Special Focus Journalism Scholarships

There are special focus journalism scholarships that fewer people know about or consider.These special scholarships are for students who have focused interest.

Special Scholarships for Journalism
Special Focus Journalism Scholarships

There are many career specific journalism scholarships, such as scholarships for sports journalists, investigative journalists, photojournalists, and even political journalists. However, there are also some special focus journalism scholarships that fewer people know about or consider.

For example, if you are interested in promoting the rights of people, you may want to check into the Inter American Press Association’s Scholarship Fund that pays for United States or Canadian students to spend a year studying in Latin America, and a Latin American student studying in the United States or Canada. Applicants must be a senior, and must be majoring in journalism. Additionally, they must be between the ages of 21 and 35, and they must have completed their degree. The award for this special scholarship is $20,000. You can get more information at http://www.sipiapa.org/otheractivities/scholarships.cfm.

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research offers the William B. Ruggles Right to Work Journalism Scholarship. The amount of the award is $2000, and is available for journalism students who have demonstrated an interest and understanding in the problem of compulsory unionism, as well as the importance of volunteering. You can learn more at http://www.nilrr.org/scholarships.

Through the Society for News Design, you can apply for the SND Foundation Scholarship. This special scholarship is worth $2000, and is available for sophomores, juniors, and seniors in college who are in a journalism program, and show an interest in visual journalism. You can apply for this journalism scholarship at http://update.snd.org/update/entry/two-new-visual-journalism-scholarships/.

Additional special focus journalism scholarships include the Taylor/Blakeslee Graduate Study Science Journalism Fellowship, found at http://www.casw.org/casw/fellowships-and-awards, for students interested in Science Writing, awarded in the amount of $2000, and the Medill – Knight Foundation Scholarship Program, which awards scholarships to journalism students who have computer programming skills. This journalism scholarship can be found at http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/admissions/page.aspx?id=58645.

Finally, if you plan to put your journalism degree to use by being copy editor, you can apply for the American Copy Editors Scholarship, at http://www.copydesk.org/edfund/index.php#aubespin. Available to college juniors, seniors, and graduate students, the amount of this award is $2500, with three additional awards of $1000 awarded annually.

Special scholarships for students who have a focused interest can be very financially rewarding for those who take the time to apply!

College Journalism Scholarships from Overseas Press Club Foundation

If you want to become a foreign correspondent there are special college journalism scholarships for you from the Overseas Press Club Foundation.

College Journalism Scholarships from Overseas Press Club Foundation
Journalism Scholarships from Overseas Press Club Foundation

If journalism is your passion, and you dream of becoming a foreign correspondent, there is special college journalism scholarships available for you, in addition to general scholarships for journalism students, as well as other scholarships that you may be eligible for. These special scholarships should be strongly considered and applied for.

The special scholarships are offered through the Overseas Press Club Foundation, at http://www.opcofamerica.org/overseas-press-club-foundation which was created in 1939 by some foreign correspondents who who did much of their work in New York City. Their goal was to make professional international journalism better then what it was so as to “improve the media’s understanding of international issues and to raise the quality of news-gathering efforts in covering the world”. By providing scholarships for journalism students they could fulfill their Foundation mission in journalism. The program started in 1992 and has been going strong ever since.

In the past year, twelve awards were made, in the amount of $2000 to undergraduates as well as graduate students in journalism programs that were working towards a career in foreign correspondence. Of the twelve winners, each year six of those winners are selected to travel to foreign news bureaus, such as the Associated Press or Reuters, in other countries. All travel expenses and other expenses associated with this internship, including living expenses are covered as a part of the college journalism scholarships.

Applying for the OPC Foundation journalism scholarship, the aspiring journalists must provide a cover letter, an essay, and a resume, with the application. The essay and the cover letter have very specific requirements, which can be observed on the website. It is vital that you pay special attention to these instructions.

Although the award amount may seem small, in terms of importance, it really isn’t. This special journalism scholarship is considered a prestigious award, which has helped many of today’s foreign correspondent’s start their successful careers. The internship and networking opportunities are the reason why most aspiring journalists apply for and covet one of these twelve scholarships. Also note that the OPC doesn’t just make the award and then forget all about you. They do follow your education – and later your career after you have won the scholarship for journalism, which increases your own exposure as an up-and-coming foreign correspondent.

Again, this is really one of the only journalism scholarships that is reserved specifically for those who want to be foreign correspondents, and it is very important not only in terms of being awarded funds to help pay for your college education, but also in terms of jump starting your career once you graduate.

Contact

Overseas Press Club of America
40 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
212-626-9220