54th Annual United States Youth Program

Stop on by to get more information about the United States Youth Program sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The United States Senate Youth Program, established in 1962 by U.S. Senate Resolution, is a unique educational experience for outstanding high school students interested in pursuing careers in public service. The 54th annual program will be held in Washington, D.C., from March 5 – 12, 2016. Two student leaders from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity will spend a week in Washington experiencing their national government in action. Student delegates will hear major policy addresses by Senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of other federal agencies, as well as participate in a meeting with a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. All transportation, hotel and meal expenses will be provided by The Hearst Foundations. In addition, each delegate will also be awarded a $5,000 College Scholarship for undergraduate studies, with encouragement to pursue coursework in history and political science.

How to Apply

Entering high school juniors and seniors may obtain a USSYP application through their high school principals, guidance counselors and social studies teachers OR they may inquire directly to their state selection contacts using this website (see selection contacts listing on home page). All student delegates to the United States Senate Youth Program are selected by state-level education officials – the United States Senate and The Hearst Foundations do not provide individual states’ applications or choose the delegates and alternates.

USSYP Selection Process – How to Qualify

Two student delegates and a first and second alternate will be selected from each state and the District of Columbia by the Chief State School Officer in each state. The Hearst Foundations will provide $1,000 to each state-level department of education to assist with the selection expenses for the program. A rigorous public affairs exam is provided for the states to use in the election process.

The office of the Department of Defense Education Activity will be responsible for the selection and confirmation of DoDEA delegates and alternates. Military dependents who reside and attend schools in the United States may apply for the program under the RESIDENT ruling as shown below.

Alternate delegates will be selected as replacements in the event a primary delegate is unable to participate in Washington Week. If the primary delegate is unable to attend, The Hearst Foundations must be notified in advance. Attendance during the Washington Week program is required to receive the financial scholarship; appropriate disposition of scholarship funds will be determined by the program director in the event of health or other emergency in the immediate family precluding attendance at program.

Selection will be based on the student’s outstanding abilities and demonstrated qualities of leadership in an elected or appointed high school student office for the 2015-2016 school year. A student who graduates high school at the close of the fall 2015 semester/quarter is not eligible to apply for the program, and students other than DoDEA delegates must be residing in the U.S. during the 2016 spring semester to participate.

• Any high school junior or senior, who has not previously been a delegate to Washington Week or received a USSYP scholarship, is eligible to apply provided they are currently serving, for the entire 2015-2016 academic year, in an elected or appointed capacity in any one of the following student government, civic or educational organizations:

class president, vice president, secretary or treasurer

student body president, vice president, secretary or treasurer

student council representative

student representative elected or appointed (appointed by a panel, commission or board) to a district, regional or state-level civic and/or educational organization approved by the state selection administrator.

• Each student must be a resident of the United States and currently enrolled in a public or private secondary school located in the state (including for these purposes the District of Columbia) in which at least one of his or her parents or guardians currently resides. A student attending a school which is located in a state other than the state of residence of either one of such student’s parents or guardians is not eligible.

Exceptions to the residency requirement will only be made in the following cases:

• Students from Department of Defense Education Activity will represent the state(s) of which the parents/guardians are U.S. legal voting residents. Students attending DOD schools in the U.S. or students enrolled through U.S. military bases in the local schools will represent the state in which their school is located.

• Students may reside in a state other than the state in which they attend school if they are enrolled in the only designated public high school available to them in a school district that legally crosses contiguous state borders through legal interstate agreement. Students in these schools shall make application to the program through the state where the high school is located and shall represent that state if selected.

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