The Freedom From Religion Foundation offers five 2025 essay competitions for freethinking students — awarding more than $65,000 in total scholarships.
The contests cater to students in different age/class ranges.
Requirements: Winners may be asked to send verification of student enrollment. Students will be disqualified if they do not follow instructions, including word limit and deadline. Students are required to submit their essays via the online application and should carefully review all contest rules. FFRF monitors for plagiarism. Include links or footnotes for quotes, studies cited, or major facts relied upon. Entrants must verify the essay is their original work and that AI was not used in the writing of the text (beyond grammar and spellcheck).
William J. Schulz Memorial Essay Contest for College-Bound High School Seniors
Topic: “. . . .To do good is my religion . . .”
Prompt: Thomas Paine, our “forgotten Founder,” famously wrote that “to do good is my religion.” Write a first-person essay that asserts why “doing good” is not dependent on religious belief. Explain why you are not religious, and what you think morality should be based on instead of God, holy books or dogma. How would you counter common myths that atheists are immoral or “can’t be good without God.” If you have examples of how you’ve “done good” to help others, include in your essay.
Word Limit: 350-500
Eligibility: Open to all high school seniors who graduate in spring 2025, who will be attending a North American college or university in fall 2025. Exception for “gap year” students. Fill out application, read other rules and submit essay here.
Deadline: Fill out the application and submit your essay no later than 11: 59 p.m. CDT, May 1, 2025. Winners will be notified no later than August 2025.
David Hudak Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking Black, Indigenous & Students of Color
Topic: “How white Christian nationalism endangers my rights.”
Prompt: Research and write a first-person essay about how white Christian nationalism poses a danger to your rights. Choose one particular attack by Christian nationalism on civil liberties — such as against DEI, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, or general civil rights — and explain how white Christian nationalism poses a threat and how that threat impacts you, your family or others in the BIPOC community. Suggest one or two strategies that you as a nonreligious individual could personally do to combat white Christian nationalism and champion secularism and equality.
Word Limit: 350-500
Eligibility: Open only to Black, Indigenous and Students of Color ages 17–21, who are either high school seniors graduating in spring 2025 who will be attending a North American college or university in fall 2025, or who are currently enrolled in a North American college or university. FFRF offers other essay contests open to all students in your age group. Students may only enter one FFRF contest annually. This contest is offered to provide support and acknowledgment for freethinking Students of Color, as a minority within a minority. Fill out application, read other rules and submit essay here.
Deadline: Fill out the application and submit your essay no later than 11:59 p.m. CDT, June 1, 2025. Winners will be notified no later than August 2025.
Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Ongoing College Students
Topic: “Why the only afterlife that should concern us is leaving our descendants and planet a secure and pleasant future.”
Prompt: Research and write a first-person essay about how religious mindsets and belief in an unprovable “afterlife” have a negative impact on promoting human welfare and our planet. Show how this religious claim is still leading our planet astray in solving the world’s problems, such as climate change, inequality or public health. Focus on one problem. Briefly explain why you reject religion and belief in an afterlife and why it’s best to keep our focus on this world.
Word Limit: 450–650
Eligibility: Open to all ongoing undergraduate college students up to age 24 already attending a North American college or university. You may remain eligible to enter this contest if you graduate from college by the spring or summer of 2025. (If you’re entering college in fall 2025 for the first time, please enter FFRF’s contest for college-bound high school seniors.) Fill out application, read other rules and submit essay here.
Deadline: Fill out the application and submit your essay no later than 11: 59 p.m. CDT, June 1, 2025. Winners will be notified no later than September 2025.
The $1,000 prize in the ongoing college competition is now being generously endowed by actor and FFRF Lifetime Member Madison Arnold.
Cornelius Vander Broek Memorial Essay Contest for ‘Graduate/Older’ Students
Topic: “State/church issues endangered by the Trump administration’s capitulation to Christian nationalism.”
Prompt: Focus on one issue related to state/church separation or secular social policy that you consider to be under threat by Christian nationalist policies in the Trump administration. Issues might include: federal vouchers for religious education at the expense of public schools; contraception and abortion rights; LGBTQ rights; vaccinations and public health; climate change mitigation, etc. Research and explain what’s at stake, show how Christian nationalism is behind this attack and include some ideas about how to combat the threat.
Word Limit: 550–750
Eligibility: Open to any graduate students through age 30, or to undergraduate students ages 25–30 who attend a North American college or university. You remain eligible to enter this contest if you will graduate by spring or summer of 2025. Fill out application, read other rules and submit essay here.
Deadline: Fill out the application and submit your essay no later than 11: 59 p.m. CDT, June 1, 2025. Winners will be notified no later than October 2025.
CLOSED – 2025 First Amendment Scholars – Law Student Essay Competition Donated by Diane and Stephen Uhl
Topic: Under the First Amendment, many states require religious organizations that receive government funding to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
Prompt: Following the Supreme Court ruling in Carson v. Makin, religious organizations seeking to participate in government funding programs have argued that requiring them to comply with anti-discrimination laws in order to receive public money violates their constitutional rights. Respond to the argument that anti-discrimination laws cannot be enforced against religious schools receiving public funds. Your argument must be supported by clear well-researched legal analysis, including caselaws.
Deadline: January 27, 2025
