WASHINGTON — The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Student Veterans of America (SVA) are now accepting applications from student veterans interested in participating in the upcoming 2025-2026 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship program. Now in its 12th year, the fellowship will bring select student veterans — who must be VFW members – to Washington, D.C., late February to early March to meet face-to-face with their members of Congress and senior policymakers.
Student veterans interested in applying must complete an application package that includes a 3–5 page essay and a video outlining program interest. The submission should consist of a discussion of why advocacy is important to the veteran community.
Past fellows have earned academic credit for their experience, found internships, accepted additional academic opportunities, and landed full-time employment because of their fellowship experience. Several fellows have even had their research incorporated into laws, which has a lasting impact on veterans, service members, and their families.
VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship opportunities are open to all currently enrolled student veterans. VFW eligibility criteria can be found here. Selected fellows will attend and participate in SVA’s Leadership Institute from Oct 16 – 18, 2025, followed by the 18th Annual SVA National Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jan. 8 – 10, 2026. They will then be flown to Washington, D.C., to ensure the veterans’ message is delivered to Capitol Hill alongside 500 fellow advocates as part of the VFW Legislative Conference, February 28 – March 5, 2026.
All applications must be submitted by midnight on Sept. 12, 2025. For full details about the VFW-SVA fellowship and to apply, visit VFW.org/StudentFellowship or contact Joe Grassi, VFW, at JGrassi@vfw.org, or Tammy Barlet, SVA, at tammy.barlet@studentveterans.org.
The VFW-SVA Legislative Fellowship is another example of the strong collaboration between VFW and SVA that resulted from a memorandum of understanding signed by the two organizations at the SVA National Conference in January 2013.