The National Audio Essay Scholarship Contest is designed to give high school students the opportunity to voice their opinion and address their responsibility to our country. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary hope that every high school in our country will provide the opportunity for its students to take part in this contest. Through classroom study projects and special assignments, students will be motivated, while writing and speaking, to express their opinion about their personal responsibilities and better understanding the rights and responsibilities of being an American.

Students must be in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade and properly enrolled in a public, private, parochial high school or a home study program in the United States, its territories and possessions or enrolled in an overseas school as a dependent of U.S. military or U.S. civilian personnel. (Foreign Exchange students are excluded.) All eligible students will be judged on their interpretation of the contest theme. A positive approach should be used to express the entrant's viewpoint. The finished written essay should not take less than three minutes nor longer than five minutes when recorded on a cassette tape.

The contest is conducted each fall and any interested student should encourage their school to take part. School counselors or teachers should be asked to contact the nearest Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in the local community and get full details on the local program. The competition must be sponsored by a VFW Post. Full cooperation between the Post and the schools is vital to a successful competition. A Post may advance one winner from each school into the District Competition. One winner from each District will advance to the Department Competition. One winner from each Department (54) will advance to the National Competition.

Each Department's first place winner receives an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Four fun-filled days of tours, visits to monuments, meeting with heads of state and often the President or Vice President of the United States. The National Judging is held in Washington, D.C. prior to the students' arrival and the winners are announced at a special reception in their honor. In June, each Department winner is invited to the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge Freedom and Leadership Youth Conference. The three-day conference allows participating students the opportunity to converse with experts on current issues of citizenship, tour the Philadelphia and Valley Forge historic sites and participate in seminars designed to develop leadership skills and understand the value of community service. The foundations of American democracy and the elements of the free enterprise system will also be explored through thought provoking lectures and workshops.

All National scholarships are paid directly to the American university, American college or vocational technical school as selected by the recipient. Disbursement is made directly to the college/school upon receipt of proper notice from the college certifying that the recipient has been accepted and is enrolled. All scholarship moneys are held in escrow at National Headquarters for ten years and disbursed as needed until the scholarship is totally withdrawn. This time may be extended to cover all years of study as the student deems necessary. The funds may be used for tuition, books, computers, laboratory fees and/or other items relating specifically to the student's formal education. (Clothing, room and board and pocket money are not considered authorized expenditures.) All questions should be referred to National Headquarters for review. Numerous opportunities also exist to win valuable scholarships and awards at each level of the competition. Most VFW Posts/Auxiliaries offer additional monetary awards to participants who place in their local school competition.