John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest
Direct application
$10,000
5 winners
Eligibility
Education level
High school
About this scholarship
U.S. high school students in grades 9 through 12, including home school and correspondence or GED programs, and U.S. citizens attending school overseas may enter the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Profile in Courage Essay Contest.
Prizes include a $10,000 first-place award, a $3,000 second-place award, three $1,000 finalist awards, and fifteen honorable mentions. Previous winners and finalists are ineligible.
Write an original 700 to 1,000 word essay analyzing an act of political courage by a U.S. elected official who served during or after 1917, using at least five varied sources.
The contest invites students to study political courage in the spirit of John F. Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage.
Essay question
What else to submit
- Original 700- to 1,000-word essay
- At least five varied sources
- In-text parenthetical citations
- Bibliography in APA, MLA, or Turabian format
- Essay must be a minimum of 700 words and no more than 1,000 words; citations and bibliography are NOT included in the word count
- Minimum of five sources required; essays with fewer than five listed sources are disqualified
- Must cite sources throughout the essay using parenthetical (in-text) citations; footnote-form citations are not accepted
- Must include a bibliography in APA, MLA, or Turabian format
- Open to U.S. high school students in grades 9-12 (plus U.S. students attending school abroad and home-schooled students of equivalent grade level)
- Essay must analyze political courage by a U.S. elected official who served during or after 1917.