scholarship index gives February 15 as the priority date for the other specialized awards. Treat early February as the real window and confirm the current year's date with the Financial Aid Office before relying on either.
- Money runs out. Six of Washburn's specialized awards carry the phrase "we will continue to award until funds are exhausted" or "Awards are limited and subject to available funds", and the PTK and All-Kansas Academic Team transfer awards are "subject to available funding". The freshman merit grid itself is not funding-capped in Washburn's wording, but everything stacked on top of it is.
- Out-of-state students are not penalised here. The Interstate Advantage gives undergraduates from anywhere in the United States in-state tuition — Washburn prices it at "up to $393 per credit hour ($11,790 per year for a full-time student enrolled in 30 hours)" — it is renewable, and it "can be combined with other awards". For a non-Kansas family that waiver is worth more than any merit tier in the grid.
- Kansas state aid is not Washburn's money and is deliberately out of the grid. The need-based Kansas Comprehensive Grant and the Kansas State Scholarship are administered by the state, and Washburn lists them under "State of Kansas Scholarships and Grants" with a pointer to the state's own application, deadlines and eligibility rules rather than awarding them itself. Nothing about your ACT score changes them, and a FAFSA is the gate. Washburn's own regional programmes — the Shawnee County Promise and Thrives, and the Northeast Kansas Advantage, which can make tuition free for a 3.0 student from the listed counties who is Pell-eligible or under a $75,000 household income and asset test — are separate from both, are last-dollar (other awards are applied to tuition first), and require a FAFSA plus 12 credit hours each term.
- Self-reported GPA sets the first offer and the transcript decides the final one, so the number your school sends matters. Washburn writes that awards "are withdrawn if you do not submit your transcripts", and a GED in place of a diploma makes a student ineligible for the freshman merit grid entirely, though Washburn says other opportunities may still apply.
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 Washburn University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Washburn?
Washburn University publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is Washburn test-optional?
Washburn does not ask for a score, an essay or letters of recommendation, and there is no minimum academic requirement to be admitted as a first-time freshman. A 2.0 high school GPA is "quickly admitted", and a 3.0 or above automatically triggers a merit scholarship at the same time. For merit aid the answer is different: a score does not move the freshman merit money here, and that is Washburn's own stated position rather than something inferred from a silent page. Every dollar in the table is set by your final cumulative high school GPA. Retaking the ACT cannot raise this award by a cent — crossing a GPA tier edge is the only lever Washburn publishes. The exception Washburn names itself is the specialized awards: the Richey needs a 28 and the Shaw needs a 28, and both are invitation- or application-only. 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 Washburn?
On Washburn's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Bow Tie Scholarship at $2,000 a year, about $8,000 over four years if it renews.
Does Washburn superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated, and for the freshman grid the question does not arise — Washburn uses no score at all, so there is nothing to superscore. The word does not appear on Washburn's scholarship page, its how-to-apply page or its Richey page. Where it would matter is the Richey and Shaw thresholds of 28, and Washburn has not said whether it reads a best composite across sittings or a single test date. Ask the Financial Aid Office before writing off an earlier attempt.
When are Washburn scholarship deadlines?
Freshman merit scholarship priority deadline, fall start: July 1. Freshman merit scholarship priority deadline, spring start: November 1. General university scholarship deadline: July 1. Richey Scholarship application: February 6, 2026. Specialized scholarship applications (Finnup, Glatt, Hindman, Shaw, Wiseman, Woodbury-Ramskill) — awarding continues until funds run out: February 15. New Student Orientation registration (strongly encouraged): May 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 Washburn scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Washburn University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-23. 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
Washburn awards on GPA — but the ACT still decides what you're worth elsewhere.
Most schools in this comparison are score-keyed even though Washburn is not, so the same test still moves the money everywhere else on the list.
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