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Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program

Award Amount
$30,000
Award Amount
Application deadline
April 30, 2025
Application deadline
Awarded By:

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

Number of Awards & Eligibility: The number of awards offered varies annually. Awards are given at the local, district, state, and national levels.
In order to qualify, students must meet the following criteria:
  1. This award is for U.S. students.
  2. Must be a student in grades nine through twelve, who is enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States, its territories and possessions, or in an overseas U.S. military/civilian dependent school. Foreign exchange students and previous Voice of Democracy first-place state winners are ineligible.
  3. Must be 19 years of age or younger at time of application.
  4. Must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.

In order to qualify, students must meet the following criteria:

Description: U.S. high school students in grades nine through twelve who are 19 years of age or younger are eligible for this scholarship. To apply, the applicant must write an essay on the theme listed on the Veterans of Foreign Wars website and record the reading of that essay; submit both essay and CD/flash drive to be considered for this scholarship.

Application requirements for the Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program are:

  • Essay
  • Entry form
Additional Information: The Voice of Democracy Scholarship Competition is an annual national audio essay contest that is designed to foster patriotism by giving high school students the opportunity to voice their opinions about their personal obligations as Americans, and address their responsibilities to our country. Applicants must win at the local level to advance to the district and state levels. Each department's first-place winner receives an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., plus the opportunity to compete for the national scholarship. If selected as a first-place state winner, the applicant has to have the consent of his/her parent/guardian and school to attend the Voice of Democracy National Finals in Washington, D.C. as a guest of the VFW National Organization. State winners who do not attend will forfeit all rights to compete in the national finals and will be replaced by their state's second-place winner.

Award Amount: The amount of each award varies annually. The first-place national award winner receives $30,000. The total amount designated for the entire program, including local, district, state, and national awards, is more than $2.5 million. All awards are non-renewable. All national scholarships are paid directly to the American university, college or vocational/technical school as selected by the recipient. All scholarship funding is held at VFW National Headquarters in escrow for 10 years from high school graduation. The funds, which are disbursed as needed, may be used for tuition, books, laboratory fees or other items relating specifically to the student's formal education. Clothing, room and board and pocket money are not considered authorized expenditures.  The total dollars awarded for this scholarship is $30,000.

About Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW):
Contact Information: Kristin Harmer ,Program Coordinator
Address: VFW Building 406 W. 34th St. Kansas City, Missouri 64111
Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
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