Journalism Scholarships

It's the time of year when many if not all students are stressing out about college applications. Another thing to add to the stress is wondering about how they are going to pay for scholarships. Fortunately, there are scholarships available to transfer students who are pursuing journalism as their major. Of course, in order to receive a scholarship it is important for the student to be in good academic standing and it helps if they have a portfolio of what they've written available. Some scholarships will ask for writing samples.

Here are some of the scholarships available:

One scholarship available is from the Inter-American Press Association. They give an annual $20,000 award to support journalists between the ages of 21 and 35 who wish to study in and report from a foreign country for one year. US journalists will spend a year studying and reporting in Latin America and the Caribbean. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is December 31st.

The William B. Ruggles National Right to Work Journalism Scholarship is a $2,000 scholarship that is given to a journalism major who "demonstrates the potential for successful completion of the educational requirements for the degree, and an understanding of voluntarism and the problems of compulsory unionism".  The deadline to submit an application for this scholarship is December 31st.

And last but not least...Google, the Online News Association, and the Associated Press have announced that they will be offering a $20,000 scholarship to six journalism students for the 2012-2013 school year. In their press release they stated, "The program is targeted to individual students creating innovative projects that further the ideals of digital journalism. A key goal is to promote geographic, gender and ethnic diversity, with an emphasis on rural and urban areas." The requirements listed on the website are as follows:

• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be a minimum of 18 years of age
• Be currently enrolled full time at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. (College graduates returning to school are eligible to apply and must provide an acceptance letter from graduate institution.)
• Have at least one year of full-time undergraduate or graduate study remaining
• Have minimum grade point average of 3.0
• Be at least a college sophomore at time of application
• Be available for in-person or remote interviews with selection committee if selected as a finalist

 The deadline to submit applications is January 27th 2012.

In order to be taken seriously as a journalist it is important to be trained properly and have the skills necessary to look professional. Getting a degree is essential. There are many ways to get a degree without ending up with a massive amount of debt. Some scholarships require essays, some just ask you to fill out an application. Don't give up. Everyone can go to school.



You can find many more scholarships here and here.


And some relief for those of us who will have to take out student loans...