What Two More ACT Points Are Worth: $56,000
On a published merit grid, a test score is not worth points. It is worth whatever sits on the other side of the next threshold — and at some colleges, two points sit on the other side of $14,000 a year. This post prices those steps from two real grids, both classified guaranteed automatic in the MeritChart dataset, with every figure taken from the college's own published page and verified on 2026-11-02. The full method is in the guide on test-score ROI.
The University of Alabama: the $56,000 step
The University of Alabama published out-of-state grid for Summer and Fall 2027 entry requires a GPA of 3.5 or higher at every tier. With that GPA in hand, the ACT ladder is:
| ACT | SAT | Award | Per year | Four years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1200 | Crimson Legends Scholarship | $6,000 | $24,000 |
| 27 | 1260 | Capstone Scholarship | $8,000 | $32,000 |
| 28 | 1300 | Collegiate Scholarship | $10,000 | $40,000 |
| 29 | 1330 | Foundation in Excellence Scholarship | $15,000 | $60,000 |
| 30 | 1360 | UA Scholar Scholarship | $24,000 | $96,000 |
| 32 | 1420 | Presidential Scholarship | $28,000 | $112,000 |
Read the middle of that table. A student at a 28 ACT holds the $10,000 tier. A student at a 30 ACT holds the $24,000 tier. Two points are worth $14,000 per year — $56,000 over the four-year term. The single step from 29 to 30 alone is worth $9,000 per year, because the grid pays the tier, not the effort: a score inside a tier earns the tier's amount in full, and a score one point short of the next tier earns none of the difference.
The conditions are part of the price. Alabama requires official scores, does not consider superscores — the 30 has to happen in a single sitting — uses GPA through the junior year, and sets a December 4, 2026 deadline for Summer and Fall 2027 entry. A 30 earned in February is worth $0 on this grid for that entering class.
Where the returns stop
The ladder also shows where retesting stops paying:
- From 30 to 32, two more points buy $4,000 per year — real money, but a third of the previous step's value
- Past 32, Alabama's published grid contains no higher dollar tier in the dataset. A further Alabama award is published as "Tuition+" with no dollar figure, and MeritChart does not record figures a college does not state — so on published numbers, a 33 earns the same $28,000 as a 32
- A score that lands mid-tier — a 26, a 31 — earns exactly what the tier below it earns. The 26 sits in the $6,000 tier; only crossing 27 changes the amount
Retesting is worth pricing only against the next threshold, never against the score itself.
Mississippi State: smaller steps, and a GPA that binds
Mississippi State University prices points differently — and shows why a score is never the whole grid. Mississippi State uses the superscore, requires qualifying scores on file by its December 1 priority deadline, and renews its freshman awards at a 3.0 college GPA with continuous full-time enrollment.
On its in-state Freshman Academic Scholarship grid, for a student with a GPA of 3.6 or higher:
- ACT 25–29 (SAT 1200) pays $5,000 per year
- ACT 30–32 (SAT 1360) pays $8,000 per year — crossing 30 is worth $3,000 per year, $12,000 over four years
- ACT 33 and above (SAT 1450) pays $10,500 per year
But the same ACT 30 at a GPA of 3.0–3.29 pays only $3,000 per year. At Mississippi State, the score step is worth $3,000 a year only if the GPA band cooperates; the GPA, not the test, is the binding constraint for that student.
Out-of-state students read a different Mississippi State chart — its Nonresident Scholarship, which pays on GPA alone at $12,000, $16,000, or $19,000 per year by GPA band, and pays more when a score crosses ACT 31 (SAT 1390): at a GPA of 3.6–4.09, the published amount rises from $16,000 to $21,000 per year, and at a GPA of 4.1 or higher, from $19,000 to $24,000 per year. One threshold, $5,000 a year — on a separate grid, for a separate residency. Adding figures across a college's in-state and out-of-state charts produces a number that exists on neither.
The decision, in one pass
- Find the student's current tier on each target college's grid, using that college's GPA basis and score basis
- Price only the gap to the next threshold — per year, and over the full renewable term
- Check the score deadline before booking a test date; a late score is worth nothing for that entering class
- Stop at the top published dollar tier; past it, points buy admissions chances, not grid money
- If the student's GPA sits in a lower band, fix the comparison first — a higher score may not move the tier at all
Run the arithmetic for your student's actual scores in the free calculator: it matches the GPA and scores against each college's published grid and shows the tier the student holds today, so the next threshold — and what crossing it pays — is visible before anyone books a Saturday test date.