U.S. Presidential Scholars Program

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students.

Students are nominated through their Chief State School Officer (CSSO). It is the role of the Iowa Department of Education to collect these nominations and submit them to the U.S. Department of Education for review.

Two Iowa students named as 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholars

Nominate

This page will be updated when the 2026 nomination period opens. 

Eligibility

For the general component of the program, students who meet the following criteria:

• are or will be U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent U.S. Residents by the application deadline (Students who were not U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent U.S. Residents on the day they took SAT or ACT exam, or who requested that The College Board or ACT not release their scores to outside entities, should contact the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program at 507-931-8345 to ensure their scores are considered in the determination of the candidate pool.);
• graduate or receive a diploma between January and August of 2024, the current program year; and
• score exceptionally well on either the SAT of the College Board or the ACT of the American College Testing Program, nominated by their Chief State School Officer (CSSO) or nominated by one of our partner recognition organizations based on outstanding scholarship.

For the CTE component of the program, students who meet the following criteria:

• are or will be U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent U.S. Residents by the application deadline;
• graduate or receive a diploma between January and August of 2024, the current program year;
• demonstrate academic achievement in career and technical programs; and
• are nominated by their state's Chief State School Officer.

Application for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is by invitation only. Students may not apply individually to the program or be nominated (outside of the above process).