Application Directions

Letter of Support

Please be aware that to qualify for the EWA Reporting Fellowship program, you must submit a letter of support from your editor or newsroom supervisor supporting your participation in the program, the ability to publish your work in front of a paywall (if your outlet has a paywall), a credit line acknowledging that EWA funded the work. (For example: “This work was funded in part by the Education Writers Association”) and a commitment to publish your fellowship story and provide supporting materials within six-to-nine months of the grant being awarded.

Freelancers must also submit a similar letter from the appropriate editor at an independent news outlet that will publish their work. This letter should be submitted with your application, which is due by 8:59 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Application Questions

Please review the questions below. When you’re ready, submit your answers online.

1. In one or two sentences, explain the main focus of your project.
2. In 2,500 characters or fewer, explain how your project would offer new insights about the current education landscape, and in what ways it would make a unique or especially compelling contribution to the understanding of educational challenges and potential solutions.
3. When do you anticipate publishing your completed project? 
   1. Please note: Projects must be published within six-to-nine months of the grant being awarded.
      (The following questions should each be answered in 1,500 characters or fewer.)
      
4. Please explain why you are qualified or suited to take on this project. Why do you need a fellowship to complete this story?
5. Are you planning to incorporate any innovative tools to help tell the story, such as multimedia components or data analysis? Please explain.
6. Do you envision having an audience engagement component to your project, such as live chats with key players in the story or utilizing social media to gather feedback from readers?
7. Explain the expected impact of your project. Will your work raise awareness among the public and policymakers about a specific problem, concern, or potential solution to an education challenge?
8. How do you envision continuing to report on this issue after the fellowship ends? Are there additional angles you could cover, unique elements that haven’t yet been explored? 
9. Fellowship awards will be up to $5,000 for micro-fellowships or up to $10,000 for expanded higher ed fellowships. How much will you need to successfully complete this project? Please provide some explanation of how the funds would be used. Examples include travel,data collection and analysis, time off from regular newsroom duties or compensation to complete the project.  (Finalists for the fellowship will be asked to provide more details in a worksheet.)
10. Please disclose any potential conflicts of interest. This might include, for example, non-journalistic freelance work or employment within the last two years or if you are receiving funding from another source for your proposed idea. 
11. Does your news outlet receive any outside funding (such as from private foundations) that supports coverage of the issues you are proposing for your fellowship? If so, please explain.

Submit Your Application

Once you start your application, you can’t save your progress and continue later. After you submit your application, you can’t change your answers. APPLY HERE only when you’re ready.

Apply for the Fellowship