Scholarship applications are open now.

We offer 14 $2,000 scholarships and details of those scholarships are here.

Who is eligible?

• • • You must be studying at a four-year college or university in the United States. Foreign students are eligible.
    • Graduate students are eligible.
    • You must be enrolled for the spring semester of 2024.
    • Students in two-year programs may apply only if they are enrolled in a fall semester 2024 four-year program

The deadline for entries is midnight Eastern time, Friday, February 9, 2024.

Awards will be announced during the 2024 spring semester.

Sponsors – We are pleased to have corporate sponsors for our scholarships.

Scholarship recipients will receive $2,000 plus a bonus news-gathering equipment. 

Student Group Teleconference

Student groups are welcome to set up a teleconference with Dr. Martin Smith-Rodden, director of scholarships at NPPF, to confer on portfolio development and to answer any questions on the application procedure. Contact him to set up a meeting at mdsmithrodde@bsu.edu (please put “NPPF Scholarships” in the subject line)

NPPF Scholarship Application

NPPF scholarships are awarded to encourage those with the talent and dedication to photojournalism and who need financial help to continue their studies.

• • • Still photographers apply for a pool of 12 scholarships: the Bob Baxter Scholarship, Reid Blackburn Scholarship, James Brown & Frank Folwell Scholarship, Bob East Scholarship, Liane Enkelis Scholarship (new), C. Thomas Hardin and Mary C. Hardin Scholarship, Jimi Lott Scholarship, Kit C. King Scholarship, Mary Lou Foy Still and Multimedia Scholarship, Paul Lester Scholarship (new), Sony’s Photojournalism Scholarship, and the Xan Korman Scholarship (new).
  • • Video Storytellers apply for The TV scholarship. This includes TV videographers and reporters who do video as part of their job. Those in other media whose primary work is video are also eligible. Only video links are accepted for this scholarship.
    • The Rich Clarkson Founders Scholarship will be awarded to students who have demonstrated significant leadership in their field and elsewhere.  Clarkson applicants may apply to the pool of still or TV scholarships and ask to be considered for the Clarkson Scholarship.

The submission deadline is midnight on Friday, February 9, 2024.

We have panels of top professionals to judge each category: Still Scholarships,  TV Scholarships, and the Clarkson Scholarship.

Preparing to apply

A recommendation is required from a professor familiar with the student’s work.

• • • Get the Professor’s name, email address and telephone number.
    • Applicants for the Clarkson Scholarship need a second recommendation from a non-academic person familiar with their leadership qualities.
    • The person(s) making recommendations will enter them online.

A few short essay questions can be written ahead of time and copied and pasted into our entry form.

• • • What are your primary academic and professional accomplishments?
    • What is your need for an NPPF scholarship?
    • What are your career goals following graduation?

For the Clarkson Scholarship, an additional essay is required.

• • • Describe your leadership skills and experiences.

Additionally, you will need the following:

• • • Your overall Grade Point Average and points system (such as 2.8 on a 4-point system) are necessary. Check your registrar’s semester grade notice or your transcript.

Image Preparation

Click this link to read the image preparation requirements carefully. Our online portfolio system will reject images that do not meet these specifications.

General Portfolio Submission Instructions

Your portfolio should show your storytelling ability.

A portfolio comprises three categories: Single Pictures, Picture Stories and Multimedia video links. How you use those categories is flexible.

The maximum number of entries is 10.

• The Single picture category counts as one entry and may contain up to 10 pictures.
• Individual picture stories are one entry (up to 10 pictures per story).
• Individual video/multimedia links count as one entry.
• You do not need ten entries; that is the maximum.
• Your portfolio does not have to use all three categories.

Examples:

• Singles (up to 10), 5 picture stories, four multimedia links
• 10 picture stories
• 10 video/multimedia links (direct links to YouTube or Vimeo. No ads.)
• Singles (up to 10), 4 video/multimedia links, 1 picture story (This is six entries; you do not have the maximum of 10)

Video entries are links that go directly to videos, preferably on YouTube or Vimeo. Judges encourage students to include at least one video/multimedia story in their portfolios.

All photographs must have captions. Photoshop, Lightroom PhotoMechanic and other image editing software may be used for captioning before uploading. Captions entered or edited in the Portfolio system after uploading.

Editing your Application and Portfolio
Your portfolio and all contents may be edited up to the application deadline. Items may be added and deleted. Once you create a Picture Story, you may edit the story and drag and drop to rearrange the order of the pictures.

Important for Allowing Faculty time to write a meaningful reference
It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you start your portfolio as soon as possible.

• Create your portfolio by clicking “Apply for Scholarship” on the application page.
• Add faculty reference.
• An automatic email to the faculty member with a link to submit a reference for you.
• Do this well before the application deadline so that the faculty member has time to write the reference for you.
• Check with your faculty reference to ensure this email did not go to a junk mail folder.

You may copy and paste copy from documents previously written in other software, such as Word, in the appropriate open-ended fields.

There is a Help menu item for your questions.

1. Create an application. A confirmation email will be sent to you. It may take several minutes to arrive. Be sure to check your junk mail folder too.
2. Accept the default title and create your portfolio.
3. Click the link “Apply for Scholarships,” and fill out the form and save it. Faculty information is essential. The form may be edited. If you are applying for the Clarkson scholarship, one additional non-faculty recommendation referring to your leadership ability is required.
4. Continue to develop your portfolio, and edit it until the deadline.

Image Permission

This is an educational website and we post winning portfolios here so that other students may learn from them. Applying for our scholarships gives NPPF permission to post your portfolio on our website and use your pictures on our social media platforms to promote our scholarship program. You retain the copyright to all your images.

Check “Junk” Mail

When you create an account in our online portfolio system, you will be sent an email for confirmation. This email may arrive in your junk mail folder, so after a few minutes, please check there. Likewise, please advise the person named as your reference in your online application to check his/her junk mail folder for the link to create your reference.

A possible solution to this problem is to put NPPF with the email address awards@nppf.org in your email app’s address book.

The deadline for entries is midnight Eastern time, February 9, 2024.

Please address any questions about this application process or system issues to Dr. Martin Smith-Rodden, at mdsmithrodde@bsu.edu