The American Legion Family offers several scholarship opportunities to support students in our community pursuing higher education.

American Legion Post 171 and Auxiliary Unit 171 sponsor local scholarships each year, and students may also qualify for additional state and national scholarships offered through The American Legion.

Note: the scholarship application process for this year is now closed. Please check again in March – April of next year.

Post 171 Scholarships for High School Seniors

American Legion Post 171 awards four scholarships each year:

• Two scholarships of $2,000
• Two scholarships of $1,500

Applicants must:

• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be a graduating high school senior
• Have a minimum GPA of 3.0
• Plan to attend an accredited college, university, or trade school

Applications are evaluated based on:

• academic achievement
• leadership
• character
• citizenship
• community involvement

Applicants will be judged on Scholastic, achievement, leadership, character, citizenship, school and community activities, work experience, and the content and quality of their essay. THE DECISIONS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE WILL BE FINAL.

Send applications to: 

Damascus American Legion Post 171
PO Box 171, Damascus, MD 20872
Attention: Scholarships

Or via email to the Scholarship Committee using the button below.

The successful recipients of the scholarships will be announced at their high school’s Awards Ceremony or other appropriate time.

The scholarship grant will be sent directly to the university, college, or institution indicated by the recipient and credited to the student’s account.

Unit 171 Auxiliary Scholarships for High School Seniors

The Damascus American Legion Auxiliary Unit 171 scholarship program includes scholarships for female students who are interested in furthering their education in institutions of higher learning. Applicants will be judged on scholastic achievement, leadership, character, work experience, their submitted essay, and school and community activities. Complete details are listed on the scholarship application, which will be available in late January by clicking on the link below. For additional information, please contact Terri Nuccio-Youngs. For technical issues or questions, please contact Mandy Buckley.

High School Seniors General Scholarship Program. This year Auxiliary Unit 171 will be offering two scholarships, in the amount of $1,500, for female high school seniors. Applicants will be judged as described above.

Medical Career Program. This year Auxiliary Unit 171 will offer one scholarship for females in the medical career field in the amount of $1,500. Students may be in high school or college and may be granted this scholarship award up to four times.

National American Legion Scholarships

The American Legion Constitutionally Speech Contest

The Oratorical Contest scholarship program gets underway in December of each year.  The actual competitions begin in February.  High School aged students compete with orations they write about various aspects of our Constitution. Interested parties should click on the link below for more information.  The Post provides monetary awards for a first, second and third place in the Post competition.  The first place winner then goes on to compete in the Department of Maryland competition. 

The Department participates in the National Baseball Scholarship Program and the Eagle Scout Scholarship. Post baseball participants are nominated by the Department to receive this scholarship.

The National American Legion Auxiliary supports a number of scholarship programs that benefit veterans, the children of our veterans, and the members of the organizations within the American Legion Family.

For members of the Legion family who are interested in improving their education or technical training.

This program has three separate scholarship opportunities for participants in American Legion Auxiliary programs.

If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, check out the scholarship link below for eligibility requirements, deadlines, and application forms.