Coolidge Fellowship

Coolidge Fellowship The Coolidge Scholarship is an annual award that pays for a student's tuition, room and board, and...

Coolidge Fellowship

The Coolidge Scholarship is an annual award that pays for a student's tuition, room and board, and other costs for four years of undergraduate study. It is a full-ride, presidential scholarship. The Coolidge can be used at any college or university in the United States that is recognised by the government. This programme is not based on political affiliation or financial need, so anyone from any background and studying any subject can apply.

In their junior year of high school, students apply for the Coolidge Scholarship. Finalists are taken to the Coolidge Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, for a finalist weekend, where they meet with the Coolidge Scholars Finalist Jury and talk about their projects. Before applying to college, recipients of the Coolidge Scholarship are informed of their award in the autumn of their junior year. If a finalist is not chosen as a Coolidge Scholar, he or she may be eligible for a smaller, one-time college scholarship.

Calvin Coolidge worked hard in school. Public speech, often about public policy, was the only thing the young New Englander liked to do for fun. So, intellectual excellence is the main thing that sets Coolidge Scholars apart. Other criteria include showing interest in public policy, understanding the ideals Coolidge stood for, and being humble and willing to serve.

Coolidge Scholars who have just been chosen spend a few days at the President's home, Plymouth Notch, Vt., in the summer before their senior year of high school. There, scholars learn about Coolidge and the world he lived in, and they also help the Coolidge Foundation run its strong debate programmes. Scholars go back to Plymouth Notch every summer for a week while they are in college.

Even though only a few students are chosen as Coolidge Scholars each year, the top one hundred applicants are called "Coolidge Senators." Senators from Coolidge are called to the Senators Summit, which takes place every summer in Washington, D.C., and pays for all of their costs.  At the Summit, the Senators learn about President Coolidge and visit the nation's centre. They also meet other high-achieving students from all over the country.

Conditions for eligibility

For the 2022-23 Coolidge Scholarship, you must plan to start your first year as a full-time undergraduate at a recognised U.S. college or university in the autumn of 2024. That is, students in their junior year of high school or the equivalent if they are home-schooled are eligible to apply. (High school juniors who take some classes at a local college are eligible to apply for the Coolidge Scholarship.)

By the 2022-23 scholarship date (February 23, 2023), applicants must be citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States of America.

If you want to apply for a Coolidge Scholarship for 2022-23, you can't be related to anyone who works for or is a supporter of the Coolidge Scholars Programme or the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.

The main criteria: Good grades in school

Most importantly, Coolidge scholars must have done well in school. The best candidates will have taken and passed the most difficult course of study they could find. Award winners will have a level of academic depth and intellectual curiosity that is not common. When it comes to the Coolidge Scholarship, both depth and range are important. The Coolidge winners are interested in intellectual and academic activities outside of the classroom. A Coolidge Scholar is not just someone who has a lot of credentials. Jonas Salk, who made the medicine against polio, is a good example. Salk did so well in school that he was able to skip a grade. But he was also intellectually curious. He wrote, "When I was a child, I didn't care about science. I was only interested in people and their lives."

Interest in public policy and respect for Coolidge values were also important. Coolidge studied public policy from the time he was a boy in Plymouth Notch to the time he was president. So, this scholarship is looking for young people who are interested in politics. Still, the award isn't just for people who want to get degrees in areas like public policy or government. On the contrary, this award shows that all scholarly fields are important. Candidates should also show that they know and care about the ideas that President Coolidge fought for his whole life. Some of these ideals are civility, hard work, small government, federalism, and the Constitution. Coolidge Scholars will deal with the most important problems of their time, just like the president. Coolidge Scholars are always polite, like Coolidge, and they value respectful discussion over partisan attacks.

Humility and Service: Leaders in the Coolidge style are known for their humility. In his autobiography, Coolidge wrote, "It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety for the country, for him to know that he is not a great man." The Coolidge Scholarship looks for young people who are willing to help others and care about their well-being. Coolidge thought it was very important for Americans to help their own neighbourhoods and other Americans. The Coolidge Scholarship is for young people who work hard to make their communities better in important ways. For the Coolidge Scholarship, real work that makes a difference is more important than big plans that a young person might not be ready to carry out. Most of the time, a young person can do the most good by joining an existing group rather than starting their own. For accumulating leadership credentials in high school, other prizes are given to young people. This prize is more about accomplishments in high school that give young people the chance to lead later in life. A strong candidate might be a young person who likes to work alone but shows signs of being able to do groundbreaking study. This scholarship can be won by an introvert.