Please read all instructions before applying.
Applicants for AFA’s 2026 Teen Alzheimer’s Awareness Scholarship must meet the qualifying guidelines:
- Currently be a high school senior
- Currently reside in the US as a citizen
- Must attend an accredited college/university in the US immediately following high school graduation in 2026 (no gap year/semester)
- Entries are accepted from November 1st , 2025 at 12 noon EST. Deadline is April 1, 2026 at 5:00pm EST.
Submissions must meet the required formatting guidelines:
- Submissions may be in either written essay format or video format. DO NOT SUBMIT BOTH. Duplicate submissions will be disqualified.
- Written essay must not exceed 1500 words.
- Video must not be longer than 4 minutes, must be submitted in mp4 format, and be under 1.5GB in file size.
(You can easily convert and compress video files for free using ZamZar.com » ) - Submissions must be accompanied by a valid high school transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable).
All submissions (written or video) must answer these 3 questions:
- How has Alzheimer’s disease changed or impacted your life?
- What have you learned about yourself, your family, and/or your community in the face of coping with Alzheimer’s disease?
- What are your plans to raise awareness in regards to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia?
Prepare your files first:
Please prepare all of your files before you start the application. You’ll need to submit an essay as either a text document or video, and a copy of your transcript. You’ll need to consider both the size of your files and the file names.
File sizes:
The total file size of all of your uploaded files must be under 2GB. Your application will not submit if the total file size of all of your documents combined is 2GB or more. A video file will use up most of your total file size; text documents are more easily compressed and are generally smaller. If you submit a video essay, we recommend that you keep your video file under 1.5GB and your transcript file under 512MB.
Exceeding file size total (essay + transcript) is the cause of 95% of form submission failure.
File compression tools:
- Compress .docx files here »
- Compress .doc files here »
- Compress .pdf files here »
- Compress .mp4 files here »
File names and file types:
Please submit files of the right types and name your files using the following conventions.
Incorrectly named files may result in the loss of your application content!
Written essay:
Acceptable file types: .doc, .docx, .pdf
File name: Surname_Firstname_AFA2026_essay.{file type}
Transcript:
Acceptable file types: .doc, .docx, .pdf
File name: Surname_Firstname_AFA2026_transcript.{file type}
Video essay:
Acceptable file type: .mp4
Name your .mp4 file following the file name convention below, using today’s date:
File name: Surname_Firstname_YYYYMMDD.mp4
If you are having difficulty with file formats, file size or file renaming, ask your guidance counselor or a tech support person for help!