Home / Academy / National Peace Essay Contest for High School Students / Awards and Eligibilty

Awards and Eligibilty

Featured

What do Essay Contest Winners Receive?

College Scholarships

State-level selection categories include the fifty U.S. states, Washington, D.C., U.S. Territories, and American student abroad. First place state-level winners compete for national awards.

3 National Awards:

  • First place, $10,000*
  • Second place, $5,000*
  • Third place, $2,500*

53 State Awards

  • First place, $1,000

*National Awards include State Award amounts.

Invitation to the Awards Program in Washington, D.C.

First place state winners are invited to Washington for the awards program. The Institute pays for expenses related to the program, including travel, lodging, meals, and entertainment. This unique, five-day program promotes an understanding of the nature and process of international peacemaking by focusing on a region and/or theme related to the current essay topic. Program activities have included:

  • taking part in a simulation exercise in which students assume rolse of national and international leaders, examine issues, address crises, and then formulate and propose solutions;
  • meeting with U.S. government officials and political leaders;
  • participating in briefings by highly-regarded practitioners and foreign government officials;
  • visiting historical and cultural sites;
  • attending a musical or play;
  • sampling international cuisines from some of Washington's most interesting ethnic restaurants.

Who is Eligible?

Students are eligible to participate if they are:

  • In grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states,
  • the District of Colombia,
  • the U.S. territories,
  • or if they are U.S. citizens attending high school overseas.

Students may be attending a public, private, or parochial school. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted. Previous honorable mentions are eligible to enter. Previous first-place state winners and immediate relatives of directors or staff of the Institute are not eligible to participate.

Students must choose a contest coordinator who can review the essays and act as the key contact between participants and the Institute. It is to the student's advantage to have a coordinator review the essay to make sure it is complete, has all the necessary forms, is free from typographical and grammatical errors, and addresses the topic. See the coordinator webpage for further information about the contest coordinator.

We encourage students of all backgrounds and ability to participate in the contest.