Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest

Scholarship Value: $1,500
Awards Available: 15
Award Deadline: Jun 5, 2024

The Fraser Institute’s 2024 Student Essay Contest is NOW OPEN! Join the conversation and showcase your ideas on public policy by entering our Student Essay Contest for the chance to win the grand cash prize! Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals and authors will have the opportunity to experience the peer review process.

Student Essay Contest

2024 Student Essay Contest - What would the Fraser Institute's Essential Scholars say about the world today?

Unprecedented is a word that has been used repeatedly to describe all aspects of the last few years: a global pandemic, challenges of unemployment, overwhelmed healthcare facilities, high inflation, revolutionized AI, the rise of electric vehicles, etc. Governments often respond to remarkable moments in history by creating policies they feel would help address the situation.

Consider what insights our Essential Scholars series can offer the current situations and events? Relying on the ideas of one of our Essential Scholars, construct an essay that describes a scholar’s response, explanation, or rebuttal to a current event. You can use a scholar’s economic theory to examine unprecedented situations, propose potential policies that a scholar would have put forward, or suggest how certain existing policies may have been adapted by a particular Essential Scholar.

Example Essay Questions:

  • What would Milton Friedman argue should be a government’s response to inflation?
  • In a post-COVID world, what would Jane Jacobs say about the state of our cities?
  • How can Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction help us understand the rise and fall of businesses or new technology?
  • What would one of the Essential Scholars say about Canada’s current housing and rent situation?
  • How might F.A. Hayek address today’s current unemployment rate and what policy recommendations might he suggest?

STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST APPLICATION RULES

  1. The contest is open to students studying in Canada and to Canadian students studying abroad. Upon request, Canadian students studying abroad will be expected to provide proof of citizenship. A student is defined as someone who attends school in the 2023/2024 school year or is enrolled to attend in 2024/2025.
  2. Submissions will be considered from secondary and post-secondary (undergraduate and graduate) students in all disciplines.
  3. There will be three separate categories: high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. The category definitions are based on your status in the 2023/2024 school year; for example, if you are an undergraduate student from fall 2023 until spring 2024, you qualify in the ‘Undergraduate’ category.
  4. An essay can have more than one author, and any prizes awarded will be split evenly between the authors. The category in which the essay will be considered will be that of the author with the highest level of education; for example, if you are an undergraduate student and you coauthor with a graduate student, your essay will be considered in the graduate category.
  5. Essay must be between 1,000-1,500 words, not including references.
  6. Entry must be a single document, the header of each page of the essay must include the author’s full name and a page number.
  7. Essay entry must include a cover page, which the name of the author(s), mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address. High school students should include school and grade. Postsecondary students should include school, major, and year of graduation.
  8. Entries must be submitted online in .pdf or .doc format.
  9. Entries may only be submitted once. Further submissions with revisions will not be accepted.
  10. Entries must include references cited from academic sources. Any academically acceptable referencing style may be used.
  11. Please note that if you are a finalist and include a graph in your essay, you will be required to send it to us in an Excel file with the underlying data in order that we can recreate it in-house. If you want to include a previously published graph for which you do not have the underlying data, you must cite its source appropriately to prove that you have permission to reuse it.
  12. Failure to follow these rules may lead to disqualification from the contest.
  13. Entries will be judged on originality, clear expression of ideas, the ability to empirically support their argument and understanding of competitive markets and/or the impact of government intervention.
  14. All entries and ideas become the property of the Fraser Institute. In addition to receiving cash prizes, winners may be published in Canadian Student Review once they have gone through the peer-review process.
  15. Winners will be announced in the fall of 2024.
How to Apply:

Sallie Mae "No Essay" Scholarship

Deadline: Mar 31, 2024
$2,000
The $2,000 Sallie Mae Scholarship is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and any US Territory age 17 or older at the time of entry, and who meet one (1) of the four (4) following eligibility requirements at the time of entry:A parent who currently has a child enrolled in an accredited...

Be Bold Scholarship

Deadline: Apr 01, 2024
$25,000
The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply.To us, boldest does not mean "best", or "most accomplished". Being bold means being:A) EarnestB) DeterminedC) MovingThe scholarship will be awarded to the student whose profile is most bold, according to these characteristics.Furthermore, the...

Niche Scholarship

Deadline: Mar 31, 2024
$10,000
Covering the cost of college expenses for four years without writing a single essay? Sounds too good to be true.It isn't with Niche. We are giving one student $10,000 to help pay for tuition, living expenses, books, and other educational expenses.Who Can ApplyAll high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college or graduate school in...

ScholarshipOwl No Essay Scholarship

Deadline: Mar 29, 2024
$1,000
ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college. No matter how much funding you need for school, we have the opportunities...

SP Scholarship

Deadline: Mar 31, 2024
$2,500
The SP College Scholarship program was created to help students win scholarships without the hassle of filling out paper applications and writing dozens of essays.To be eligible for the Scholarship you must be:A) At least 13 years old and enrolled or will enroll in a college or university in the US.B) A legal resident of the U.S. or Puerto Rico.Thus...

10 Words or Less Scholarship

Deadline: Apr 15, 2024
$1,000
Scholarship Eligibility:A) Anyone who is between the ages of 14-25 who will be attending school in the Fall of 2024.B) This scholarship is provided by StudentScholarships.org. In order to apply for our scholarship follow these instructions:1. Go to www.facebook.com/myscholarships and place a comment on any post you see answering the question:In 10 words or less, tell us why you deserve...

National Dairy Shrine Scholarships

Deadline: Apr 15, 2024
$3,000
Tomorrow’s dairy leaders are here today, in classrooms, dairy youth organizations, at dairy competitions and on dairy farms across the country. The Dairy Shrine’s task is to encourage, stimulate and inspire them. Since its inception, Dairy Shrine has recognized the importance of laying a foundation for the future, and has constantly expanded its youth programs to capture and challenge the...

$15,000
The U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) was founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to complement the Stockholm Water Prize. The SJWP is the world's most prestigious award presented to a high school student for a water-research project.PRIZEThe Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) was founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to complement...

Shawn Carter Scholarship

Deadline: Apr 30, 2024
$2,500
The Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund (SCSF) was founded on the belief that any motivated individual in need should have the opportunity to further his or her education. By removing some of the financial burdens associated with going to, surviving in, and graduating from college, the SCSF plays a vital role in increasing college access and success for many motivated yet...

Nurse Corps Scholarship Program

Deadline: May 02, 2024
$10,000
The Health Resources and Services Administration is accepting applications for the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program. The Health Resources and Services Administration improves the health of underserved and vulnerable populations by strengthening the health workforce and connecting skilled professionals to communities in need.The Nurse Corps Scholarship Program provides scholarships to nursing students in exchange for a minimum two-year, full-time service commitment...