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SteamH Essay Contest

STEAM-H Essay Contest

Contest Submission Form

Sponsorship Form

About the Contest

Each year, the Virginia Council on Women (Council) hosts an Annual STEAM-H Essay Contest (Contest). The Contest, which started in 2012 under Governor Bob McDonnell’s administration, awards high school senior girls pursuing STEAM-H majors and careers with scholarships to aid with their tuition at institutions of higher education, to include but not limited to four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and career and technical schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia and throughout the Unites States. Since the establishment of the Contest, the Council has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships. 

Defining STEM: The Virginia Council on Women’s definition of STEM includes majors and careers in the following areas: science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and healthcare. In 2020, as the Council prepared to launch the 10th Annual STEM Essay Contest, it broadened the definition of STEM to STEAM-H, which includes the following areas: science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, and healthcare. As of 2020, the contest is now referred to as the Virginia Council on Women Annual STEAM-H Contest. This decision was made in an effort to be more inclusive of the increasing intersection between STEM and the arts.

Contest Timeline

  • Contest Launches

    January 2025

  • Contest Ends

    February 28, 2025

  • Scholarship Recipients Notified

    March 2025

  • Scholarship Recipients Reception

    Spring 2025

  • Scholarship Dispersed

    2025

Contest Eligibility Requirements

All applicants for the Virginia Council on Women STEAM-H Essay Contest must:

Merit-Based

  • Be a Virginia resident
  • Be enrolled in a Virginia-based high school or high school equivalent (to include homeschool)
  • Be a female high school senior
  • Be planning to attend an institution of higher education to include but not limited to a community college, four-year college or university, trade or technical school, or certificate program
  • Have a minimum 3.0 GPA (4.0 Scale)

Need-Based

  • Be a Virginia resident
  • Be enrolled in a Virginia-based high school or high school equivalent (to include homeschool)
  • Be a female high school senior
  • Be planning to attend an institution of higher education to include but not limited to a community college, four-year college or university, trade or technical school, or certificate program
  • Have a minimum 2.5 GPA (4.0 Scale)

Contest Guidelines

Essay Prompt
Write a 700-1,000-word essay responding to the following:

  • Your motivation for pursuing a STEAM-H career
  • Your anticipated course of STEAM-H study, trade, and/or profession

Judging Criteria

All essays are judged on the following:

  • Content
  • Creativity
  • Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar