The scholarships are awarded by a national selection committee solely on the basis of academic merit and service to Pi Sigma Alpha, the university, and the community.
Application is a two stage process, first for chapter nomination and then for the award itself.
Each chapter is allowed to nominate one member. Application requirements will be posted when the 1999 competition is officially announced. The application deadline is usually March 15 for the chapter nomination and April 15 for the award itself. Each year, Pi Sigma Alpha chooses three undergraduate student papers as exemplary. The author must be a member of PSA currently enrolled in an undergraduate political science program.