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Dance students who have been inducted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) Secondary Program and are current juniors and seniors in High School are eligible for the NHSDA Artistic Merit, Leadership and Academic Achievement Award and Scholarship, the highest student dance award in the nation. The National Winner of this dance scholarship will receive up to a $1000 monetary award/scholarship and a certificate. The 2 National Finalists will each receive a $250 monetary award/scholarship and a certificate. Honorable Mention Recipients will receive a certificate. Applicants may be eligible for a state level award if their NDEO State Affiliate chooses to present one.
The applicant for the NHSDA high school student dance scholarship must be an inductee of the secondary program of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) and a high school junior or senior student (16-18 years) studying dance in any private or public high school, dance school/academy, performing arts center, or community center. The student's Chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) must hold a current National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Institutional Membership.
***Dance Instructors: It's not too late to start a chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) to induct your qualified dance students in time to apply for the scholarship! Visit ndeo.org/nhsda/Start-a-Chapter to learn more about the program and its benefits for you and your students***
Scholarship applicants are rated based on the strength of their technical and artistic merit in dance, leadership, and academic achievement. These categories are assessed through a self-choreographed solo video (solo video must be done in one shot with no edits), two essay questions, GPA and transcript, recommendation letter from the student's current National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) chapter sponsor, and resume. Each category is worth 300 points for a total score of 900 possible points. The applicants are judged in three main categories:
Checklist of Scholarship Application Components:
Student nominees complete the application entirely online using the Acceptd platform. Mailed paper or emailed applications will not be accepted. The Chapter Sponsor identifies eligible NHSDA students and assists in completing their application online. Besides basic contact information, the student will need to supply contact information for their school principal. An email will be sent to the school principal if applicable to inform them of their student’s award. The online application consists of basic student contact information and GPA (in x.x out of x.x format) and chapter sponsor answered recommendation questions, school transcript (official or unofficial), resume, 2 short essays, along with a 3 minute maximum video of applicant performing their own choreography done in one shot with no edits, and two photos (head shot and dance photo). There is also a $15 application fee (payable only by credit card.)
By submitting their application the student agrees that NDEO – NHSDA is allowed to use their material on NDEO – NHSDA’s websites, in marketing, and other forms as seen fit by the organization.
NDEO has the following State Affiliates that support the NHSDA and may hold state level adjudications: AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, UT, WA, WI, and WV.
The deadline for students to complete the application, pay the $15 fee and click the SUBMIT button at the end of the application, is January 30, 2023.
The student application submission will then trigger an email to Chapter Sponsor to answer Recommendation Questions, which must be completed by February 6, 2023. Please make sure the Chapter Sponsor checks their inbox for this email. If they do not receive an email entitled Documentation Request from Acceptd, please contact Acceptd customer service at support@getacceptd.com or nhsda@ndeo.org