Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to honor the achievements of outstanding Americans who have succeeded in spite of adversity and to emphasize the importance of higher education. The association is named for Horatio Alger, a 19th-century author of hundreds of dime novels in the "rags-to-riches" genre who extolled the importance of perseverance and hard work. The association gives the annual Horatio Alger Award to exemplars of its ideals. It also grants scholarships and describes itself as the largest provider of need-based scholarships in the United States. All scholarships are funded by the generosity of the members of the Horatio Alger Association. As of 2023, the Association had given "more than $245 million in college scholarships to roughly 35,000 students". Misson According to tax filings, the Association's mission is to provide college scholarships to "help promising high school students (who fit the Horatio Alger profile)". Furthermore, they seek "to spread the message that America's free enterprise system provides the greatest opportunities in the world", and "to motivate and educate our nation's young people to the economic and personal opportunities afforded them by the promise of the American free enterprise system".