The South Dakota Department of Education is seeking candidates for the state's nominations for U.S. Presidential Scholars. Each Chief State School Officer can nominate up to 20 students in the traditional Scholars program: 10 males and 10 females. Additionally, up to five students in CTE can be nominated. All high school seniors graduating between January and August of 2025 who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and who attend public, parochial, or independent schools, as well as those who are home-schooled, are eligible.

After South Dakota submits its U.S. Presidential Scholars nominations, applications will be reviewed and narrowed to a list of nationwide nominees. All U.S. nominees will be announced and invited to apply in mid-to-late January 2025 by the U.S. Presidential Scholars program office. Completed applications will be due at the end of February 2025, and Scholars will be announced by mid- May 2025.

• Be a high school senior graduating between January and August of 2025
• Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident
• Attend public, parochial, or independent schools, as well as those who are home schooled
• Achieve an ACT composite or superscore of 30 or higher

Application Deadline:

To submit a nomination for the U.S. Presidential Scholar Program, nominators must submit a Program Application Form by Oct. 25, 2024.

• US Presidential Scholar Application Form
• US Presidential Scholar in CTE Application Form

After South Dakota submits its U.S. Presidential Scholars nominations, applications will be reviewed and narrowed to a list of nation-wide nominees. All U.S. nominees will be announced and invited to apply in mid-to-late January 2025 by the U.S. Presidential Scholars program office. Completed applications will be due at the end of February 2025, and Scholars will be announced by mid- May 2025.

Presidential Scholars Application Checklist