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The Young Patriots Essay Contest is designed to challenge high school students to creatively solve problems in the realm of public policy through the art of writing. Controversial topics are assigned each year and only three winners will be chosen. The topic of this year’s essay contest is: “According to the four required readings. What policy changes should the government pursue in order to best foster economic prosperity?”

This year, they’re introducing an interactive reading and education component to ensure you, as students, gain valuable insight on the NCPA’s perspective and message. Please read the four following pieces as you consider the above topic. Your submission will be graded in part according to how carefully and thoughtfully you engage with these four challenging articles. They are:

• “Public Choice,” by John C. Goodman
• “Classical Liberalism,” by John C. Goodman
• “I Pencil,” by Leonard Read
• “The Greatest Story Nobody Knows About,” by Steven Landsburg

For more information on this award and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

What better way is there to kick off spring quarter than an additional $1,000 to put towards your college education? Zinch’s Weekly Essay Contest will help you do just that and all you have to do is write a two to three sentence essay on the following prompt: Art has the ability to delight and inspire. What piece of art has inspired you? Explain your choice.

All high school and college students (including international students) are eligible to participate. For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

Unless you plan on paying for your college education out-of-pocket, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (more commonly known as the FAFSA) is essential in your quest for financial aid. For the uninitiated, the FAFSA is used by the Department of Education to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid for college, including the Pell Grant, federal work-student programs and federal student loans. And while most students struggle with the complicated application process, LGBT students potentially face more serious roadblocks: According to U.S. News & World Report, name changes, gender identification and strained family relationships can present unique FAFSA challenges.

In 2012, sexual orientation and gender identity were the number one reason for youth homelessness in the U.S., notes Thomas Krever, chief executive officer of the Hetrick-Martin Institute. Almost 40 percent of homeless youth identified as LGBT and of those teens, 46 percent ran away because their family rejected their sexual orientation or gender identity. What does this have to do with the FAFSA? Students under the age of 24 need tax returns and bank statements from their parents in order to file for financial aid and those without family support are left in limbo. Other LGBT students struggle with the fact that the FAFSA doesn’t necessarily reflect their identity. Questions about name and gender can be enough to keep transgender teens from even applying, says Eli Erlick, founder of Trans Student Equality Resources. "One thing about funding, specifically FAFSA, is that transgender students may not be able to change their name due to parents not being supportive or not having the money to do so," says Erlick. "This can lead to transgender students being nervous to apply, or not even applying at all, because they're scared for their own safety, because using these forms with their legal names may out them." (For more on this story, click here.)

What do you think about the challenges LGBT students face when seeking financial aid? Can you think of something the government can do to ease this pressure?

While the road to a college degree may include countless detours, it’s essential to understand the importance of financial aid and filling out the FAFSA. But don’t just take my word for it – President Obama agrees: Last week, the President announced an initiative that would encourage more students to apply for federal student aid.

Under the FAFSA Completion Initiative, the Department of Education will work with states to identify students who have not completed the form and employ new outreach efforts to help more students through the process. The White House said the effort would build on earlier steps by the Obama administration to simplify the form and make it easier for parents and student to use information from their tax returns to complete the paperwork. "We made it simple. It doesn't cost anything. It does not take a long time to fill out. Once you do, you're putting yourself in the running for all kinds of financial support for college," said President Obama.

For those of you that aren’t familiar, the FAFSA (which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid) acts as a gateway between graduating seniors and almost $150 billion in grants, loans and work-study funds that the federal government has available. Funds do run out, though, so we recommend filling out the FAFSA as early as possible. Have you filled out the FAFSA? Let us know how it went in the comments section. If you haven’t done so yet, review our financial aid section for some tips.

Every January, we all make resolutions for the year ahead – resolutions that are, unfortunately, usually forgotten by February. Want to make a vow you’ll actually keep and earn money for college at the same time this year? Then enter our newest Short & Tweet Scholarship!

What’s on your educational to-do list in 2014? Whether it’s getting into your dream school, decoding the FAFSA or simply setting two alarms so you don’t miss your morning classes, we want to know! Follow us on Twitter and mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet detailing your school-related resolution and how you plan to keep it. Here’s how to enter:

Step 1: Follow @Scholarshipscom on Twitter.

Step 2: Mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet answering the question “What’s your school-related resolution for 2014 *AND* how will you stick to it?” Once you do this, you are entered to win a $1,000 scholarship or one of two Kindle Fires.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want from December 16th through January 31st but please limit your tweets to one per day. Each tweet will be a stand-alone entry and tweets that are submitted by non-followers, exceed 140 characters, do not include @Scholarshipscom, do not answer the entire question or are submitted after the January 31st deadline will not be considered. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which comments are most deserving of the awards.

• Starts: December 16th
• Ends: January 31st
• Number Available: 3
• Amount: $1,000 for one first-place winner; one Kindle Fire each for second- and third-place winners

This scholarship competition is offered by Scholarships.com and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Twitter.

Every January, we all make resolutions for the year ahead – resolutions that are, unfortunately, usually forgotten by February. Want to make a vow you’ll actually keep and earn money for college at the same time this year? Then enter our newest Short & Tweet Scholarship!

What’s on your educational to-do list in 2014? Whether it’s getting into your dream school, decoding the FAFSA or simply setting two alarms so you don’t miss your morning classes, we want to know! Follow us on Twitter and mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet detailing your school-related resolution and how you plan to keep it. Here’s how to enter:

Step 1: Follow @Scholarshipscom on Twitter.

Step 2: Mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet answering the question “What’s your school-related resolution for 2014 *AND* how will you stick to it?” Once you do this, you are entered to win a $1,000 scholarship or one of two Kindle Fires.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want from December 16th through January 31st but please limit your tweets to one per day. Each tweet will be a stand-alone entry and tweets that are submitted by non-followers, exceed 140 characters, do not include @Scholarshipscom, do not answer the entire question or are submitted after the January 31st deadline will not be considered. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which comments are most deserving of the awards.

• Starts: December 16th
• Ends: January 31st
• Number Available: 3
• Amount: $1,000 for one first-place winner; one Kindle Fire each for second- and third-place winners

This scholarship competition is offered by Scholarships.com and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Twitter.

This year, The National WWII Museum asks: How did you plan to achieve success in the face of the unknown?

On June 6, 2014 the world will celebrate the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi rule. To commemorate the importance of this event, The National WWII Museum asks you to think about a time in your life where you have had to make important plans for success in spite of uncertainty.

For your essay, think about a time when you’ve had to plan for something important in your future. How did you plan to achieve success in the face of the unknown? How did you handle any challenges to reach your goal? How does your story connect to those of other people, past and present, who have had to face and overcome tremendous odds to obtain their goal? Use WWII as a starting point and base your essay in part on America’s involvement in WWII. But don’t stop in the past. Use specific examples from your own experiences that support your ideas. This is not a research paper. Your essay will be judged foremost for its originality, clarity of expression, and adherence to contest theme, as well as its historical accuracy, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The National WWII Museum staff will read and evaluate entries.

The National WWII Museum is accepting entries through March 28th. If you are interested in learning more about this or other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

Figuring out how you're going to pay for your college education can be daunting. And while no one would argue that filling out the FAFSA is an important piece of the financial aid puzzle, it seems that some colleges might be making the process more complicated...and costly.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland alleged this week that more than 100 universities – including dozens of elite and Ivy League institutions – may be violating the law by telling potential applicants that they have to spend money filling out an unnecessary form. In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Cummings said 111 universities required a financial aid form developed by the College Board to be considered for any financial aid. Fifty-eight of the schools told applicants that they had to submit the $25 PROFILE form "in order to secure any type of financial aid, including federal student aid," Cummings wrote. The other 53 directed applicants to "submit both the FAFSA and the PROFILE to obtain federal financial aid, although they do not clarify what each form is used to assess." And while Cummings insists that these schools appear to be in violation of the Higher Education Act, some college officials have defended their use of PROFILE, stating that because it takes into account factors the FAFSA doesn't — like home equity and some business income — it allows universities to make fairer decisions on who needs aid the most. Meanwhile, Cummings has requested a meeting with Duncan to figure out what steps need to be taken to ensure that colleges are not creating unnecessary barriers to federal assistance. (For more on this story, click here.)

With all the outrageous fees students already must endure, what do you think of universities adding an additional one? Are you for filling out a form that costs you $25 if there is a chance you might get additional aid or against forking up more money than necessary? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

The American Fire Sprinkler Association Scholarship Program is unlike many traditional scholarship essay contests. That’s because instead of writing an essay, applicants will read one. That’s right!

To apply, students must go online and read a short essay about sprinklers and fire safety. After finishing, they complete a 10-question quiz on what they just read. Each correct answer gives the student a chance at winning one of 10 $2,000 scholarships (maximum 10 chances per entrant).

The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Scholarship Contest is open to high school seniors in the United States who plan to further their education at a college/university or certified trade school in the United States. Home-schooled students may apply as long as your course of study is equivalent to that of a senior in high school. For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!