2024 Rhodes Scholars

Georgia, Michigan and Oregon had plenty to cheer about this past week: each school had a student or alumnus named a Rhodes Scholar for the coming year. They’ll join students from Harvard, Agnes Scott College, Yale, University of Montana, the service academies and a handful of other colleges in pursuing graduate degrees at Oxford next fall.

Rhodes Scholars are selected through a multi-step process. Applicants must be endorsed by their college or university, then regional Committees of Selection choose the strongest applicants in their region for interviews. While Michigan was battling it out against Penn State on the football field, 240 applicants representing 90 colleges and universities were considered in the final selection process. Over the course of the entire application process, more than 2,500 applicants are winnowed down to 32 winners, two from each district. The Rhodes Trust pays all university expenses plus a living stipend for study at Oxford, typically for two to four years depending on the field of study. The average annual award is $75,000.

The Rhodes Scholarship was created in 1902. Including this year’s selections, 3,642 scholars representing 327 colleges and universities have won the award.

Rhodes Scholars are traditionally announced on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. My annual tradition is to use that press release to remind you that Ivy League credentials are not required to compete at the highest levels. There are many, many colleges and universities across the country that do an excellent job of preparing students for lifelong success.