Dr. James B. Johnston Scholarship

SAGE Scholars Educational Foundation’s annual Dr. James B. Johnston Scholarship Competition offers hard-dollar scholarships to SAGE Scholars students who submit winning essays or videos and attend a member college or university after graduation.

Fifth Annual Dr. James B. Johnston Scholarship Competition

The SAGE Scholars Educational Foundation is delighted to announce the start of our fifth annual Dr. James B. Johnston Scholarship Competition. This year, SAGE Scholars Educational Foundation is offering scholarships of up to $5,000 to SAGE Scholars High School Seniors who submit a winning essay or video and attend a member college or university. Login to your Tuition Rewards account to see how you can apply. The scholarship submission opens on February 15th, 2023, and will close on May 15th, 2023.

Essay Competition Details

The Educational Foundation named this scholarship after SAGE Scholars founder and president, Dr. James B. Johnston. A visionary leader in higher education, Dr. Johnston works closely with the heads of private collegiate institutions to make their values-oriented educational programs more accessible and affordable for families. Dr. Johnston is the former Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Wharton Graduate School and the 2020 Alumni Educator of the Year at the University of Pennsylvania GSE.

For 2023, Dr. Johnston choose the below prompt for students to answer as a short essay or video:

  • Why did you choose a SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards member college or university?

Submitted essays should be approximately 250 words in length. Recorded videos should be under three minutes in length. Both essays and videos must be created by the student to receive consideration.

Only SAGE Scholars students attending a member college or university are eligible for a Dr. James B. Johnston Scholarship. Students will have from May 15th to July 15th to submit proof of enrollment at a member college or university. On August 1st, SAGE Scholars will announce scholarship winners. All scholarship winners will receive their scholarship checks by August 31st.

Good luck! We look forward to receiving your submission.

Scholarship Video Guidelines
  • Videos will not be evaluated for production quality, but we recommend sitting in front of your laptop/camera/tablet/phone and speaking directly to the audience. Make certain you are visible and audible during your video. Check the lighting and listen to your video after you have recorded it to ensure you are happy with the final product before submitting it.
  • Curious about how to create the ultimate scholarship video? Read these articles in our Newsroom:
  • Be creative, but please limit your video to no more than three minutes.
  • Be sure your video is in landscape orientation so your finished product will not require viewers to turn their heads to the side when viewing on a desktop computer.
  • Upload the video to YouTube and ensure it is sharable. You will need to share your video’s YouTube link in your scholarship application. Click here for steps: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/57407

View the SAGE Scholars Educational Foundation’s