Junior and Senior high school students have the opportunity to participate in our JA Experian 5-3-1 Scholarship Challenge. In partnership with Experian, we will be awarding $30,000 (1 x $15K and 3 x $5K) in scholarships to Central Texas students.

Please submit scoring by Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

Students will be informed by May 18, 2026.

Submit Your Assessment

Please sum the total points from the spreadsheet (button below), enter totals on the form below, and email your filled out spreadsheet back to emily@jacentex.org.

Sharing your time to review the applicant's essays will help shape students’ futures. Thank you!

Link to entries to judge.

Student Submissions

Scholarship FAQs

Click this LINK to apply.
Details
To apply for the JA Experian 5-3-1 Scholarship, students must complete an online application that contains two components: an essay response and a personal statement. Please note, students have the option to submit a written OR video response for both components.
Essay Response
Prompt: What are your 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year goals? How do you plan to achieve your goals for each time frame?
Your goals should be centered around professional and career development or financial objectives. As you state each goal, be sure to provide context as to why you have selected this goal and how it will support your future success. Provide a thoughtful and financially realistic plan on how you will achieve each goal. Written responses have a 500 word maximum and videos have a 3 minute cap.
Personal Statement
The personal statement is a space for you to share experiences, achievements, and aspirations to provide additional context to our scholarship judges on who you are and why you should be selected as a scholarship recipient. Written personal statements have a 300 word maximum and videos have a 2 minute cap.
You are welcome to respond to any of the following prompts for your personal statement:
*Share an experience that has shaped your personal development.
*Share a time you overcame an obstacle & the lesson you learned from the experience.
*Share a time you made an impact in your community.

JA of Central Texas and Experian are partnering to launch the 5-3-1 Scholarship Challenge to support the continuing education goals of area high school students. This challenge encourages students to contemplate their 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year plans and the steps needed to achieve each goal.
We will be awarding one, $15,000 and three, $5000 scholarships to current high school students.
Scholarship funds may be used toward university, community college, or trade/vocation schooling expenses, including tuition and course materials. Funds will be sent directly to your school.
This scholarship is open to junior and senior high school students currently enrolled and planning to pursue any postsecondary education including trade/vocational schooling, community college, university, etc.
Submit an application that includes an essay and a personal statement. Applicants have the option to submit a written or video response for both application components. Please refer to the ‘Submit Your Application’ section above.
Our scholarship panel will review applications after May 16th deadline then scholarship recipients will be notified by May 23rd.
Overall Creativity and Message
Clarity and the details of your 5-3-1 plan
Personal statement- experiences, accomplishments, and aspirations