Scholarship Opportunities for 2025

It’s time to review our scholarships for 2025! One of the benefits of entering the Scholastic Awards is the opportunity to have your work considered for national scholarships ranging from $500 to $12,500. Keep in mind that some require a written statement to go along with the work and/or that your art or writing explores a particular theme. In addition to scholarships for creative teens, educators can earn cash awards for their support of their students. These scholarships are for individual teens and will not be awarded to works created by groups of collaborators.

Educator Awards

The Scholastic Awards recognize educators at regional and national celebrations and in publications. The educators of National Winners receive Gold or Silver Medals. If your student wins a National Medal or select scholarship award, you may also be eligible for a cash award.

Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon 

Underwritten by The Herb Block Foundation, The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon offers $2,000 scholarships for three students, and a $500 cash award for their educators, whose visual art offers commentary or criticism on current events, social events, or political topics. All students who enter works in the Editorial Cartoon Category, sponsored by The Herb Block Foundation, are automatically eligible for this award. 

Portfolio Awards 

The Portfolio Awards, made possible by generous donors, offer $12,500 scholarships to Gold Medal Portfolio winners and $2,000 scholarships to Silver Medal Portfolio winners. All graduating seniors who enter portfolios consisting of a collection of six works with accompanying Artist or Writer Statements and Personal Statements are automatically eligible for this award. 

New York Life Award 

Underwritten by the New York Life Foundation, the New York Life Award offers $2,500 scholarships/travel stipends to ten students, and a $500 cash award for their educators, whose works explore death and personal grief.  

At the end of your application, opt-in to the New York Life Award. You will be prompted to include a personal statement on how your work explores the themes. The statement should be 50 words or more. All students and categories are eligible. 

American Voices & Visions Awards

New this year! Underwritten by Dav and Sayuri Pilkey, American Voices and Visions Awards now include $500 scholarships to approximately 150 works representing each region of the Scholastic Awards. To be nominated for the American Visions or American Voices Award, participants must first earn a Gold Key in their region. These nominated works are then reviewed by national judges to receive American Visions or American Voices Medals. All students and categories are eligible. 

Best-in-Grade Award 

Underwritten by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Best-in-Grade Award recognizes 24 works at the national level (two art and two writing per grade, grades 7-12) with a $500 scholarship and a $250 cash award for their educators. All students and categories are eligible. 

Flaunt It Award 

The Flaunt It Award, developed in collaboration with Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It and underwritten by Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI, Inc), RBC Foundation USA, Morgan Stanley, and HP recognizes teens who look or feel different from their peers and share their personal story about what makes them unique. 

The Flaunt It Award includes two $2,000 scholarships (one for art and one for writing) for teens and a $500 cash award for their educator. Winners will be selected based on their outstanding exploration of DHIFI’s theme: “The things that make me different make me, me.” At the end of your application, opt-in to the Flaunt It Award. You will be prompted to include a personal statement on how your work explores the DHIFI theme. The statement should be 50 words or more. All students and categories are eligible. 

The Alliance thanks BLICK Art Materials, Command Companies and the Merson Family, GV Group (Grafica Veneta, Lake Book Manufacturing, PA Hutchison), the Jay Pritzker Foundation, Jill and Peter Kraus, Lindenmeyr Book Publishing Papers, Maurice R. Robinson Fund, The New York Times, and Dav and Sayuri Pilkey, the Roome Fund, and Quad and the Windhover Foundation, for helping underwrite the portfolio scholarships. 

All scholarships are for individual teens and will not be awarded to works created by groups of collaborators. 

Featured Image: Hannah Demerritte, The Queen, Printmaking. Grade 12, Miami Arts Charter School, Miami, FL. Raul Perdomo, Educator; Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Affiliate. Honorable Mention Portfolio