This year’s scholarship winners will be announced late January 2017.
The topic for the 2016-2017 scholarship essay contest is:
“Are international free trade agreements in the best interest of the United States? Why or why not?”
Contest participants have the opportunity to:
- Earn a college scholarship of up to $5,000.
- Have your essay published on Debate Central.
- See your essay posted on the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) home page.
- Have your essay shared with 200,000 NCPA Policy Patriots via email.
- Have your winning entry be sent to your hometown newspapers, radio and TV.
Please read the following pieces as you consider the above topic:
The two readings are required. Your submission will be graded in part according to how carefully and thoughtfully you engage with these challenging articles. They are:
- “Part One and Two: Trade and Economic Growth” by Arnold C. Hargerber for National Center for Policy Analysis
- “Tailored Trade: Dealing with the World as It Is,” by Pat Choate and Juyne Linger for Harvard Business Review
Make sure to include a bibliography citing any outside sources you choose to reference. Incorporating outside research into your writing, although not required, may improve the overall quality of your essay. Your bibliography does not count against your word total.
Entries will be judged on the quality of their writing (style and mechanics), their level of engagement with the topic, and the strength of their reasoning. Essays that make an argument and support it well will out-perform essays that only provide a neutral overview of both sides. Judges will not consider their personal feelings on the topic when evaluating the essays.
