Did you know that you could secure a great scholarship based on your ACT, SAT, and even PSAT score?! Some of these scholarships are even granted automatically, no application required.
Posted April 18, 2024
10:00 PM UTC · 60 minutes
National Merit Scholarship Private Scholarships College and University-Specific Scholarships Now What? And Where Did You Find All This Stuff?
There are literally thousands and thousands of academic scholarships available for incoming college students. And good ACT or SAT scores make students eligible for tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship money, and possibly free tuition for all four years!
And remember, the ACT and SAT aren’t mythical beasts – they can be learned and mastered. I’ve been helping students ace these tests for over 10 years. I’d love to help you too! If you’d like to get a higher score, schedule an intro call to talk through your goals.
Now, ready to jump in and find some sweet scholarship money? C’mon and follow me.
Having great test scores and a lot of scholarship opportunities is both a good thing (yay! scholarship money) and a bad thing (boo! yet another thing to figure out in this college admissions process).
Never fear. While I can’t possibly identify every scholarship out there, I can make it much easier for you to find the right scholarships for you and your family.
In this article, we’ll break down the academic scholarship world into three types, talk about the best way to approach each type, and then give you clear and specific examples to make sure you’re as informed as possible.
I should mention one caveat before we jump in: scholarships can and do change without notice. I’ve provided the most updated information that I could find, but please make sure to check and verify the information of any scholarship you’re interested in.
Here are the three main types of academic scholarships:
National Merit Scholarships are extremely valuable and are open to anyone who would like to compete for one. And, because National Merit Scholarships are attached to your PSAT score, they are only slightly less difficult to understand than particle physics.
This is what you need to know:
Each year, about 1.5 million students enter the competition. As mentioned above, juniors taking the PSAT/NMSQT are automatically entered into the competition and awards are given to top scorers.
Finalists receive a scholarship award of $2,500. That’s not bad, but that’s not why you want to be a National Merit Scholar finalist.
The Real Rewards
Qualifying for any National Merit Scholar award is immediately a huge gold star on your application. Many colleges and universities offer very, very attractive scholarships for National Merit Scholars, outside of what you get from the organization.
This chart is just a small sample of colleges and universities that offer scholarships based on this competition. This is in no way an exhaustive list ― many other colleges and universities offer similar scholarships. It’s definitely worth a phone call to your target schools to find out what they offer.
Note that there are specific rules and financial aid considerations as well, so make sure to look through all the details.
| University | Scholarship |
|---|---|
| University of Southern California | Half tuition (approximately $29,630) |
| University of Oklahoma | Full tuition (approximately $24,000) |
| University of Chicago | Starting at $8,000 per year |
| Vanderbilt College | From $8,000 to $20,000 per year for 4 years |
| University of Texas | $4,000 per semester plus a $6,000 study abroad stipend |
| Texas A&M | Up to $28,000 |
| University of Alabama | 5 years of free tuition plus housing and expenses stipend |
| University of Arizona | Up to $72,000 over 4 years |
| University of Minnesota | Up to $40,000 over 4 years |
| Northeastern University | Up to $28,000 annually |
| University of Nebraska | Full tuition |
*This represents the most updated information we found at the time of publishing. The testing and scholarship landscape is changing rapidly so be sure to contact your target schools directly.
There are hundreds of private foundations and organizations that award scholarship dollars based, in part, on SAT and ACT test scores.
Because these scholarships are from private foundations and organizations, each private organization has its own goals and priorities, as you would expect.
Some are designed with the goal of supporting students in a specific state or certain academic programs. Some provide scholarships for specific universities and others are trying to support students who are the first in their family to go to college. This is just the tip of the iceberg – there are many other goals that private organizations are trying to meet with their financial generosity.
As with all the scholarships listed here, there are specific rules and instructions for each, so please contact these organizations directly to get the details.
Again, below is only a very, very small sampling to give you an idea of what these scholarships are like.
| Organization | Award | Requirements | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation | Up to $25,000 | ACT 27+, SAT 1300+, GPA 3.7+, Letters of reference | https://www.louiefamilyfoundation.org/scholarship-application |
| Jackie Robinson Foundation | Up to $35,000 | ACT: 21+, SAT: 1000+, Essay and letter of recommendation | https://jackierobinson.org/scholarship/ |
| Catch A Break | $11,000 per year | ACT: 24+, GPA 3.0+ | https://catchabreakscholar.org/ |
| George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation | $20,000 | ACT: 21+, SAT: 1000+ | https://hammanfoundation.org/ |
| Chicago Roofing Contractors Association | Up to $20,000 | ACT: 23+, SAT: 1390+ | https://chicagoroofing.org/Resources/Scholarship |
| Paul Tsongas Scholarship | Tuition and fee waiver | ACT: 26+, SAT: 1200+, GPA: 3.75 | https://www.mass.edu/osfa/programs/tsongas.asp |
| 5 Strong | Full Tuition | “Excellent” ACT/SAT scores and “superior” GPA | https://www.5strongscholars.org/apply |
| Engebretson Foundation Scholarship | $10,000 per year | ACT: 28+, SAT: 1240+, 3.75 GPA and/or top 5% class rank | https://engebretsonfoundation.org/ |
*This again represents the most updated information we found at the time of publishing. The testing and scholarship landscape is changing rapidly so be sure to contact the organizations directly.
This is just a handful of private scholarships that I picked as examples. There are hundreds more. There are websites that can help you sort through options (in fact there are nearly as many websites as there are scholarships). A popular one is Scholarships.com, head here to check out their scholarship directory.
