Ladder of Success

How ACT® scores affect college enrollment and scholarships.

The Ladder of Success: The higher your composite score climbs, the easier it is to get into your college of choice.

If supported by a high GPA and solid resume a composite score of 35 or 36 usually guarantees acceptance to any school across the nation. Most schools will offer a very attractive package that sometimes will include all tuition and some schools will pay room and board as well.

With a composite score of 31 or above a student qualifies to apply for the Honors programs at most in-state and out-of-state schools. A 31 also enables the student to apply for the most prestigious scholarships offered. Many out-of-state schools now base selection on a 31 composite score.

To qualify for additional scholarship money, at many area universities or colleges, the student needs a composite score of 27 or above.

The student must have a composite score of 21 or above to be eligible for the Tennessee State Lottery Scholarship, approximately $4,000 per year. Please check your state to see if a lottery scholarship is available.

A 19 or above on each of the four subtests allows the student to avoid taking remedial courses at the college level for no credit.

The Hope Scholarship Changed The Game in Tennessee!

Here is an example of what the University of Tennessee offers. Please check the schools you are interested in to see what they have to offer. Entering freshmen must have a minimum score of a 21 on the ACT® to qualify for the lottery scholarship, but the University of Tennessee’s 2018 incoming freshmen had an average ACT® score of 27. Thousands of Tennessee high school students were turned away this year.

Tennessee Promise
Tennessee Residents
*ACT/SAT ScoreAnnual AwardFour-Year Award AmountFour-Year with HOPE (average maximum)
34-36 / 1490-1600$9,000$36,000$56,400
30-33 / 1360-1480$5,000$20,000$40,400
28-29 / 1300-1350$3,000$12,000$32,400
Out-of-State Students
*ACT/SAT ScoreAnnual AwardFour-Year Award Amount
34-36 / 1490-1600$18,000$72,000
30-33 / 1360-1480$15,000$60,000
28-29 / 1300-1350$10,000$40,000
*UT Weighted Core GPA

Volunteer Scholarship

The University of Tennessee’s new Volunteer Scholarship program recognizes students with an exemplary academic record based on a combination of GPA and test scores. Incoming first-year students with a minimum 3.8 GPA* who apply for admission by December 1 for the fall 2019 semester are eligible. Award amounts are based on the below criteria.

The Koontz Cram Course™ is proven to increase ACT® scores in all categories!

The Koontz Cram Course raises student average ACT® scores by 2.9 points. The greatest composite score increase by one student is 9 points! These are increases from comparing actual ACT tests, not from a pre-test that some companies give to compare scores against, which is very misleading.

ACT Composite Results