EWA Reporting Fellowship: Applications Open for 16th Class

The Education Writers Association is pleased to announce a call for proposals for its 16th class of EWA Reporting Fellows. These micro-fellowships provide financial awards to journalists to undertake ambitious, enterprise reporting projects. 

To help journalists kickstart their reporting as the new academic year begins, the 16th round will offer up to $5,000 for stand-alone stories, smaller-scale projects or other assistance. Recipients are also eligible to apply for additional funding in future fellowship rounds. 

“The range and quality of work produced by education reporters who were awarded micro-fellowships last year far surpassed our expectations in terms of ambition and impact,” said Kathy Chow, EWA’s executive director. “Fellows used the money to dig deep into research, travel to different communities and hire support staff. We are delighted to offer journalists this opportunity to submit high-quality proposals of critical importance, again.” 

This round, EWA Fellows will also have access to coaching from a veteran reporter if they so choose. 

To date, EWA has supported more than 100 projects, resulting in high-quality, impactful education stories in various media in communities across the country.

EWA selects reporting fellows through a competitive application process. Recipients have significant flexibility in how to use the funds, including travel for reporting, relief from regular newsroom duties, or attending workshops.

We are looking for six-month projects that address any of the following topics:

• Efforts to remove structural barriers for low-income students in postsecondary settings.
• Efforts to help students navigate key transitions in their postsecondary journey, whether through workforce training, transferring between institutions and entering or re-entering the workforce. 
• Efforts to improve postsecondary education in prisons, focusing on the quality, cost and effectiveness of services provided.
• Efforts to improve and expand postsecondary access and success in rural areas including through training and connecting students to good jobs. 
• How states and communities are supporting students to succeed academically from pandemic-related disruptions. We are especially interested in efforts supporting students of color and/or low-income students.
• Challenges facing the educator workforce, including identifying where and why shortages may exist, teacher preparation, professional improvement, leadership, workforce diversity, and conditions in the classroom. 

Please carefully review our FAQs to see these topics and other important information about the application process. 

The application deadline is 8:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, June 23, 2023. Recipients will be notified of their status by mid-July.