Utah Senate Youth delegate says scholarship rose to $12,500 and urges better outreach
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Summary
At a Utah State Board of Education meeting, Jared Schneider, a NUAMES senior and Utah delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program, described the trip to Washington, D.C., said Utah’s selection process is unusually rigorous, and told the board the scholarship was increased to $12,500 while urging improved advertising for the state contest.
Jared Schneider, a senior at NUAMES and Utah’s delegate to this year’s United States Senate Youth Program, told the Utah State Board of Education the national scholarship tied to the program was "upgraded" to $12,500 and urged the board to help publicize the state competition more widely.
The program, Sorensen said, was established in 1962 and is funded by the Hearst Foundation; it covers travel and lodging for delegates and traditionally includes a scholarship. "They receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship," Joanna Sorensen, elementary social studies specialist at the Utah State Board of Education, told the board during the education highlight. Schneider said the scholarship for his cohort was increased. "The first one is they this year, our class was the first one where we got an upgraded scholarship, so it's now $12,500," he said.
Nut graf: Schneider described Utah’s selection process as more rigorous than many states’ procedures — an in-person competition with three stations — and said the state-level advertising reached him too late to prepare comfortably. "Advertising for this is really not that great," he said, asking the board to expand outreach so more students can compete.
Schneider outlined what delegates face in Utah’s process: an on-demand essay, an impromptu speech station and a roundtable judged for interaction and assertiveness. He described touring the Capitol and the Supreme Court during the national program and said meeting other delegates helped broaden his interest in public service and political science.
Board members thanked Schneider for sharing his experience. Member Lier recounted being a finalist for the state program decades ago and congratulated Schneider on the honor. The chair noted the advertising concern in meeting notes and said the board would "pass along" the feedback to help increase participation.
The transcript records two different statements about the scholarship amount: Sorensen described the program’s scholarship as $10,000 while Schneider said his cohort’s award had been upgraded to $12,500; the board did not present documentary evidence at the meeting to reconcile that difference. The board did not take a formal vote on program changes; the conversation concluded with a commitment to follow up on outreach.
