Applications are now open to Kentucky students for 2025 United States Senate Youth Program

Applications are now open for the 2025 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP), a merit-based program that takes the most outstanding high school students from around the country to Washington D.C., for a weeklong study of the federal government and the people who lead it.

Two Kentucky high school students will be selected this fall as delegates and will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship in the name of the U.S. Senate, with encouragement to continue coursework in history, government and public affairs.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) oversees the selection process of two students to be part of the national 104-student USSYP delegation.

Students will attend Washington Week – scheduled for March 1-8 – and participate in meetings and briefings with high-level officials from each branch of the federal government. Speakers typically include senators, a justice of the Supreme Court, leaders of cabinet agencies, other key policymakers and senior members of the media.

High school teachers and principals are encouraged to nominate qualified high school juniors and seniors to apply. Applications for the 2025 USSYP program are available online and are due Sept. 30.

Applicants should be interested in and participating in leadership, public service and government-related activities. Students will need to submit a transcript, two letters of recommendation, three essay responses, a resume and a signature form as part of the application process.

Semifinalists will interview in Frankfort on Saturday, Nov. 2. KDE will announce the names of the two USSYP delegates and two alternates representing Kentucky in December.

Ariel Fader, a senior at Ryle High School (Boone County), and Minhal Nazeer, a senior at Kentucky Country Day School in Louisville, were selected for the 2024 program.

“USSYP has become another family for me, united by memories,” Fader wrote in a recent column on Kentucky Teacher , reflecting on her USSYP experience. “These delegates will become my future college classmates and professional colleagues, and I cherish this extraordinary community that will continue to catalyze change.”

The U.S. Senate Youth Program was created by Senate Resolution 324 in 1962 and has been sponsored by the Senate and funded by The Hearst Foundations. The 2025 program details are available on the U.S. Senate Youth Program website .

Kentucky Department of Education

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