Are there three separate scholarship categories?

Yes, there’s one contest for video, another for billboard design and a third for radio. Each contest has two levels: one at the high school level for high school juniors and seniors and one at the college level for undergraduates. Be sure that you apply at the appropriate place on the landing page and select the correct category when filling out your application information.

Who should apply?

High school juniors and seniors between the ages of 14 and 20 who will complete graduation requirements by or before July 31, 2025 or 2026, and undergraduate college students between the ages of 15 and 25. The winning applicants will receive a scholarship toward the school of their choice (college, university, junior college or trade school, technical school) or associated school fees.

Can you apply if you’re not attending college but getting vocational training?

Yes, we’re excited to include young people from the age of 15 to 25 who are attending trade school or getting vocational training for their career. This group will be included in the college/trade school category for judging purposes.

How much is the scholarship?

FOR THE VIDEO CONTEST: The first-place finishers in both the high school and college/trade school contests contests will receive a scholarship in the amount of $8,000.

FOR THE BILLBOARD CONTEST: The first-place finishers in both the high school and college/trade school contests will receive a scholarship in the amount of $2,000.

FOR THE RADIO CONTEST: The first-place finishers in both the high school and college/trade school contests will receive a scholarship in the amount of $2,000.

Can we apply in teams?

Yes, you can apply in teams (but no more than 4 people per team). If your team wins, the prize will be evenly distributed among the members.

Why is there no footage accepted of using your phone while driving for the video competition?

We hope it’s obvious to you – this whole campaign is about anti-distractions and the last thing we want is for you or someone in your film to be using their phone while driving a car. However, there are ways to get around it. For example, you could pan down to someone in the driver’s seat on their phone as long as they’re not actually driving a car at the time. (The car could be parked; just don’t show outside the window.). Along those same lines, all passengers (all persons, animated characters, or objects) must properly wear seat belts. The main point is that we want you to be safe!

How long should the video be? The radio spot?

Videos should be either exactly 10 seconds or 25 seconds in length. If your video is selected as a winner, it will be turned into a PSA by the Ad Council and we will add a five second end frame to round it out to 15 or 30 seconds.

Likewise, the radio spot should be exactly 20 seconds. The Ad Council will add a 10 second branding voice-over at the end of the spot to round it out to 30 seconds.

Please keep all your unused video footage taken during the making of your film and/or the recording of your radio spot. We may need it if you’re selected as a winner.

What about music?

If you’re using music in your video or radio spot, use music we’ve provided on the site on our resources page (under the Resources tab), OR original music written, performed and owned by solely by Entrant OR music that you have express written permission to use and license. If you are using music for which you have written permission, PYL must approve all such written permissions to ensure that they are unlimited, freely transferable, perpetual, and otherwise grant PYL all necessary rights.

The official rules say we can’t have brand names in our videos, billboard designs or radio spots. Why?

Avoid brand names or logos in your PSAs. For example, don’t capture footage at a Starbucks or Target or have a Starbucks or Target sign or logo in the background, or a phone logo or service provider name. If your footage has branding or logos, we may not be able to select it as a winner, since the winning entry could run as a PSA in donated media. Since the ad may run as a national PSA, we can’t use any logos or brand names that don’t belong to us or for which we don’t have permission to use.

Can you enter all three contests: video, billboard and radio?

Yes! You are welcome to enter all contests as long as the entry follows the requirements.

And you can submit up to 3 entries to each contest.

Is there anything else?

You bet! For the video contest, the Ad Council may edit the winning 1st place videos into a PSA that could be distributed nationwide to approximately 1,800 TV stations during a full-year cycle. For the billboard design contest, Clear Channel Outdoor may feature the winning work on billboards throughout the U.S. iHeartRadio may broadcast the winning radio spots on its network.