Sister Rita Jeanne Scholarships

Scholarship Value: $3,000
Awards Available: 4
Award Deadline: Register to View

Sister Rita Jeanne Abicht Scholarships, named for JEA’s longtime treasurer, recognize the top high school journalists in the country. The contest begins at the state level. Winning portfolios from state Journalist of the Year competitions are sent to the national level, with winners announced at the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. JEA sends scholarship funds — $3,000 for the top winner, and $1,000 each for up to four finalists — to the winner's college or university account.

Contact your JEA state director for instructions on state contest submission. The tools on this site were designed for use at state and national contests, but candidates need to verify the procedures listed here are what they should do to enter their state first. For national Journalist of the Year submissions, all entries must be digital. There are resources available here to help candidates get moving on the process. Advisers should share direct prospective applicants to this web page.

Applicants and advisers should review each of the following links to learn more about the application process.

Requirements

Students applying for JEA’s Journalist of the Year must complete the requirements and guidelines listed below as a part of their portfolio:

Deadlines

All entries on the state level should be submitted to the state director/designated official by the state deadline. After judging is complete at the state level, the state director/designated official can return the winning state entry to the student for minor revisions/corrections suggested by the judging panel.

All state winners’ applications for the national contest are due by 11:59 p.m. CDT, March 10.

Applicant’s adviser must be a current JEA member.

Applicant must be a senior in high school or equivalent for international schools.

To compete for a JEA scholarship, the portfolio must be a state JOY award winner. Students in states without a state director should submit their portfolios to the JEA director whose name will be listed under the state name. Applicants from outside the United States should submit their entries to JEA’s global engagement director. At the judges’ discretion, up to three international portfolios (with no more than one per country) may advance to the JEA competition.

Guidelines

State JOY winners will complete an online application that requires them to provide contact information, upload a transcript, upload three letters of recommendation, upload a resume and upload a personal narrative about their scholarship journalism experience. Students will also submit a link to an online portfolio of their work. Applications are strongly encouraged to review the updated JOY rubric and watch the Portfolio Polish videos.

1. Candidates should complete the online application. Before completing, read the following:

  • Be prepared to fill out the application at one time, as there is not an option to save one’s work and continue later.
  • Students should write their personal narrative and create their résumé somewhere else (i.e. Word Document, Google Doc), and be prepared to attach as a PDF to their application.
  • Scan or convert your transcript and letters of recommendation to PDFs to upload when prompted as part of the application process.
  • You will need a URL (Internet address) for your online portfolio showing your work examples.

2. Candidates should create an online portfolio for examples of their work, and organize it based on the categories outlined on the judging rubric:

  • Reporting and Writing
  • Editing, Leadership and Team Building
  • Design
  • Broadcast Journalism
  • Photojournalism
  • Web and Social Media
  • Law, Ethics and News Literacy
  • Marketing and Audience Engagement
  • Commitment to Diversity (Note: Work in this area can also be embedded in other categories in lieu of creating a dedicated category in the portfolio)

3. Each artifact within the portfolio should be accompanied by a clear, concise revealing reflection that outlines the following:

  • If published, the evidence of usage/publication of example should the candidate see it fit to include
  • If entered in any contest, how the work example placed if applicable
  • An explanation/reasoning for each example. The explanation/reasoning includes the applicant’s explanation about the specific assignment. Include any difficulties encountered with the assignment and special circumstances affecting it. Explanation should typically be less than 100 words in length), easy to read and should explain why this entry is important and was chosen for the portfolio.
View Scholarship

Niche $50,000 Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$50,000
Covering the cost of college expenses for four years without writing a single essay? Sounds too good to be true.It isn't with Niche. We are giving one student $50,000 (our biggest scholarship yet) to help pay for tuition, living expenses, books, and other educational expenses.Who Can ApplyAll high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college...

CollegeXpress Scholarship

Deadline: Oct 31, 2024
$10,000
Since 1995, our mission has been to help connect students with the right schools for them. Carnegie Dartlet, the organization that houses CollegeXpress, is an educational publisher and higher education marketing agency. Every year, thousands of students across the United States and around the world discover their colleges using our websites, magazines, and services.  This scholarship has an intake period...

Be Bold Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 01, 2024
$25,000
The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply.To us, boldest does not mean "best", or "most accomplished". Being bold means being:A) EarnestB) DeterminedC) MovingThe scholarship will be awarded to the student whose profile is most bold, according to these characteristics.Furthermore, the...

$3,500
The Christian Connector offers various scholarship drawings for Christian colleges. All of the information services provided by The Christian Connector are offered absolutely free!Eligibility:Students applying to the Christian Connector Scholarship must be current high school students (Class of 2025, 2026, or 2027) interested in attending a Christian university or college.About:The Christian Connector offers a "one-stop-shop" for receiving free information from...

Sallie Mae "No Essay" Scholarship

Deadline: Oct 31, 2024
$2,000
The $2,000 Sallie Mae Scholarship is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and any US Territory age 17 or older at the time of entry, and who meet one (1) of the four (4) following eligibility requirements at the time of entry:A parent who currently has a child enrolled in an accredited...

ScholarshipOwl No Essay Scholarship

Deadline: Oct 29, 2024
$1,000
ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college. No matter how much funding you need for school, we have the opportunities...

SP Scholarship

Deadline: Oct 31, 2024
$2,500
The SP College Scholarship program was created to help students win scholarships without the hassle of filling out paper applications and writing dozens of essays.To be eligible for the Scholarship you must be:A) At least 13 years old and enrolled or will enroll in a college or university in the US.B) A legal resident of the U.S. or Puerto Rico.Thus...

$10,000
The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education. Whether you are a high school student who hopes to go to college, a graduate student who’s in a master’s program, or an adult learner who wants to return to school, you are eligible for our no essay scholarship.This scholarship...

Appily Easy Money Scholarship

Deadline: Oct 31, 2024
$1,000
The Appily scholarship application is fast and easy.Scholarship Eligibility: This scholarship is open to high school sophomores, juniors, and first semester senior students for all majors and schools. We will judge this scholarship based on other criteria such as volunteer work, extracurricular activities, special circumstances, etc.About the sponsors of the scholarship (EAB and Appily):EAB is the market leader in helping colleges...

Track to the Trades Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 04, 2024
$2,500
Building a successful, high-paying career in the trades starts with the right foundation: trade school.Trade schools offer education and training opportunities that can help launch lifelong careers. Trade school graduates often earn degrees in half the time as their counterparts in traditional colleges. Additionally, vocational students often graduate debt-free and have stable jobs waiting for them after graduation.This scholarship aims...