Youngstown State University: merit scholarships by ACT score
Youngstown State University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid crossing ACT score with GPA. Awards start at an ACT of 19 and reach $4,000 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
YSU writes each tier as a GPA and a score together — "3.0 GPA/ACT 22" means both, not either — and a student can hold only one Scholarships for Excellence award, so these figures do not add up. Note also that YSU's application-requirements page still lists an official ACT or SAT score as a required document for new freshmen even though this table publishes test-optional routes.
Unweighted, as the school asks for it.
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Example — an ACT 29 with a 3.60 GPA
President's
$4,000 / year
About $16,000 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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Can you get merit aid at Youngstown State without an ACT score?
Yes. A score is not strictly required for merit — three of the four tiers publish a test-optional GPA that reaches the same money — but a score raises the award at a given GPA, and the top two awards have no test-optional route at all. With a 3.5 GPA, going from an ACT 22 to an ACT 27 moves $2,000 a year to $4,000 a year.
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.
“3.5 GPA/ACT 25 or SAT 1220 † Test Optional: GPA 3.9 and above”
The published Youngstown State merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Youngstown State 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.
Freshman Scholarships for Excellence
Awarded automatically on admission, with no separate application. Both the GPA floor and the score floor must be met. Each row also publishes a test-optional GPA that reaches the same award with no score at all, and the top two awards have none.
$1,000
First Opportunity
ACT 19–36 · 3.0+ (with an ACT 19)
Without a score: GPA 3.00
$2,000
Red and White
ACT 22–36 · 3.0+ (with an ACT 22)
Without a score: GPA 3.50
$3,000
Deans'
ACT 25–36 · 3.5+ (with an ACT 25)
Without a score: GPA 3.90
$4,000
President's
ACT 27–36 · 3.5+ (with an ACT 27)
Without a score: not available
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Opportunity | ACT 19–36 · 3.0+ (with an ACT 19) | GPA 3.00 | $1,000 |
| Red and White | ACT 22–36 · 3.0+ (with an ACT 22) | GPA 3.50 | $2,000 |
| Deans' | ACT 25–36 · 3.5+ (with an ACT 25) | GPA 3.90 | $3,000 |
| President's | ACT 27–36 · 3.5+ (with an ACT 27) | not available | $4,000 |
Source: YSU Scholarships for Excellence — Freshman Scholarships for Excellence table · verified 2026-10-23
Does Youngstown State superscore for scholarships?
Not stated. The word "superscore" appears nowhere on YSU's Scholarships for Excellence page or on its freshman application-requirements page, and neither says whether YSU takes the best composite or the best sitting. Because the tiers are hard thresholds — a 22 and a 25 are $2,000 apart — the answer is worth a phone call to Admissions rather than an assumption.
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 Youngstown State’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.
Youngstown State scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Submit the YSU Undergraduate Admission Application, with transcripts, to be considered for Scholarships for Excellence | February 15 |
| YSU Foundation scholarship application — a separate in-house application, not the table above | February 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 Youngstown State 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.
- YSU Scholarships for Excellence — Freshman Scholarships for Excellence tableverified 2026-10-23
- YSU Scholarship Opportunities — YSU Foundation applicationverified 2026-10-23
- Apply to YSU — new freshman application requirementsverified 2026-10-23
- The slash is an AND. "3.0 GPA/ACT 22" means a 3.0 GPA and an ACT 22, not either one. The test-optional column is the proof: without a score, the same Red and White award needs a 3.5-3.89 GPA, which would be pointless if a bare 3.0 already qualified.
- Only one award. YSU writes that "Students cannot be awarded more than one scholarship through the Scholarships for Excellence program", so the tiers are alternatives, not layers — the lookup returns the single best one you qualify for.
- Trustees' pays $5,000 a year ($20,000 over four) and its only criterion is "Valedictorian". No ACT score and no GPA reaches it, so it is not a band here; if you are your class valedictorian it is the award to ask about.
- Without a score the ceiling is $3,000. The test-optional routes stop at Deans' with a 3.9+ GPA; President's and Trustees' both read "Test Optional: Not Available". A test-optional applicant with a 4.0 therefore leaves $1,000 a year on the table that an ACT 27 would unlock.
- Renewal is stricter than most of this dataset: 24 credit hours per academic year, at least 12 per term, and a 3.0 overall GPA — not the 2.0 or 2.5 many schools use — and the same 3.0 applies to the smallest award as to the largest.
- The Martin Luther King Merit Award (up to $1,000 per academic year, $4,000 over four) is open only to graduates of fifteen named local high schools: Campbell Memorial, Cardinal Mooney, Chaney, East, Farrell, John F. Kennedy, Niles McKinley, New Castle, Sharon, Struthers, Summit Academy, Ursuline, Warren G. Harding, Valley Christian and Youngstown Early College. Because it turns on which school you attended rather than on a score, it is not in the grid.
- Sokolov Honors College money is separate and needs its own application. YSU publishes a minimum of 26 ACT (or 1240 SAT) with a 3.5 GPA and awards $1,000-$3,000 toward tuition plus $1,000-$3,000 toward housing, with students "considered for up to the full amount" and partial awards possible below the minimum. That is a reviewed range rather than a figure tied to a threshold, so it stays out of the grid.
- Two pots of money near this grid are not YSU's grid money: the Ohio College Opportunity Grant is a state award, and the YSU Foundation runs its own application for 1,100+ major-specific scholarships of $500 or more, due February 1 — two weeks before the February 15 admission-application date that drives the table above.
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 Youngstown State University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Youngstown State?
Automatic merit aid at Youngstown State University starts at an ACT composite of 19, alongside the published GPA minimum, and reaches $4,000 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 Youngstown State test-optional?
YSU's own application-requirements page (cited above as the Apply to YSU source) lists "Official copy of ACT or SAT exam results" among the documents a new freshman must submit, with the only published exception being an applicant who already holds an associate degree. That sits awkwardly beside the test-optional column on the scholarship table, so a student without a score should confirm with Admissions before assuming either. For merit aid the answer is different: a score is not strictly required for merit — three of the four tiers publish a test-optional GPA that reaches the same money — but a score raises the award at a given GPA, and the top two awards have no test-optional route at all. With a 3.5 GPA, going from an ACT 22 to an ACT 27 moves $2,000 a year to $4,000 a year. 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 Youngstown State?
On Youngstown State's published grid for the current cycle, an ACT of 30 with a 3.6 GPA qualifies for President's at $4,000 a year, about $16,000 over four years if it renews.
How much is one more ACT point worth at Youngstown State?
The most valuable single point on Youngstown State's published grid is 21 to 22, at a 3.0 GPA: it moves the award by $1,000 a year, or $4,000 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 Youngstown State superscore the ACT for scholarships?
Not stated. The word "superscore" appears nowhere on YSU's Scholarships for Excellence page or on its freshman application-requirements page, and neither says whether YSU takes the best composite or the best sitting. Because the tiers are hard thresholds — a 22 and a 25 are $2,000 apart — the answer is worth a phone call to Admissions rather than an assumption.
When are Youngstown State scholarship deadlines?
Submit the YSU Undergraduate Admission Application, with transcripts, to be considered for Scholarships for Excellence: February 15. YSU Foundation scholarship application — a separate in-house application, not the table above: February 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 Youngstown State scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Youngstown State 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.
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What to do next
You know what a score is worth at Youngstown State. The question is whether you can move it.
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