Scholarship details
The American Legion’s National High School Oratorical Contest is open to American citizens or permanent residents who are under age 20 and are in junior high school or high school. In order to win you must write and deliver a speech that is focused on a topic from the US Constitution, particularly on the freedoms and responsibilities of being an American citizen. Students are not allowed to read from the speech or have the written version with them while delivering the actual oratory in front of their classmates.
The National High School Oratorical Contest awards $18,000 to the winner, $16,000 to second place and $14,000 to third place. If you win your state and advance to the next round of national finals you also get an automatic $1,500 scholarship to use as you wish for any college or university in the US. In the earlier stages of the competition at the junior high and high school level many other prizes are also handed out by the Legion.
