No. Our Youth Awards program is only open to rising high school seniors who will be graduating high school in the Spring of 2025.

We highly encourage students to join our Latinos On Fast Track (LOFT) Network. This is where we keep our members informed about opportunities on entry level jobs, scholarships & grant opportunities; students can also keep in touch with other young professionals with similar interests. Join LOFT Network: LOFTnetwork.org

Yes. If you are under the age of 21 and are receiving your GED, you are eligible for the Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards.

If you or one of your parents can directly trace your ancestry to Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, the Spanish speaking Caribbean or the Philippines, then you qualify for this award.

AP and IB classes give greater point weight to their grades which can result in GPAs over a 4.0. For the purpose of the Youth Awards, we look at un-weighted averages. This levels the playing field for students whose schools do not offer many AP or IB classes.

Please calculate and convert your GPA to reflect the correct GPA on the 4.0 scale. You can use an online calculator here.

It is required that you reside in the US or its territories to apply. In the application, you will be asked for your US mailing address.

Yes, if you are Hispanic or your adoptive parents are Hispanic, you are eligible to apply.

Home schooling does not disqualify you from applying. As long as you are following an accredited home-schooling program or would be eligible to apply to an institution of higher learning for upcoming Fall semester next year then you still qualify.

The Haz la U program is a part of our Youth Awards. By applying to the Youth Awards, a student is also automatically applied for the Haz La U program.

If you are submitting a Letter of Recommendation or School Transcript for a student applicant, please submit the documents here

The portal will only accept a one letter of recommendation upload. It would not count against you for your letter of recommendation to talk about a specific category when applying to multiple categories.

The deadline to upload documents is the same as the application deadline. All documents must be uploaded by November 5th, 2024.

In the “Required Documents” section of your application portal, you will be able to provide the email of the letter writer. It will also give you a link that you can send to the writer directly, we highly suggest that you reach out to the letter writer directly to make sure they received the email, to ensure that your application is complete. Please get in touch directly with the person uploading your documents to confirm they have all the information they need.

You can view a step-by-step guide on how to apply to the Youth Awards on our YouTube channel here.

The deadline to apply is November 5th, 2024 at 11:59:59 PM PST.

• Alabama, AL
• Alaska, AK
• American Samoa, AS
• Arizona, AZ
• Arkansas, AR
• California, CA
• Colorado, CO
• Connecticut, CT
• Delaware, DE
• District of Columbia, DC
• Florida, FL
• Georgia, GA
• Guam, GU
• Hawaii, HI
• Idaho, ID
• Illinois, IL
• Indiana, IN
• Iowa, IA
• Kansas, KS
• Kentucky, KY
• Louisiana, LA
• Maine, ME
• Maryland, MD
• Massachusetts, MA
• Michigan, MI
• Minnesota, MN
• Mississippi, MS
• Missouri, MO
• Montana, MT
• Nebraska, NE
• Nevada, NV
• New Hampshire, NH
• New Jersey, NJ
• New Mexico, NM
• New York, NY
• North Carolina, NC
• North Dakota, ND
• Ohio, OH
• Oklahoma, OK
• Oregon, OR
• Pennsylvania, PA
• Puerto Rico, PR
• Rhode Island, RI
• South Carolina, SC
• South Dakota, SD
• Tennessee, TN
• Texas, TX
• Utah, UT
• Vermont, VT
• Virgin Islands, VI
• Virginia, VA
• Washington, WA
• West Virginia, WV
• Wisconsin, WI
• Wyoming, WY

The categories include, but are not limited to: Community Service, Education, Engineering, Entrepreneurship & Business, Green Sustainability, Healthcare & Science, Media & Entertainment, Public Service & Social Justice and Technology.

* Categories are subject to change. Please check the web site for more information.

Yes. The more categories you apply to, the more chances you have of winning.

Your Youth Award ID or YA ID is used internally to track your applications. This is found on the center of your online application form and upper right corner on the PDF version of your completed application. You will also receive an email with your Youth Award ID. Please note, if you apply to multiple YA categories, you will have multiple YA IDs.

In order for your application to be complete we must have the following:

1. Completed Youth Awards Application
2. Submitted a Letter of Recommendation
3. Submitted a School Transcript (official or unofficial)

Your letter of recommendation and school transcript will need to be uploaded and your application submitted in order for it be considered complete.

We ask that letters of recommendation or school transcripts be submitted directly to us electronically here. We will not be able to accept documents sent through mail or email.

No, you cannot change application details, but you can delete the application and submit another in its place. You can, however, still edit your Personal Information section at any point.

• The regional award recipients will be selected and informed in January. Virtual Awards Ceremonies take place during February/March. You must agree to participate in the Virtual Award Ceremony to be eligible to receive your award.
• National Youth Award Recipients are announced in late March.

Yes, this is a one-time grant.

HHF will notify recipients at least two weeks prior to the virtual ceremony.

• Youth Award recipients will receive up to a $4,000 educational grant depending on the selected category to use for their college education or to fund a community service effort.
• National Youth Award recipients will be celebrated at the National Youth Awards ceremony.

Visit our website and join our LOFT Network for more scholarship and educational grant information.