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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Scholarships in 2024

Showing 133 scholarships that match your search.

The Unigo $10K Scholarship aims to help improve your education by offering a $10,000 prize to use towards school. "Would you rather be smart, funny or rich? Why?" In 250 words or less, submit an online written response to the question. Applicants must be 14 years of age or older and reside in the United States.

Categories: Short Fiction

Organization: Unigo

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Recipients: 1

Top award: $10,000

Apply now →

In an effort to get students committed to the cause of deleting cyberbullying, we are offering the Delete Cyberbullying Scholarship Award for high school, college and graduate student — a $1,000 scholarship to help cover educational expenses. To apply, write a short essay answering one of the following questions: "Why is it important to work to delete cyberbullying?" or "How has cyberbullying personally affected you?"

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: Delete Cyberbullying

Deadline: December 31, 2024

Recipients: 1

Top award: $1,000

Apply now →

The Walt Disney Company UNCF Corporate Scholars Program aims to help create a diverse pipeline of college-educated professionals poised to assume fulfilling off-camera careers in entertainment, and to help increase the number of underrepresented minorities employed in the entertainment industry. Please note applications submitted for this program will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: UNCF

Deadline: January 01, 2025

Additional awards: Multiple awards of varying amounts will be given

Recipients: 100

Top award: $2,500

Apply now →

Love your college? Hate it? Meh? Tell other students about your experience so they can make better decisions about college. You must currently attend (or have previously attended) the college that you review to be eligible.

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: Unigo

Deadline: January 01, 2025

Recipients: 5

Top award: $1,000

Apply now →

Students who are Muslim or active members of the Muslim community may apply for the Islamic Scholarship Fund. The ISF awards multiple scholarships each year ranging from $3,000-$10,000, though the amounts and number of recipients will vary. Students must submit applications including essay questions, work samples, and letters of recommendation, and must also be majoring in an ISF-supported field related to media or politics.

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: Islamic Scholarship Fund

Deadline: January 01, 2025

Additional awards: Multiple awards of varying amounts will be given

Recipients: 10

Top award: $10,000

Apply now →

The Willa Cather Foundation supports emerging scholars who increase our understanding and appreciation of the life and work of Willa Cather. As a part of this effort, we have designated three $400 annual scholarships to support upper-level students presenting original Cather research at non-Cather specific conferences. Applicants should submit their application at least four weeks prior to the conference.

Categories: Research

Organization: Willa Cather Foundation

Deadline: January 01, 2025

Recipients: 3

Top award: $400

Apply now →

The Ursinus College Creative Writing Award is a $40,000 per year major scholarship for creative writers of outstanding originality and potential. The award winner will have the honor of living in the dorm room once occupied by J.D. Salinger, who attended Ursinus. In the spirit of Holden Caulfield and Catcher in the Rye, we are looking for an unusual perspective, for quirky brilliance, for a voice. Candidates must achieve admission to Ursinus.

Categories: Critical Essay, Nonfiction, Novel Writing, Personal Essay, Playwriting, Poetry, and Short Fiction

Organization: Ursinus College

Deadline: January 03, 2025

Recipients: 1

Top award: $40,000

Apply now →

The Pride Foundation provides essential financial resources and community support to inspirational LGBTQ+ and allied student leaders across the Northwest. Applicants must be from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington to be eligible. Applications open in October of each year and all 60+ scholarships may be applied for through the same application form.

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: Pride Foundation

Deadline: January 05, 2025

Additional awards: Multiple awards of varying amounts will be given

Recipients: 10

Top award: $10,000

Apply now →

The Helen Lansdowne Resor Scholarship offers its awardees a $10,000 scholarship to put toward their education, an internship at Wunderman Thompson, and other mentorship and post-graduate opportunities. Any female undergraduate or postgraduate student with at least a year left of their studies is eligible. Applicants must submit personal statement, letters of recommendation, and 3-5 creative samples.

Categories: Personal Essay, Portfolio, Novel Writing, Poetry, and Short Fiction

Organization: Wunderman Thompson

Deadline: January 05, 2025

Additional awards: Intership placement at Wunderman Thompson

Recipients: 5

Top award: $10,000

Apply now →

Since 1970, RTDNF has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships and fellowships to more than 500 young journalists. Scholarships are open to college students pursuing careers in radio, television, or digital journalism. To apply, students must complete an online form for each scholarship including their cover letter, resume, and 3-5 work samples.

Categories: Journalism

Organization: Radio Television Digital News Foundation

Deadline: January 11, 2025

Additional awards: Multiple awards of $1,000-$6,000 will be given

Recipients: 1

Top award: $10,000

Apply now →

The Mary Quon Moy Ing Memorial Scholarship will award up to $2,000 to a graduating high school senior who will be attending a college or university to pursue a journalism career. A winner will be selected based on academic and journalistic achievement, financial need, commitment to journalism and/or sensitivity to AAPI issues. Applicants must submit a resume, brief personal statements, and optional work samples.

Categories: Journalism and Personal Essay

Organization: Asian American Journalists Association

Deadline: January 16, 2025

Recipients: 1

Top award: $2,000

Apply now →

The Anna Chennault Scholarship awards $5,000 to an Asian American graduate student pursuing journalism as a career. Candidates will be judged on academic and journalistic achievement, commitment to the field of journalism and sensitivity to AAPI issues. Applicants must produce a piece of concise and comprehensive journalism that provides unique context on a current geopolitical issue based on a prompt provided by CIC or AAJA.

Categories: Journalism

Organization: Asian American Journalists Association

Deadline: January 16, 2025

Recipients: 1

Top award: $5,000

Apply now →

The Josephine De Karman Fellowship Trust was established in 1954 by the late Dr. Theodore Von Karman in memory of his sister, Josephine. DeKarman fellowships are open to PhD students in any discipline, including international students, who are currently enrolled in a university located within the United States.

Categories: Research

Organization: Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Recipients: 8

Top award: $25,000

Apply now →

The purpose of the Norma Ross Walter Scholarship is to provide financial assistance to female graduates of Nebraska high schools who plan to enroll as English majors in accredited colleges or universities. Applicants must be female high school seniors who are prospective first year college students and plan to continue their education as English majors.

Categories: Critical Essay

Organization: Willa Cather Foundation

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Additional awards: $2,500 for second place, $2,000 for third place

Recipients: 1

Top award: $3,000

Apply now →

We want to know…what do you dream about? Whether it's some bizarre dream you had last week, or your hopes for the future, share your dreams with us for a chance to win $1,500 for college. Response should be limited to 250 words or less.

Categories: Personal Essay

Organization: Unigo

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Recipients: 1

Top award: $1,500

Apply now →

What are writing scholarships?

Writing scholarships are financial awards given to students based primarily on written work, though other factors are usually taken into consideration as well. Most writing scholarships involve a prompt or series of prompts to which applicants must respond. Some writing scholarships — especially those that award large amounts of money — require applicants to submit past writing samples, or even a full portfolio.

The good news is that, with so many writing scholarships to choose from, you don’t have to apply for any that are “out of your league.” Indeed, though most students have heard of writing scholarships, you may not realize just how many different varieties there are! Here are five of the most common types of writing scholarships, all of which you can find in this directory.

1. Personal essay scholarships

Personal essay scholarships involve writing on a topic related to your own experience. You’ll often see personal essay prompts like, “How have your experiences influenced your choice of major?” and “What are your career aspirations and how do you plan to achieve them?” Other prompts may ask you to write about a role model, a life-changing event, an aspect of your identity, etc. Suggested length is usually about 500-1,000 words, but varies depending on the level of detail requested and how many essay questions are provided.

Just about every scholarship these days has a personal essay component of some kind. This is because personal essay responses both demonstrate writing skills and give the judges a clear sense of each applicant’s goals. No one wants to throw away money on an aimless student — so if you’re applying for a personal essay scholarship, make sure to convey both your writing abilities and your ambitions in your work!

2. Critical essay scholarships

Critical essay scholarships are more in line with what students might consider  “academic” essays. The prompts typically ask applicants to analyze works of literature. However, unlike open-ended English class essays, most critical essay scholarships provide a very specific prompt (e.g. “Examine The Great Gatsby in the context of its World War II-era revival”).

Critical essay scholarships can also involve non-literary subject matter. Some may ask applicants to evaluate a historical event or figure; others may ask them to defend their stance on a political or legal issue. Though the line between critical and personal essays can sometimes blur, for the purposes of this directory, we define critical essays as those that use evidence from an external source to prove a point.

3. Short fiction scholarships

Short fiction scholarships include scholarships for short stories, one-act plays, poetry, and any other form of fiction that isn’t a novel or full-length script. Short fiction scholarships tend to be easier to find than long-form fiction scholarships, since most judging panels don’t have time to read more than a few thousand words per entry. Therefore, if you write fiction and you’re hoping to nab yourself a scholarship, this category is the way to go! (That said, if you’re a hardline novelist, some places will accept a sample chapter or two as short fiction entries.)

4. Journalism scholarships

Journalism scholarships are for students interested in pursuing a career in news, magazine, and/or online journalism. These scholarship applications almost always ask for writing samples to show the candidate’s interest. Depending on the organization, they may prefer topical news reports, informative articles, thinkpieces, or a mix. Some journalism scholarships provide a prompt and ask applicants to write a new article, but the focus is usually on samples. Speaking of which…

5. Portfolio scholarships 

Portfolio scholarships are the most rigorous kind of writing scholarship, requiring a substantial body of work from each applicant — usually 5-10 pieces of writing, if not more. The upside is that awards for portfolio scholarships tend to be pretty sizable, and may even cover your entire tuition!

If you decide to apply to a portfolio scholarship, make sure you have several strong pieces of work in your oeuvre, and consider writing a few new pieces as well. What you shouldn’t do is rush through a dozen new pieces to throw together as a portfolio. If you don’t have samples at the ready from previous assignments or projects, you’ll be better off applying to a less intensive writing scholarship.

Why apply to writing scholarships?

Applying to writing scholarships is a huge undertaking, especially if you’re pursuing multiple scholarships at once. It can sometimes feel like the effort isn’t worth it, or that you have little chance of actually winning any awards. But in truth, submitting to writing scholarships is one of the best investments you can make in your education, your creative writing skills, and your professional life.

Scholarships for larger amounts do attract more applicants, but that doesn’t mean they’re impossible to land — only that you have to work a little harder to stand out. And you can definitely sway the odds in your favor by applying to lots of small scholarships ($500 or less) for which you’ll have fewer competitors. Remember that every little bit helps! For example, if you plan on taking out student loans, even a $500 scholarship could save you much more in interest down the line.

Another compelling reason to apply to writing scholarships is that oftentimes, you’ve already done the work, or the work required is minimal. For scholarships that require writing samples, you’ll simply submit what you’ve already written in the past — and even for scholarships with specific prompts, you rarely have to write more than a couple of pages. If you were seriously committed, you could apply to a scholarship every day, spending a single concentrated evening on each application.

Jumping off that thought, as English majors love to say: the more writing scholarships you apply for, the better a writer you’ll become. Writing tons of scholarship essays will make you a much more creative and efficient writer. Not only will this help with your personal writing projects, but it will also be invaluable to your education and even your career! Writing is a crucial skill for every major — you’ll always have to write papers and emails to professors, after all — and even if you don’t plan to pursue a writing-based job, you'll still need writing skills to polish your résumé.

Finally, remember that there’s a writing scholarship out there for everyone, no matter what your interests or intended field. This directory includes plenty of creative writing scholarships, yes; but there are also personal essay scholarships for future doctors, lawyers, salespeople, and so much more. You have nothing to lose by giving it a shot, so why not start searching for your dream writing scholarship today? (And if you’re unsure about your writing skills, you might benefit from some of the resources below.)

Resources to strengthen your writing skills

RBE | Illustration — We made a writing app for you | 2024-02

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.