The Freedom From Religion Foundation has announced its 2025 essay competitions for freethinking students, offering more than $70,000 in scholarships.

Each of these four contests has 10 top prizes:

• First place $3,500
• second place $3,000
• third place $2,500
• fourth place $2,000
• fifth place $1,500
• sixth place $1,000
• seventh place $750
• eighth place $500
• ninth place $400
• 10th place $300
• FFRF also offers optional honorable mentions of $200.

The contests cater to students in various age and class ranges.

Students may only enter one FFRF contest annually and may not enter a contest if they have previously won an award in that particular contest.

Requirements: Winners may be asked to send verification of student enrollment. Students will be disqualified if they do not follow instructions, including the word limit and the deadline. Students must submit their essays via the online application and carefully review all contest rules. FFRF monitors for plagiarism. Include links or footnotes for quotes, studies cited, or significant facts relied upon. Entrants must verify that the essay is their original work and that AI was not used in the writing of the text (beyond grammar and spellcheck).

• freshman
• sophomore
• junior
• senior
• graduate

• US Citizen
• Permanent Resident
• International or Other Visa Status
• Undocumented