The Coolidge Scholarship is a full-ride, four-year, merit scholarship that may be used by recipients for undergraduate study at any accredited college or university in the United States. Any high school junior who plans to enroll in college in the fall of 2023 and is an American citizen or legal permanent resident is eligible to apply (current high school seniors are not eligible to apply). Winners may use the scholarship to pursue any academic major.
Academic excellence is the primary criterion considered by the Coolidge Scholarship. Secondary criteria include an interest in public policy and an appreciation of the values President Coolidge championed. Successful candidates will also demonstrate humility and have a record of genuine service to their communities. A complete description of the scholarship’s criteria is available here.
The competition for the Coolidge Scholarship is significant -- only a few new Coolidge Scholarships are awarded each year from a pool of candidates that spans the entire country. Even so, students have reported to us in past years they were glad to have applied even if they didn’t win because the experience helped prepare them for college applications later on. Furthermore, the Coolidge Foundation invites one hundred of the top Coolidge Scholarship applicants to participate in the Coolidge Senators Program, which includes an all-expenses-paid Summit in Washington, D.C. and a $1,000 scholarship. This year Coolidge Senators met important leaders such as David Malpass, president of the World Bank, and Homer Hickam, the NASA scientist whose own inspiring boyhood formed the basis for the film October Sky. Students also had the chance to meet with key executives in medical science and banking. Scholarship applicants are automatically considered for the Senators Program.
Alert: the application requires that candidates read President Coolidge’s Autobiography and complete a few other reading assignments. While the book is not overly long, we encourage students to begin the application early. Candidates who begin the application at the last minute are unlikely to be successful. The submission deadline is 5:00 PM eastern time, Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
The scholarship application, along with additional information, can be accessed on our scholarship site: www.coolidgescholars.org.
