2024 USSY Program
The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Washington Week will be held March 2-9, 2024. Two students from each state will be selected to attend the online program and each student will receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship. All student leadership qualifying positions are subject to the judgement of the state selection administrator and will be verified and confirmed.
NOTE - the Hearst Foundation, who funds the USSYP, is requiring some new information be added to the application. Please read the application carefully, as it has changed from previous years!
New this year - The Top Ten applications selected for a virtual interview will be required to submit a 3-4 minute video "portfolio" outlining their work as a youth civics leader.
Application Portal
The application for Wisconsin students applying for the U.S. Senate Youth Program can be accessed here. You will need to provide your email address for the application link to be sent to, and fill out the "captcha". If the link is not live, applications are not yet being accepted for the next program. The application portal opens in mid-August every year.
Applications are accepted online only. If you are unable to process the application online, please contact the program administrator for Wisconsin immediately at DPI.USSYP@dpi.wi.gov.
Please read the entire application before beginning, using the available PDF of all the questions . We strongly suggest that students have a trusted adult read over the application, especially the essays, before submitting.
This is an extremely rigorous selection process; remember that grammar, punctuation, and citing resources are all taken into account in the assessment of the applications.
Application Considerations
Incomplete applications will be discarded; make sure to fill out all sections completely and according to directions.
Applicants must obtain TWO letters of recommendation. One must be from their principal or headmaster, and the other must be from a teacher or adult who oversees the program that qualifies you for this program. This shows that the administration understands that only one student per high school may submit an application. It must be sent to DPI.USSYP@dpi.wi.gov directly from the administrator's/oversight adult email address. It may be brief and to the point. Applicants may have one additional letter of recommendation sent to that address, but the principal and oversight letter is required. Administrators will receive a short reply within one business day of receipt; if they do not receive a reply email, the letter has not been received. It is the applicant's responsibility to ask for the letter, to ensure the principal has time to write it, and to follow up that it has been sent.
Make sure to keep short and long essays within the word limit, and to cite resources. It is suggested that applicants use a word processor with spell-check and a grammar function, as well as having a trusted adult proofread the essays. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word count are "counted" in the application process.
ALL materials, including the administrator letter, must be received by the due date and time. The application portal will be disabled at that time, and no late submissions are accepted.
Important Note
The timeline for determining delegates and alternates is very tight. Therefore, there is no time to return incomplete or incorrect applications. Incomplete student applications are discarded in the first round of review.
Due to the large number of applications and the limited resources on our end, individual feedback cannot be given to students on their applications.
The most common reasons for discard are:
- Failure to complete the entire application, including the required essays;
- Student not holding an elected or selected office during the current school year, as required by the Hearst Foundation, who funds the program;
- Letter from administrator is not sent.