DAR Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Contest

About this scholarship

The DAR Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Contest is an annual school-nomination program for high school seniors who demonstrate dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism at home, at school, and in the community. A participating accredited school may select only one senior each year, chosen by teachers and peers. That school honoree receives the Good Citizen recognition and is then invited to enter the optional scholarship portion, which requires a personal statement and an essay. Essay winners may receive scholarships at chapter, state, division, and national levels. DAR does not publish one universal current award amount or a single nationwide student deadline on the public page, so the $11,500 aggregate sometimes shown by directories should not be presented as a guaranteed individual award. Timing and local instructions come from the student’s school and the participating DAR chapter, generally early in the senior year. Students cannot start in the national AcademicWorks portal, and parents or students are directed to ask their own school for program information. U.S. citizenship is not required. The student’s school must be accredited and in good standing with its state board of education or another recognized accrediting organization. This program is distinct from DAR’s Youth Citizenship Medal and from the national scholarships that accept direct applications.

Eligibility

• Be a high school senior at a participating accredited school in good standing
• Be selected by teachers and peers as the school’s single DAR Good Citizen for the year
• Demonstrate dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism
• Follow the school and local DAR chapter timeline and instructions
• For scholarship consideration, choose to submit the required personal statement and essay
• Understand that United States citizenship is not required
• Apply through the school and local chapter rather than the DAR AcademicWorks scholarship portal