Scholarships

The speech and debate scholarship is a $4,000 per academic year, renewable scholarship open to incoming first-year and transfer undergraduate students who wish to compete for the UIS speech and debate team. The award is renewable for up to three years (for a total of four years) contingent upon competing for the speech and debate team and on maintaining good academic standing at the university.

To apply for the scholarship, complete the UIS Institutional Scholarship application and make sure to answer the three questions related to the speech and debate scholarship (located below the Narrative text box).

The scholarship is open to all incoming students. Previous speech and debate experience is not required to be awarded this scholarship or to participate on the speech and debate team. Between one and four scholarships will be awarded each academic year to eligible incoming students.

We do ask you to provide a sample video of you speaking or performing. However, this presentation does not have to be from a speech and debate competition. It could be from a class in school or have taken place through another organization or it could be something you create specifically for this application. If you have questions about the format of this video, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.

If you are awarded a speech and debate scholarship and choose to accept the award, you must participate in weekly practice sessions each semester, compete in at least two competitions each semester, and adequately prepare your events to meet the first two requirements.