Scholarships for High School Students

The Dickens Day of Writing

The Dickens Day of Writing is both a writing retreat and a writing competition designed to support Monterey Bay Area junior and senior high school students in their futures as college students and professionals. By reflecting on a short essay by Charles Dickens, the students will reinforce skills learned in the classroom, such as critical reading, analytical reasoning, argumentative writing, creative production, and cultural history, to prepare them for life beyond high school.

All Dickens Day of Writing essays are published in a printed volume, and the authors of winning essays receive cash prizes. Any winners who are 18 years old by July 15 will also be eligible for scholarships to enroll in a 5-credit, intensive week-long college course at the Dickens Universe conference, taking place on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Neighborhood Academic Initiative Scholarships

Through its partnership with the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), the Dickens Project offers up to four scholarships annually for NAI high school students to study Dickens amid the redwoods. Students enter the scholarship competition by submitting an essay following the guidelines. Students must be fully matriculated in a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) high school and in good standing in the USC NAI program.

The scholarship competition winners will attend the Dickens Universe with all expenses paid. (Paid expenses include conference registration and six-night food and lodging.) A travel stipend of $150 is also included for each student.

(PLEASE NOTE: The nationwide Dickens Project High School Essay Contest is no longer in effect. An archive of winning essays from the former contest is still available here.)