The submission deadline for this year’s contest has passed.

CONTEST RULES

All essays should specifically address the Essay Topic, which is:

Certain endeavors were always considered a job for government, but entrepreneurs have changed that. Consider space exploration. Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently sent two astronauts into space for two months. But it’s not just up in space that entrepreneurs are making changes. Down here on Earth, entrepreneurs are forcing us to reconsider what private enterprise might do better than government does. Education and the Postal Service are two other examples of numerous government-run operations that might face similar challenges from private enterprise. Is this the future? Is society better served with greater involvement from entrepreneurs? If so, who pays and who profits?

Eligibility – The contest is open to writers aged 12-18 at some point during the contest period (September 1, 2020-March 8, 2021). No more than one submission will be accepted for each essay writer. Writers must be located in North America or Hawaii, and all submissions should be in English. Employees of Stossel in the Classroom, Stossel TV, and Center for Independent Thought, or any person or organization involved in the operation and/or setup of the contest, and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Previous winners of a Stossel in the Classroom first place prize are not eligible for prizes in our subsequent contests.

Essay Length – Essays must be 500-1,000 words in length. Submissions that do not meet this requirement, or that exceed it, will be disqualified.

Deadline – Essays must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time, March 8, 2021.

Plagiarism – All essays must be the original work of the student whose name is listed on the submission form. Plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.

Taxes – Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes on winnings.

Judges – Essays will be judged on their ability to answer the topic question in an articulate, clear, and organized manner. Stossel in the Classroom will evaluate essay submissions in a fair and unbiased four-round judging system, in which judges all use the same criteria. Judges will be selected by Stossel in the Classroom based on their backgrounds and expertise in education, writing, and the subject matter. Decisions of the judges are final.

Ownership and Use – The ownership of any submission remains the property of the writer, but entry into the competition constitutes the entrant’s permission and consent, without compensation, with or without attribution, for Stossel in the Classroom, Stossel TV, and Center for Independent Thought to use, reproduce, transmit, post, distribute, adapt, edit, and/or display the submission.