National Speech & Debate Tournament scholarships
ListedCompetition
- Award
- Scholarship amounts vary by National Tournament event or recognition category. Individual 2027 award amounts and conditions are unpublished.
- Deadline
- 2027 National Tournament: June 13 to 18, 2027, Phoenix, Arizona. Qualification, registration and scholarship-specific deadlines for 2027 are not yet published.
- How to apply
- Compete through NSDA school and district channels to reach the National Tournament. Scholarship awards differ by competition or recognition category. The latest 2026 instructions require graduated recipients to provide proof of postsecondary enrollment and claim awarded funds through the scholarship-claim form; payments go to the registrar.
- What you'll need
- A speech or recorded oration
- A finalist round or selection weekend
- Membership in the sponsoring organization
- Who can apply
- High school speech and debate competitors. Tournament and scholarship eligibility vary by event and award. The 2026 rules also permitted limited supplemental-event entries by nonqualifiers with school and student NSDA membership; complete 2027 qualification and award restrictions are unpublished.
- Good to know
- This is a collection of National Tournament awards, not one uniform scholarship. The 2027 event dates and location are confirmed, but prize breakdowns, qualification deadlines and scholarship rules remain unpublished. The college-scholarship listing form is for colleges to supply listings, not for students to apply. The NSDA directory reports more than $100,000 in scholarships across the tournament, not an individual award.