Americans United Student Essay Contest

Awarded By:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Number of Awards & Eligibility: Three awards offered annually.

Description: The contest is open to high school juniors and seniors in the United States including the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Employees and board members of Americans United, and members of their families, are not eligible to participate.

Application requirements for the Americans United Student Essay Contest are:

• Essay
• Application form

Additional Information: AU’s annual essay contest encourages high school students to reflect on why religious freedom and the separation of religion and government are important to them and their communities—and what they can do to ensure religious freedom is used as a shield that protects, not a sword to harm others. Why is the separation of religion and government important to you? (Your essay can, but doesn’t have to, include one of the issues mentioned above.) What have you or others in your community done to oppose threats to religious freedom? What more can be done? The essay length should be between 750 and 1,000 words. Essays should be well-written, well-researched and should be the student’s original writing, supported by specific examples and/or properly cited sources where appropriate. Essays can reference current events, U.S. history, primary sources, personal experiences and information from AU.org. Essays must be submitted online. Winners will be announced in summer 2020.

Award Amount: Amounts up to $1,500.  The total dollars awarded for this scholarship is $4,500.