Humanities Contest Directory: Concord Review, National Latin Exam, Certamen, National French Contest, and Civic Debate Programs
Published · Contest directory · History, languages, civic debate · Grades: 9–12
The humanities competition landscape for high school students extends well beyond essay contests. The programs covered here span original historical research, Latin and classical languages, French, and civic debate organizations. Each operates differently, targets different students, and produces different kinds of credentials. What they share: they reward sustained subject-matter investment, not short-term test prep.
The Concord Review
The Concord Review is a quarterly academic journal that publishes original history research papers written by high school students from the United States and internationally. It accepts papers in English from public school, private school, and home school students. Founded in 1987, it is the only journal in the world devoted exclusively to publishing high school students’ history scholarship.
What they publish: Papers in the 5,000–10,000-word range (or more) on any historical topic. The paper must be original and unpublished except in a secondary school publication the student attended. It must be the student’s sole-authored work.
Submission process: Authors create a member account and submit electronically. The submission fee is $70, which also grants access to the prior year’s published essays. The publication accepts approximately 5% of submissions; competition is genuine.
What the credential means: A Concord Review publication is a credible signal of undergraduate-level historical research capacity. The journal is peer-reviewed by historians and educators; having a paper accepted is not primarily a test score or a participation prize but an editorial judgment that the research and argumentation meet a standard. For students applying to history programs, political science programs, or selective colleges where research experience is evaluated seriously, a published Concord Review paper is a strong differentiator.
National Latin Exam
The National Latin Exam (NLE) is a 40-question, 45-minute multiple-choice test offered at seven levels, ranging from Introduction to Latin through Advanced Latin Prose, Advanced Latin Poetry, and Advanced Latin Reading Comprehension. Students take the exam through their Latin teacher or school; test window dates for 2026 were February 23–March 13. The exam is administered annually.
Awards and recognition: Students who score above the national average for their level earn a cum laude certificate. Higher scores earn silver and gold medals (summa cum laude). Because there is no fixed quota — a student earns an award based on their score, not their rank relative to others in that testing window — a high-scoring year can produce more medals than a lower-scoring year.
Scholarships: The NLE awards up to 15 scholarships of $2,000 each annually to qualifying high school seniors who earn gold medals on the Advanced Latin Prose, Advanced Latin Poetry, or Advanced Latin Reading Comprehension exams. Scholarship applicants must commit to taking at least one semester of Latin or classical Greek per semester in their first year of college. A separate New Latin Educators Scholarship supports students pursuing Latin teaching.
Who it is for: Students studying Latin at any level. The Introduction to Latin exam serves true beginners; the Advanced exams challenge students with multiple years of Latin behind them. Schools without a Latin teacher can explore independent preparation paths; verify current testing logistics through the NLE’s website at nle.org.
Certamen
Certamen is a quiz-bowl format competition for students of Latin, Greek, and classical civilizations. Teams compete in rapid-fire question-and-answer rounds covering Latin and Greek language (grammar, translation, vocabulary), classical history, mythology, Roman and Greek culture, and the influence of classical languages on English. It is organized through the National Junior Classical League (NJCL) and through state and regional classical leagues.
Competition structure: At NJCL Convention, there are two tracks: Open Certamen (open to all participants) and Competitive Certamen (for teams that have advanced through qualifying rounds). Competition is divided by Latin level and by grade. The 2025 NJCL Convention was held at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; convention location changes annually.
Regional access: State classical leagues run their own Certamen competitions throughout the academic year, which serve as practice and qualification pathways toward national competition. Students can access Certamen through their JCL chapter, which is organized at the school level. A school without an existing JCL chapter can petition to start one.
What it rewards: Certamen favors students who have both linguistic precision and broad classical knowledge. Unlike the NLE, which tests individual performance on a standardized exam, Certamen is team-based and real-time — it rewards recall speed and the ability to work collectively under pressure.
National French Contest (Le Grand Concours)
Le Grand Concours is organized annually by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) for students learning French at any level. Testing for 2026 ran from February 12 through April 10 for the secondary division (high school level). The FLES Division for younger students had a slightly different window.
Competition format: Students take a standardized exam through their French teacher or school. The exam tests grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and cultural knowledge at levels calibrated to years of French study. Awards are given at the regional and national levels by score, with the top performers in each level advancing to national recognition.
Who runs it: The AATF, a professional organization for French teachers, which means the exam is grounded in the actual curriculum standards that French teachers are working from. Results are reported by level, so a first-year student is not competing against a four-year student.
Practical note: Participation requires a registered school or teacher. Students studying French through homeschooling or independent courses should contact the AATF to inquire about access.
Civic debate organizations: note on Junior State of America
The Junior State of America (JSA), which had operated since 1934 as a student-led civic debate and leadership organization, closed in August 2024. Former JSA students and staff formed successor organizations: Civic Leaders of America (CLA), organized by the school-year student leadership; and Students for Civic Impact, organized by the summer program community. Students looking for JSA-style civic debate programming should research these successor organizations directly, as their structures and programming were still developing as of 2025–2026.
For other debate programming at the national level: the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) runs the primary competitive structure for high school debate (Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, and Congressional Debate), with local chapters in schools nationwide. The Congressional Debate format, in particular, closely parallels the legislative-simulation format that JSA conventions used.
Choosing where to compete
The programs in this directory serve different students with different interests and different levels of prior investment. The Concord Review requires a student willing to produce a substantial research paper; the NLE serves anyone studying Latin regardless of school resources; Certamen rewards students who want team-based classical competition; Le Grand Concours gives French students a national benchmark for their progress. None of these programs require extraordinary preparation beyond the subject-matter study students would be doing anyway in their classes.
About this directory: Meli Review publishes contest profiles for students and educators. Details here reflect our research as of June 2026; verify current rules, fees, and dates at each program’s official website. See also: How to Read Contest Rules, high school writing contests directory.