Rise Program for Ages 15-17: 2023-2024 Rise Challenge Archive

Rise Program for Ages 15-17: 2023-2024 Rise Challenge Archive

This page is a historical reference, not an open application listing. The last youth application cycle identified on the official Rise website was the 2023-2024 Rise Challenge. Its application deadline was January 17, 2024, and the call invited young people aged 15 to 17 as of July 1, 2024 to apply. That deadline has passed. The current official Rise homepage still explains the program and its benefits for Fellows, but it does not publish a newer youth application deadline or a successor Rise Challenge. The former application path referenced in the launch announcement, /apply-to-rise, now returns a 404 page.

The front matter deliberately keeps deadline = "2024-01-17" and sets historicalReference = true. That combination records the real closing date without making an expired call look live. There is no responsible basis for replacing it with a guessed future date, rolling, or an empty field. Anyone hoping to apply in a future round should use the official Rise homepage as the starting point and wait for a new announcement from Rise rather than relying on this archive entry.

What Rise was

Rise was created by Eric and Wendy Schmidt in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. The official launch material describes it as a program for finding promising young people and giving them opportunities to work together in service of others over their lifetimes. It was not a conventional scholarship form with one essay, one award amount, and a single payment. It was a selection program followed by a longer-term benefits package for people chosen as Rise Global Winners, with a wider community and partner opportunities available to applicants and other participants.

The 2023 announcement described the program as a flagship initiative of the Schmidts’ philanthropic work and said that Rise collaborated with global partners to identify and nurture talent in communities around the world. The Rhodes Trust is the educational charity behind the Rhodes family of fellowship programs. The two organizations are the operators named in the official announcement for the archived call, which is why this page identifies the source as Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust rather than using a generic label such as “Web Crawl” or “AI.”

Rise’s core proposition was especially relevant to teenagers who had ability and a record of helping others but did not necessarily have access to elite schools, expensive coaching, or a long list of formal awards. The program framed talent as something that can appear in many forms and in any part of the world. A strong applicant might be a builder, organizer, researcher, artist, educator, or problem-solver. The common thread was potential joined to service, not a prescribed academic major.

Archived cycle at a glance

The word “lifetime” needs a little care. It describes the intended duration of the relationship and access to opportunities; it does not mean every participant receives an unconditional cash payment forever. The official material says benefits may vary with need, funding, and the opportunities Rise makes available. The scholarship is need-based and may be reduced where other financial aid already covers costs. Idea funding is competitive rather than automatic.

What Global Winners could receive

The most substantial education benefit was a four-year, post-secondary scholarship. Rise described it as covering tuition and a living stipend based on need and where those costs were not already covered by financial aid. That is materially different from advertising a universal full ride with the same value for every recipient. A prospective applicant or family would have needed to discuss the individual financial-aid position with Rise after selection.

The package also included one fully funded in-person residential summit with other members of the cohort. The archived announcement said attendance was required to maintain Global Winner status. The summit was therefore part of the program’s participation expectations, not merely an optional travel perk.

Rise also offered access to funding opportunities for ideas. The official description gave examples such as seed money for a social enterprise or a grant for a nonprofit addressing a major problem in a local community or around the world. The opportunity was competitive and available to Winners and Finalists; it was not a promise that every applicant would receive project money or that the award would have one standard amount.

Network matching connected Global Winners with other Winners, community members, and partner organizations, along with career development programming delivered primarily through Rise’s technology platform. A starter technology package, such as a laptop or tablet, was to be determined and issued immediately before or during the first semester or term of post-secondary education. The official announcement also left room for additional benefits, including partner opportunities, further convenings, and possible graduate-education support, depending on need and funding.

The current Rise homepage presents the same broad structure in more concise terms: benefits offered to Fellows may include a residential summit, higher-education scholarships, competitive funding for ideas, network matching, career development programming, and starter technology packages. Its wording matters because it confirms that these are program benefits that may be offered and tailored, not a single guaranteed dollar amount. The home page also says that specific benefits may vary as new opportunities become available.

Who could apply to the archived call

The official launch announcement for the 2023-2024 Rise Challenge invited young people aged 15 to 17 as of July 1, 2024. That cutoff is the key eligibility detail for this archive. It should not be silently converted into a general statement that any teenager aged 15 to 17 can apply today. A future call could use another cycle year or another cutoff, so a reader must wait for the next official announcement before checking a birthdate against a new rule.

The call was global. Rise said that people could apply from anywhere in the world, and its program description emphasized talent wherever it is found. The announcement did not restrict applicants to a short list of nationalities, universities, or school systems. It also did not require a particular subject area. The selection idea was broader: identify promising young people, see how they use their abilities, and understand whether they are committed to serving others.

The strongest fit was not necessarily the person with the most polished résumé. Rise’s published framing focused on promise, initiative, and service. The applicant needed something real to show: a project, activity, investigation, creative work, or community effort that demonstrated ability and concern for other people. A small project with a clear purpose and honest reflection could fit the spirit of the call better than an expensive project built only to look impressive.

How the archived application worked

The 2023-2024 launch announcement directed applicants to the Rise application route and said the program used multiple ways for young people to show their potential. Rise’s published Challenge format included three broad parts:

1. Submission and introduction. Applicants introduced themselves through written or video responses and completed the activities required in the application. Rise’s privacy notice identifies the types of material collected for these services, including responses to prompts, quizzes and games, personal statements, essays, project plans and summaries, and evidence of achievements.
2. Individual project. Applicants created a project that demonstrated their talents and benefited their communities. The project could take different forms; the important questions were what the applicant made or did, why it mattered, who it helped, and what the applicant learned while doing it.
3. Peer review and later selection. Applicants reviewed other applicants’ projects, while Rise used peer and expert review and later evaluation stages to decide who advanced. The published format described selection of up to 500 Finalists for an interview-style stage, followed by selection of up to 100 Global Winners.

This was not an application that could be completed well by pasting generic claims into a final-night form. The project and responses had to work together. The project supplied evidence; the written and video answers explained the applicant’s choices, motivations, and way of thinking. Peer review was also part of the signal: an applicant was expected to engage seriously with other people’s work rather than treating the process as a one-way audition.

Because the archived application portal is no longer available, this page cannot promise that its old interface, questions, upload limits, or alternative submission routes will return. The official privacy notice confirms the kinds of records Rise has processed from applicants, but it is not a substitute for the rules of a future Challenge. When a new call is announced, applicants should read that call’s instructions from the beginning and follow its current route.

What to prepare if Rise reopens applications

Preparation should start with a problem the applicant understands directly. A useful question is: “Who is affected, what have I already tried, and what evidence would show whether it helped?” That question keeps the project concrete. It also creates a natural record of decisions, setbacks, feedback, and revisions that can support the written responses later.

The project does not need to be expensive. A local information resource, a small experiment, a peer-support activity, a prototype, a piece of research, or a creative work can all reveal how an applicant notices problems and acts on them. What matters is that the work is genuinely theirs, that the intended beneficiaries are treated respectfully, and that the applicant can explain what changed as a result. Do not inflate reach or claim impact that has not been measured.

For written and video responses, specific examples are more useful than labels. “I am a leader” says very little by itself. Explaining how a team disagreed, how the applicant changed the plan after feedback, or how a community member shaped the work gives reviewers something they can evaluate. The same standard applies to peer review: thoughtful criticism, clear reasoning, and respect for another applicant’s effort are stronger than praise that says nothing.

Families should also confirm the age cutoff and consent requirements in the next official rules. Rise’s privacy notice says applicants must be at least 15 and that applicants under 18 need parental consent to apply, but a future Challenge may state additional requirements. Check access needs early as well. The former challenge descriptions referred to multiple ways to participate, while the current website does not publish a live youth application route. Do not assume that an old paper or browser pathway is still active without written confirmation from Rise.

Status and next steps

The 2023-2024 youth call is finished. Its verified deadline was January 17, 2024, and the archived age rule was 15 to 17 as of July 1, 2024. The official Rise homepage currently functions as the reliable public starting point for the program’s description and Fellow benefits. It does not announce a new youth application deadline, and the old /apply-to-rise route is no longer a working application page.

If Rise announces another Challenge, treat that announcement as a new cycle rather than assuming the archived date, age cutoff, project prompts, or selection calendar will carry forward. Recheck the age rule, the opening and closing dates, the accepted submission method, parental-consent language, and the benefits actually offered. Until then, this entry should be read as a record of what the 2023-2024 call offered and asked for—not as an invitation to submit an application today.