The Youth Foundation Grants program provides funding and scholarship support through the Youth Foundation to students and nonprofit organizations serving youth. The Hadden Scholarship, which accepts applications from February 1 to May 15, 2026, supports students meeting requirements for citizenship, age, college type, and GPA.

Applicants must provide academic achievements, extracurricular activities, community involvement, work experience, and two letters of recommendation. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations serving youth as well as individual students meeting the scholarship's academic and community engagement criteria.

Application Procedures | Youth Foundation The Hadden Scholarship application is open from February 1, 2026 — May 15, 2026. Please refer to our Application Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions for more details. Please review ALL information, instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) before starting an application.

All applicants must meet the requirements for citizenship, age, college type, and GPA. Be prepared to provide contact information for the applicant, parents/guardians, and the applicant’s high school. Be prepared to provide a complete list of academic achievements, extra-curricular activities, community involvement, and work experience.

Two Letters of Recommendation are required; applicants will need to provide an email address for each recommender. Please let your recommenders know to expect an email from Youth Foundation. Submission of SAT and/or ACT scores is REQUIRED.

Be prepared to provide an electronic copy of your high school transcript. All transcripts must include first semester or trimester grades. For transcripts that do not automatically include the current year’s first semester grades, the first semester report card will need to be included.

The transcript and report card may be saved as PDFs and merged into one document to be uploaded into the application. No mail-in transcripts will be accepted. Please be sure to redact ALL social security numbers from transcripts and ALL uploaded files.

To determine financial need, applicants must attach a copy of their FAFSA Student Aid Report, their parents’ most recent IRS form 1040, and their own most recent IRS form 1040, if applicable. Please be sure to redact ALL social security numbers from IRS forms and ALL uploaded documents. Applications where social security numbers are NOT redacted will be automatically rejected.

* Applicants are required to submit an electronic copy of their financial aid award letter from their chosen college or university to verify eligibility to receive outside scholarships. Applicants are responsible for all of the information provided in the Application Guidelines, Application Procedures, and Frequently Asked Questions. All dates and times are Eastern Standard Time; no late submissions will be accepted .

Please thoroughly review all of the provided information and ask questions ( admin@youth-foundation. org ) well before the application closes. VERY IMPORTANT: Once your application is complete, you must hit the ‘Submit’ button or your application will not be sent to Youth Foundation and it will not be reviewed.

You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been submitted. If no confirmation email is sent, then the application has not been received and it cannot be considered. No application may be submitted after the application deadline.

Finalists will be required to submit an electronic copy of their financial aid award letter from their chosen college or university to verify eligibility to receive outside scholarships. Applicants are responsible for all of the information provided in the Application Guidelines, Application Procedures, and Frequently Asked Questions. All dates and times are Eastern Standard Time; no late submissions will be accepted .

Please thoroughly review all of the provided information and ask questions ( admin@youth-foundation. org ) well before the application closes. VERY IMPORTANT: Once your application is complete, you must hit the ‘Submit’ button or your application will not be sent to Youth Foundation and it will not be reviewed.

You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been submitted. To apply online, follow these instructions: When the application cycle begins, a link to the application sign-in page will be posted throughout the Youth Foundation website. Create an account with your email and password of your choice.

Fill out the Profile page. Once the profile is complete, click on the Application. Once the application is complete and at least two Letters of Recommendation have been uploaded, click the Submit button.

Applications will be accepted online only. No applications, in whole or in part, will be accepted through the mail. * In evaluating financial need, a variety of factors are considered; there is no specific cut-off for income or Student Aid Index.

There are Hadden scholars who receive the full Pell grant amount and have a zero SAI, and there are scholars who receive very little or no need-based aid from their school. The totality of the circumstances is weighed and applicants are given the opportunity to provide additional information that may not be reflected in a FAFSA or tax return.