10 Best Scholarships for Elementary Students 2025
reviewed by Maila Caliao
Updated on August 20, 2025
Education is costly, but the best opportunities can feel totally out of reach. As a math tutor, I know how demotivating this realization can be for parents of great minds. That’s why I’ve collected the best scholarships for elementary students so you can win the chance to support your child’s academic growth without financial constraints.
Can you get a scholarship in elementary school?
Yes, you can win a scholarship opportunity for your elementary-level child. There are fewer options than for middle and high schoolers, but still, your child can get the grant or win the competition prize for their creative approach and special skills. This assistance can provide significant support to children from low-income families.
10 scholarships for elementary students 2025
- Brighterly Math Equity Scholarship
- Paradigm Challenge
- Stossel in the Classroom Essay Contest
- Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
- Folds of Honor Scholarships
- The Joan Myers Brown Equity Fund
- National Spelling Bee
- Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision
- Doodle for Google
- River of Words
#1 Brighterly Math Equity Scholarship
Age group: grades 1-8
Brighterly scholarship for elementary students: Details
Brighterly Math Equity Scholarship is a contest with $500 prize. It is designed to help children from low-income and underrepresented communities build strong skills, get math confidence, and try innovative teaching methods from Brighterly tutors.
Eligibility
- US students aged 6-14 years old
- Brief statement of financial need from a parent or guardian
- Essay of interest in math from an applicant
- Recommendation letter from a teacher, school counselor, or mentor
- Proof of current school enrollment (public, private, or homeschooling).
Deadline: December 12, 2025.
Brighterly Math Equity Scholarship winners
Winners will be announced on December 16, 2025. They will get free lessons with Brighterly elementary school math tutors, meaning they can continue their math growth under a 1:1 personalized program.
Details
Brighterly features
- Top-quality math tutoring: With a 4.5/5 Trustpilot rating from over 200,000 parents, Brighterly reading and math tutoring platform delivers a tutoring service that combines high effectiveness with top engaging practices.
- Common Core curriculum: Each lesson is aligned with Common Core standards, meaning that Brighterly’s scholarships for elementary students in private school can help improve grades and excel in math tests at school.
- Personalized approach: In their math program, Brighterly tutors choose to teach with the methods and tools that address the needs, strengths, and weaknesses of each student, providing them with the relevant education.
#2 Paradigm Challenge elementary school scholarship
Age group: 4-18 years old
Paradigm Challenge scholarships for kids: Details
Paradigm Challenge is a $100,000 student contest with 100 winners who reveal top creativity in solving real-life problems. Also, winners can get a 3-night trip to LA with their parent and drive a limo to the award ceremony.
The exact list of Paradigm Challenge Projects 2025
- Home Fires: Ideas on fighting fire and preventing the losses it creates daily
- Waste Reduction: Natural environment innovations
- Personal Health: Improving physical, mental, and social well-being
- Food security: Fixing the food system problems
- Biodiversity: Preserving the variety of life on Earth
Eligibility
- Students worldwide (except for residents of Cuba, Iran, Syria, the Crimea Region, or any other country sanctioned by the United States).
- Creative ideas in any form (posters, videos, community events, websites, mobile apps, etc.).
- Your kid can submit one or more entries through the registration form on the website between May 2, 2025, and May 1, 2027.
Deadline: May 1, 2027
#3 Stossel in the Classroom Essay Contest: Scholarships for elementary school
Age group: 10-18 years old
Stossel in the Classroom Essay Contest: Details on scholarships for 10 year olds
In 2025, the Stossel Essay Contest asks students to choose among four topics: “The Effect of Minimum Wage on Entry-Level Workers”, “A Better Migration System”, “Cancel Culture or Censorship — Is it an assault on 1st Amendment freedoms?”, “Coercion vs. Choice”.
The essays must be 500-1,000 words long, and the prizes range from $50 to $2,500.
Eligibility
- Students must be in grades 5-12 at some point during the contest and be located in North America, Hawaii, or a US military address.
- For this elementary scholarship, a student can submit only one essay.
- Previous winners are not eligible for prizes in the same division
- The essay must be the original work.
Deadline: March 21, 2025. The new application period is about to start in September
#4 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes: Scholarships for elementary school students
Age group: 8-18 years old
Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes scholarships for elementary school: Details
The Barron Prize scholarship supports public-spirited young people who have organized and led a unique service activity to help others or the planet. It celebrates positive spirit, courage, high morale, and acting for the public good that is far beyond personal goals.
Eligibility
- Permanent residence in the US or Canada
- Current involvement or experience within the past 12 months in an inspiring service project
- Working as an individual to lead the service work
- Online application only
Deadline: April 15, 2025, with winners announced mid-September and the next application date announced by the end of the year.
#5 Folds of Honor elementary school scholarships
Age group: K-12
Folds of Honor Scholarships elementary school details
The Folds of Honor Scholarship is designed to support the academic dreams of a child from a family who’ve sacrificed a lot for the United States.
The types of scholarships you can apply for in Folds of Honor
- Military Scholarships: Families of fallen or disabled US service members
- First Aid Responder Scholarships: Families of fallen or disabled first responders
Eligibility
- Demonstrate an unmet need, or the portion of tuition, fees, and required textbooks not covered by any other awards or financial aid.
- To be eligible for both elementary scholarships from Folds of Honor, a student should be able to provide an official transcript with a 2.0 or higher term GPA for two recent academic terms.
- The maximum allowable payment is $2,500 per term, which can be used only in the United States and US territories for the current application year.
Deadline: March 31, 2026. The application window will open on February 1, 2026.
#6 The Joan Myers Brown Equity Fund scholarships for gifted elementary students
Age group: 7-22 years old
The Joan Myers Brown Equity Fund scholarship for elementary education majors: Details
The Joan Myers Brown Equity Scholarship Fund supports young dancers by providing scholarships to training and educational dance programs. The tuition coverage they offer can be full or within the 25%-100% range.
Eligibility
- Intermediate or advanced level dancers from any ethnic or racial background.
- A technique video showing the work at the ballet barre or across the floor, ideally shot during a private lesson.
- A personal essay (can be written with the help of a parent, but still, should reflect the dancer’s ideas).
- A letter of financial need, providing the details on the circumstances of financial hardship. Claims should be supported by facts or references.
- A letter of support from a current teacher, showing the student’s current ability and motivation level, interest in learning, performance in class, and potential for success.
Deadline: September 10, 2025 / October 15, 2025 (Fall Programs) and February 15, 2026 / April 30, 2026 (Summer Programs)
#7 National Spelling Bee: Contest and scholarship elementary school
Age group: K-8
National Spelling Bee scholarship for kids: Details
The National Spelling Bee is a large US competition where the champion can get a $50,000 cash prize, while finalists get from $2,000 to $25,000.
Eligibility
- Students up to the eighth grade who have not reached their 15th birthday on or before August 31st of the year prior to the application year.
- Schools that choose to enroll can do it from August 19, 2025, via the official Spelling Bee website for the per-school $199 fee.
- Students can promote to the national level via the Classroom Competition List, the School Competition List, and the Regional Qualifier Competition List.
- The national competition includes preliminary, quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds.
Deadline: January 30, 2026, via school enrollment.
#8 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision scholarships for gifted elementary students
Age group: K-12
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision scholarship for primary school students: Details
The STEM competition under Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision encourages creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration in improving existing technologies. The applicants should develop the science project and submit its template to the judging committee. Four teams can get the first prize, which is a US EE Savings Bond worth $10,000 at maturity of each student (Canadian applicants get Canada Savings Bonds purchased for the equivalent issue price in CAD).
Eligibility
- Students from the United States and Canada living in these countries, US territories, or a DoDEA school abroad, and no older than 21 years old.
- Students enter as a team of 2-4 people with a teacher or coach.
- A coach is a teacher, counselor, leader in a youth organization, parent, or guardian who is older than 21 years old.
- Coaches are required to register teams and upload the PDF versions of the storyboards by the link provided.
- AI can be used for brainstorming, but it should be cited among other sources properly.
Deadline: February 3, 2026.
#9 Doodle for Google scholarship for elementary students
Age group: K-12
Doodle for Google scholarship for elementary students: Details
The annual art contest from Google is expected to open in the fall of 2025. Since 2008, it has asked K-12 students to create a Google Doodle based on the chosen topic. Last year, the winner won a $55,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for her school.
Eligibility
- Students must be enrolled in a US-based school (including homeschooling) or a school in Puerto Rico, US territories, freely associated states, or the District of Columbia.
- Parents and teachers can apply on behalf of K-12 students via the entry form.
- Only one Doodle per student can be accepted; no group entries.
- The student must be a US citizen or a permanent US legal resident.
Deadline: TBD in Fall 2025, typically closes around December 31.
#10 River of Words scholarship for elementary students
Age group: 5-19 years old
River of Words scholarship for elementary students: Details
The River of Words contest in poetry and art provides support to children who translate their observations into creative expression. For elementary students, there are two highly honorable Grand Prizes: Category I (Kindergarten-Grade 2) and Category II (Grade 3-Grade 5).
Eligibility
- Students should be US residents, with submissions from Georgia and Arizona students eligible for the Georgia or Arizona ROW statewide contest.
- A parent, guardian, educator, or facilitator should submit the entry for students younger than 18 years old.
- Participants can submit up to 5 entries of poetry (in English or Spanish) and up to 5 entries of art.
- Collaborative work is accepted, but only one student from the group is eligible for any prize.
Deadline: TBD around Fall 2025
How to apply for elementary scholarships?
To apply for the scholarship, consider choosing your target program and preparing for it as early as possible. Read the requirements carefully, dedicate enough time to find your unique application angle, and make sure you’ve showcased the creative process in your submission.
A good practice before submitting your application is to consult a mentor/private tutor.
Elementary school scholarships: Conclusion
If you’re considering getting scholarships for 5th graders and below, apply for the opportunities in this list. They are all worth a try!
I personally recommend that everyone new to scholarships start with the Brighterly Math Equity Scholarship. It has the easiest entry requirements in terms of recorded achievements, official transcripts, and overall competition.
If you’re a parent of a bright, socially aware, and creative child, I highly encourage applying for the rest of the opportunities in this list. These are excellent ways to encourage your kid to be their best self and support their growth financially!
Since the list of opportunities and scholarships for 11 year olds is limited, it’s worth considering private tutoring and mentorship to prepare for the upcoming application round. This way, you can prepare your kid for one of these middle school and high school opportunities:
In this regard, the Brighterly math scholarship helps you get access to the tutoring service that will support the future math growth of your child. Whether you win it or not, you can already book 1st math class for free. Do it now to check how it works and apply for the scholarship with confidence!
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