Student OpEd Contest
Open to all enrolled college students nationwide and seeks to engage America’s greatest rising minds to think about and articulate solutions to some of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
$5,000
Grand Prize
Submission Deadline
Friday, December 5 at 11:59pm
900 words
Article Limit
Problem Solvers OpEd Contest
The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is excited to announce a fall 2025 scholarship for college students. The contest is open to all enrolled college students nationwide and seeks to engage America’s greatest rising minds to think about and articulate solutions to some of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Who is Aii?
The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is an independent, national research and educational organization working to advance innovation across industry and public policy. The only nationwide public policy think tank dedicated to infrastructure, Aii explores the intersection of economics, law, and public policy in the areas of climate, damage prevention, eminent domain, energy, infrastructure, innovation, technology, and transportation.
The OpEd Prompt
Closely read the following prompt. Read Aii reference material from “Selected Sources” at the bottom of this page and incorporate relevant information in your own original OpEd article, citing directly to Aii in your final OpEd. Articles must be written in English only and should not exceed 900 words in length. The audience and tone should be toward the general public, or specific regional audience of a given publication.
- Write a well-reasoned and well-supported opinion column (or an OpEd).
- Cite Aii and our research material.
- Submit it to a local, state, or national publication of your choosing.
- Once you’ve done so, upload a hyperlink to the published article or send in proof of a good faith effort to get your article placed.
Making Connections
Innovation thrives where industries meet! The future of infrastructure will demand solutions that span multiple sectors – even those that seem unrelated. From broadband to transportation, or energy to construction, opportunities for collaboration can strengthen resilience, safety, and efficiency across the system. How can we leverage innovation across at least two unrelated industries to solve today’s infrastructure challenges? This prompt calls for creative, practical thinking – envisioning how cross-sector partnerships can unlock new solutions while addressing the obstacles to integration. Write an OpEd up to 900 words.
Learn
This is the third annual scholarship contest run by Aii. Education has always been integral to what we do, and we believe this is an outgrowth of that vision. We challenge students to read and engage with our dynamic research and reports to arrive at their own original arguments. Not only will they learn in the process, but they will advance the learning process by showcasing their ideas for others.
Compete
We are eager for students to take advantage of this opportunity to raise their voice and compete in the nationwide marketplace of ideas. By using an OpEd style contest, we are encouraging students to make a difference, speak up, and show their local policymakers and the country how we can leverage innovation and existing infrastructure to solve problems.
Opportunity
This contest not only provides students an opportunity to compete against their peers, but the chance to earn scholarship funds. One finalist will be named and their work promoted, with 1st place earning $5,000 or more. Select runner-ups may also have their work highlighted to our nationwide audience of industry leaders and policymakers.
Eligibility
This contest is open to all currently enrolled college students across the United States. Students will have until December 5 to write out a well-sourced, original argument on one of two prompts – citing Aii research – and attempt to place it in a newspaper or similar publication.
• Open to all enrolled college students, including graduate students
• One entry per student.
• Contest will run from September 1 to December 5. Entries must be made by 11:59pm ET on Friday, December 5.
Rules
• The article must clearly address the prompt, but not restate it (from the newspaper’s perspective, they are just receiving an opinion submission).
• Qualifying articles must cite Aii work in text or hyperlink as part of a well-researched article.
• Articles must be pitched to a local, state, or national publication. Submissions to Aii must be either the final published article link to a live publication website or an email with proof of submission and word document of article draft.
• Abide by any publication requirements such as submission type (in body of email or as attachment), word count, hyperlinks or written sources, etc.
Scholarship
Winning Potential: $5,000
Winners will be selected by a judging committee assembled by Aii and will evaluate originality of argument, incorporation of innovation, and leveraging of existing infrastructure. Winning submissions will be promoted by Aii and certain articles may be published at Aii.org. Contest deadline is 11:59pm ET on Friday, December 5.
Selected Sources
Read through Aii resources, including our Research Library, and cite Aii in your OpEd.
