Our 2025 Scholarship Launch is January 13

To be notified of more details, join our mailing list here.  You can find general information about our scholarship process below.

The Highlights Foundation Scholarship Program

Since the earliest days of the Highlights Foundation, we’ve offered scholarships for writers and illustrators to attend our workshops.  It’s a tenet of the work we do here.

While the program has grown and evolved, its focus on our mission has remained: to positively impact children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.

Crystal Allen hands Kent Brown a check for $1,100

“Do Something With It”

When Crystal Allen received a scholarship and attended her first workshop with the Highlights Foundation in 2005, she tried to thank Kent (our founder) when she met him.  He appreciated the sentiment, but was more concerned with how she’d use her scholarship from the Foundation to inspire kids.  He asked her simply to “Do something with it.”

And that she did.

Now she’s the author of more than seven books for children, and teaches on our faculty.  She paid it forward with a donation to our scholarship fund in 2019.

How the Highlights Foundation Scholarship Program Works

The Highlights Foundation offers scholarships each year, including General and Special named Scholarships.

The general scholarship fund and special scholarships are supported by Highlights Foundation supporters who believe in the organization’s mission: to positively impact children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.  Select named funds also support our general scholarships, honoring those who have had a significant impact on children’s literature.

Several awards are also sponsored by organizations who have partnered with the Highlights Foundation to make scholarships available.

 The application period opens yearly, and awards are based on the following criteria:

  • seriousness of purpose, including time and effort devoted to craft,
  • talent displayed via a writing or art sample,
  • and financial need.

Scholarship Success Stories

Crystal Allen: Do Something With It

Crystal Allen: Do Something With It

These are your people, and this is your place

These are your people, and this is your place

From Scholarship to Workshop to Book with Traci Sorell

From Scholarship to Workshop to Book with Traci Sorell

Scholarship Thanks:  Exactly Where I Was Supposed to Be

Scholarship Thanks: Exactly Where I Was Supposed to Be

Our Mission in Action

Share Your Story, Inspire a Child
Scholarships
Equity & Inclusion in Kidlit
Partners & Sponsors

The Highlights Foundation positively impacts children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.  Learn more about our impact.