Wisconsin Lutheran College: merit scholarships by ACT score
Wisconsin Lutheran College awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 20 and reach $21,000 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
The GPA and the ACT are alternatives, not a pair — each award names one or the other. The GPA is unweighted on a 4.0 scale, so honours coursework does not help reach it. WLC also lists a $13,000 Foundation Scholarship with no printed criteria, which appears to be the floor for admitted students and is not a band here. Students must be first-time, full-time freshmen admitted by May 1 for scholarship consideration. Older third-party listings showing $17,000 and $15,000 at a 24 with a 3.3 are outdated.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
Presidential Scholarship — on a score
$21,000 a year, $84,000 over four — renews at a 3.00 / year
About $84,000 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.
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Can you get merit aid at WLC without an ACT score?
Yes. A 28 stands in for a 3.7, a 23 for a 3.4 and a 20 for a 3.1 — roughly three ACT points for three tenths of a grade point, published three times. Since the GPA is unweighted, the score route is the cheaper one for many applicants.
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.
“Presidential Scholarship: $21,000/yr … 3.7 Unweighted Cumulative GPA (4.0 Scale) or 28 ACT or 1300 SAT”
The published WLC merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Wisconsin Lutheran College’s own pages for 2027-28 entry. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Freshman merit awards
Consideration is automatic with no additional application. Each award prints a GPA threshold and a score threshold as alternatives, and is capped at four years.
$21,000 a year, $84,000 over four — renews at a 3.00
Presidential Scholarship — on a score
ACT 28–36 · No GPA needed on the score route
Without a score: not available
$21,000 a year, $84,000 over four — renews at a 3.00
Presidential Scholarship — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.70
$18,000 a year, $72,000 over four — renews at a 2.75
Academic Scholarship — on a score
ACT 23–36 · No GPA needed on the score route
Without a score: not available
$18,000 a year, $72,000 over four — renews at a 2.75
Academic Scholarship — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.40
$15,000 a year, $60,000 over four — renews at good standing
Collegiate Scholarship — on a score
ACT 20–36 · No GPA needed on the score route
Without a score: not available
$15,000 a year, $60,000 over four — renews at good standing
Collegiate Scholarship — on GPA
No score needed · GPA 3.10
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presidential Scholarship — on a score | ACT 28–36 · No GPA needed on the score route | not available | $21,000 a year, $84,000 over four — renews at a 3.00 |
| Presidential Scholarship — on GPA | — | GPA 3.70 | $21,000 a year, $84,000 over four — renews at a 3.00 |
| Academic Scholarship — on a score | ACT 23–36 · No GPA needed on the score route | not available | $18,000 a year, $72,000 over four — renews at a 2.75 |
| Academic Scholarship — on GPA | — | GPA 3.40 | $18,000 a year, $72,000 over four — renews at a 2.75 |
| Collegiate Scholarship — on a score | ACT 20–36 · No GPA needed on the score route | not available | $15,000 a year, $60,000 over four — renews at good standing |
| Collegiate Scholarship — on GPA | — | GPA 3.10 | $15,000 a year, $60,000 over four — renews at good standing |
Source: Merit awards — 2027-2028 · verified 2026-10-25
Does WLC superscore for scholarships?
WLC says awards are based on "your highest ACT/SAT score(s)", which may mean superscoring but does not say so outright.
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 WLC’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.
WLC scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Admitted by, for scholarship consideration | 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 Wisconsin Lutheran College’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Each award is reachable on a GPA or a score — a 3.7 or a 28, a 3.4 or a 23, a 3.1 or a 20.
- That is roughly three ACT points for three tenths of a grade point, printed three times.
- A 20 reaches $15,000 a year, among the lowest ACT thresholds for an award that size in this dataset.
- The GPA is unweighted, so honours coursework buys nothing toward it — which makes the score route cheaper for many students.
- A student at a 3.5 with a 28 collects $3,000 a year more than their GPA alone would pay.
- The renewal bar rises with the award, so the largest is the hardest to keep.
- Students must be admitted by May 1 for scholarship consideration.
- The $13,000 Foundation Scholarship prints no criteria and appears to be the floor for admitted students.
- Each award's lifetime value is four times the annual figure, $60,000 to $84,000.
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 Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at WLC?
Automatic merit aid at Wisconsin Lutheran College starts at an ACT composite of 20, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $21,000 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 WLC test-optional?
A test-optional applicant is placed on the GPA route for the same awards, so nothing is lost by not testing — only the alternative door is closed. For merit aid the answer is different: a 28 stands in for a 3.7, a 23 for a 3.4 and a 20 for a 3.1 — roughly three ACT points for three tenths of a grade point, published three times. Since the GPA is unweighted, the score route is the cheaper one for many applicants. 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 WLC?
On WLC's published grid for 2027-28 entry, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for Presidential Scholarship — on a score at $21,000 a year, about $84,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at WLC?
The most valuable single point on WLC's published grid is 22 to 23, 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 WLC superscore the ACT for scholarships?
WLC says awards are based on "your highest ACT/SAT score(s)", which may mean superscoring but does not say so outright.
When are WLC scholarship deadlines?
Admitted by, for scholarship consideration: 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 WLC scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Wisconsin Lutheran College's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-25. 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
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