William J. Schulz Memorial Essay Contest for College-Bound High School Seniors
ListedCompetition
- Award
- First through tenth place awards from $3,500 down to $300, plus optional honorable mentions of $200 each (2026 contest)
- Timeline
- Mar 20FFRF says the 2027 essay contest will be announced in 27. The 2027 entry deadline is not yet published
- Jun 1, 2026Was the previous cutoff.
- How to apply
- Use the official online essay application when the next contest opens. The published 2026 prompt required a 350 to 500 word personal essay about a freethought/humanist hero, documenting nonreligious views and quotations/facts with links or footnotes. The complete 2027 prompt, form and rules are not published.
- What you'll need
- A separate scholarship application
- An essay
- Who can apply
- Published 2026 rules cover high school seniors graduating in spring/summer and entering college in fall, including gap-year graduates entering college in fall 2026. Only one FFRF contest per year, and no re-entry in a contest where the student previously won an award. Final 2027 criteria are not published.
- Good to know
- The 2026 prompt asks students to explain their chosen person's influence and what that person means to them as a humanist/nonbeliever. Published prior rules barred AI-generated writing beyond grammar/spellcheck; the complete next-cycle rules are not available.
- Details
- Writing