Middle School students may not know where they want to go to college or what they want to study, but thinking about paying for college can be intimidating for their parents. Below are scholarships and contests for students in middle school. 

Ocean Awareness Student Contest
Sponsor: From the Bow Seat
Amount: Up to $1,500
Closing Date: June 8, 2026
Description: Contest is open to middle and high school students from around the world between the ages of 11 and 18 years of age. Applicant must focus on this year theme of “Your Story, Our Ocean: How Our Ocean Sustains, Protects, and Inspires Us” and submit a piece of art, poetry, prose, film or music on this year’s theme.

Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH)
Sponsor: Optimist International
Amount: $2,500.00
Closing Date: June 15, 2026
Description: Contest is open to young people through grade 12 in the United States and Canada, to CEGEP in Quebec and grade 13 in the Caribbean, who are educated in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean. Applicant must be deaf or hard of hearing. Closing date is the national closing date. Applicant should contact local Optimist Club for specific date.

Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH)
Sponsor: Optimist International
Amount: $2,500.00
Closing Date: June 15, 2026
Description: Contest is open to young people through grade 12 in the United States and Canada, to CEGEP in Quebec and grade 13 in the Caribbean, who are educated in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean. Applicant must be deaf or hard of hearing. Closing date is the national closing date. Applicant should contact local Optimist Club for specific date.

Young Filmmakers Contest
Sponsor: One Earth Film Festival
Amount: Up to $1,000
Closing Date: June 25, 2026
Description: Contest is open to students in grades 3 through college (ages 8 and up) from the United States. Student must create a film on one of many given topics (climate, energy, food, transportation, waste, water, Wildlife and Ecosystems) related to the Earth.

Appily Easy College Money Scholarship
Sponsor: Appily
Amount: $1,000.00
Closing Date: June 30, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to students 13 years of age or older who will be attending college in the future. Applicant must create a Appily profile (if they don’t have one already), share about their extracurricular, leadership, and volunteer activities, and then search Appily for scholarships.

No Sweat Scholarship
Sponsor: Cirkled In
Amount: $2,500.00
Closing Date: June 30, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to students 13 years of age or older who are legal residents of the United States or the District of Columbia. Applicant must create a free Circkled in account.

Student Activist Scholarships
Sponsor: Secular Student Alliance
Amount: Up to $3,000
Closing Date: July 31, 2026
Description: Scholarship is open to students currently enrolled full-time in a United States middle school, high school, trade school, university of college. Applicant must submit answers to questions related to secularism, as well as one to two references.

Apprentice Ecologist Initiative Youth Scholarship Program
Sponsor: Nicodemus Wilderness Project
Amount: Varies
Closing Date: August 31, 2026
Description: Scholarships are open to students between the ages of 13 and 21 who are candidates for a degree/diploma at a primary (middle school), secondary (high school), or accredited post-secondary educational institution from any country around the world. Applicant must conduct their own environmental stewardship project.

Tommy Tranchin Award
Sponsor: The Dallas Foundation
Amount: Up to $3,000
Closing Date: December 31, 2026
Description: Award is open to North Texas students in grades 8-12 who have a physical, emotional, or intellectual disability.

Paradigm Challenge
Sponsor: Project Paradigm
Amount: Up to $100,000
Closing Date: May 1, 2027
Description: Challenge is open to students aged 4 to 18 years of age worldwide. Applicants may work in a team or alone to use kindness, creativity, and collaboration to help solve real-life problems.