Although most high school scholarships are for high school seniors, or at least require you to be a junior, it is possible to apply for and secure a scholarship as a high school freshman. In fact, it is never too early to apply for scholarships, and it is a great time to start as a high school freshman, which allows you not only (1) to apply for some applicable scholarships already and secure some funding, and (2) learn what is available later in high school, so you can start preparing early and start participating in activities that matter to you.
read moreScholarships provided on this page are specifically for high school sophomores. Check out our other categories, i.e. scholarships for high school seniors and juniors as well if you are a sophomore, so that you can prepare in advance for the scholarships you can qualify for in those years as well, of course after having applied first for scholarships for high school sophomores.
For outstanding students interested in visual arts and creative writing . To be considered, you can submit an art portfolio, a writing dossier, your poetry, as well as other outstanding individual work. Various awards are available, ranging from $500 to $12,500. This is the nation's longest running scholarship program awarding teen creativity.
Although, strictly speaking, these awards are for kids in grades 9 through 12, the sophomore year is often a great time to apply. There are various awards, many of which are for college tuition, while some are summer awards or rewards of some sort, some even rewarding your teacher in addition for helping you with your project. Submissions are evaluated by referees in the field in which you submit, which could include arts, visual design, caricature, or even poetry, among others.
For young students who make a contribution towards changing the world and thus get involved in volunteer activities. There are various "easy" scholarships, mostly around $1,000 to $2,500 awarded almost every month, for which you do not need an essay or GPA/transcripts. To be considered, you need to do volunteer work for the good of the community.
While these awards are for any high school student, i.e. not just sophomores, the sophomore year is often a great time to apply for these smaller and easier awards, especially considering that there is a new scholarship awarded almost every month. Some of their scholarships simply require a short video, or that you share a piece of art that you have created, while others require proven advocacy for STEM education, or simply that you have read a book by a particular author.
For high school students who are able to demonstrate that they have stood up for free speech via a short essay. The students simply need to tell a story about a time in the past when they stood up and defended freedom of thought or freedom of speech, demonstrating that they went beyond their comfort zones in doing so. There are multiple scholarships given every year, each worth $8,000. These can be used for any college, university or even community college.
The high school sophomore year is the perfect time to apply for these scholarships which are technically for any student above 13 years of age. Looking at past winners, many winners have been high school sophomores, although you can try your chances earlier as well. Applying in the sophomore year also gives you the advantage that you can reapply in the future.
For high school students from around the world who submit a research project either as an individual or as a group. Note that, as a sophomore, you are expected to submit a group submission (which seniors cannot compete for). Individuals and teams are evaluated separately. Various generous awards are available, mostly at $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, and $100,000 levels.
While these scholarships are, strictly speaking, for any high schooler grades 9 through 12, the sophomore year is a great time to apply, first because, by then, you will likely have some scientific ideas to write about (possibly unlike the freshman year), and because only freshmen, sophomores and juniors can compete in groups, while seniors must compete individually, meaning that you will get no competition from seniors.
For high school students who have a talent in the arts, and more specifically in the following fields: classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, voice and writing. Awards are not, however, limited to these fields when it comes to being used in college; you can use them in any field. There are many amounts of scholarships, ranging from $250 to $10,000, and some non-monetary support is also available (e.g. a medallion, professional support, etc.). Certain finalists are also nominated for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
While, strictly speaking, these scholarships are for any grade between 10 and 12, grade 10, the sophomore year, is often the best time to apply, as that allows you to reapply in the future, and given that at this time you will have more time to focus on scholarships that potentially come with a smaller cash prize. Also, there are many fields, including writing; so you can always start honing your skills.
Officially called the 'Profile in Courage Essay Contest,' named after John F. Kennedy's groundbreaking work Profile in Courage, where he describes where he narrates experiences of eight U.S. elected officials who took great risks to do what is right for the nation, this scholarship contest is for students who can demonstrate, via an original and creative 700 to 1,000 word essay, an understanding of political creativity. Most awards range from $1,000 to $10,000, though some come with only $100.
Although this is technically an essay contest, and while all high school students can apply for it, grades 9 through 12, the sophomore year is a great time when you can develop your essay writing skills and compete for scholarships that are smaller in amount, in preparation for the senior year. In addition, you can select any elected figure who came since 1917 to cover in your essay, though you should ideally avoid certain commonly selected figures (mentioned on their website) as that diminishes creativity and originality, a major component of your final score.
For high school students, including sophomores, who are able to elaborate on why college is important to them via the submission of a short 500-word essay. The only other major requirement is to fill in an application, which is requested via email. There are various scholarships available, mostly at $1,000, although the top winner gets $2,500.
Whereas this scholarship is, in essence, for any high school student, sophomores have been particularly successful in receiving these awards. The awards are strictly for the first year of college; so when you get it in the sophomore year, the funds are banked for you by the American College Foundation, to be given in your first year of college. Applying for these low requirement scholarships in the sophomore
For high school students who believe in democratic ideas and are willing to express them in the form of a short essay. Provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), this scholarship program requires that students submit a written and a recorded essay to their local VFW post. There are numerous awards; national winners get between $16,000 to $35,000. State winners receive at least $1,000.
As a high school sophomore, you are eligible to apply for these scholarships and the sophomore year is the best time to do so as this is the first year when you qualify and you can always reapply in future years. This increases your chances statistically while also giving you the expertise that may be important in future years. You qualify every year from the high school freshman to senior years. Many high school sophomores have traditionally received these.
For high school students who are willing to speak on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution, particularly with an emphasis on the responsibilities of individuals towards the government. Numerous local awards are available, each worth $2,000, in addition to some greater prizes from $20,000 to $25,000. Competitions start at the post level, and then advance to the state and national levels.
While these scholarships are for any high school student, high school sophomores should especially consider applying, given that it is an oratorical competition and that the sophomore year is often a good time to invest time in preparation for such a competition, before starting to apply for bigger prizes in the junior and senior years of high school.
For high school students who are willing to prepare an audio-essay that is about 3-to-5 minute-long and is on a pre-assigned theme that is on a democracy-related topic. Some recent themes included, "What are the greatest attributes of our democracy?" "I am optimistic about our nation's future" "What price democracy?". There are numerous awards available, most of which are in the range of $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000, although some awards are as high as $5,000, $7,000, $15,000, $21,000 and $35,000.
Technically, these scholarships, to be used for college, are for any high school student. However, the high school sophomore year is arguably the best time to apply for these, both because this will give you significant experience early on (so you can reapply later) and because there are numerous smaller awards, which you can secure now, while waiting to apply, in the junior and senior years, for much bigger awards. Also, an analysis of recent years' winners, freely available from the website, shows that high school sophomores have been particularly successful in securing these scholarships.
On this page, you will find numerous scholarships that are specifically for high school seniors. This is when you qualify the most number of scholarships! Do not wait longer!
SHOW ME ↓This page is dedicated to scholarships that are for high school juniors, of which there are plenty. Some of these can be applied for by high school seniors as well.
SHOW ME ↓Here, you can find scholarships for high school sophomores, although some of them are available also to high schoolers at other levels. Start early!
SHOW ME ↓There are also scholarships are for high school freshmen! These are not as many in number as other grade levels, but provide a reason to start early.
SHOW ME ↓It is not too difficult to fully fund your college dream via scholarships. Once you have identified the right opportunities/matches among countless resources, an endeavor highscholarships.com makes easy for you, statistically speaking, even if you had a low success rate, you can fully fund a private college education.