SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB 2025-2026
Scholarship & Competition Instructions

SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY

Competition is open to students enrolled in San Diego County universities and community colleges or permanent residents of San Diego County attending college elsewhere. The scholarship application process is online. Below are the instructions for creating an account for yourself and submitting your required materials.

SCHOLARSHIPS

  • $1,500 SDPC Director’s Scholarship to a community college student
  • $2,500 SDPC Foundation Scholarship to a four-year university or college student
  1. Applicants must be accepted for admission and attending as an undergraduate or graduate student during the 2025-2026 academic year.
  2. Applicants must intend to pursue a career in journalism.
  3. Applicants attending college outside of San Diego County must be a permanent resident of San Diego County. Applicants attending in San Diego need not be San Diego residents.
  4. Note that applicants may apply to any scholarships they qualify for but may only receive one.

The scholarship application process is all online. See the instructions below to enter.

Materials to be submitted:

Download and complete the required application found here.

Submit it as a PDF with the following:

  • A short statement of your education/experience in journalism and your career goals – up to 500 words.
  • Two to three samples of journalistic work written or broadcast by the student.
  • A copy of your transcript (unofficial OK) through the most recent semester or quarter.
  • Send completed application and materials to admin@sdpressclub.org. Subject: 2025 Student Scholarship Entree

Entry deadline is 9 p.m., Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Scholarship winners will be announced on Oct. 11, 2025.

SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB 2025

52nd EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS

INSTRUCTIONS & CATEGORIES

The Contest for students opens Thursday, August 14, and the Entry Deadline is Monday, September 8 at 11:59 p.m. 

ELIGIBILITY

Competition is open to San Diego County student journlists who have material published, broadcast, aired, or online during the contest period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. 

New for 2025: Entries to the 2025 San Diego Press Club 52nd Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards will be submitted using a new web-based program, ACES (link to contest page). The Excellence in Journalism Awards recognize outstanding achievements by individual professionals. Editors, news directors, and advisors may enter on behalf of students.

Questions related to the contest, ACES platform, or club, including membership (for emails, please put “EIJ 52 Support” in the subject line): 

  • Albert Fulcher, admin@sdpressclub.org or 858-215-1619 (text or call)

COLLEGE MEDIA: Entry fees for college students apply. For entries written for college publications, please enter at 2025 SDPC College Media Awards on the ACES site when that contest opens. The deadlines are not the same as the professional contest. New in 2025, college media entries will also be judged by professional journalism organizations or individuals outside the contest area.

JUDGING

All entries will be judged by professional journalism organizations or individuals outside the contest area. The Awards Committee reserves the right to change the category in which entries are submitted and/or refuse entries that do not meet eligibility. In the case of an entry dispute, the decision of the committee will be final. Judges also have the right to determine that no award will be given in a category.

Entries in languages other than English or Spanish must include translation.  

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries using the new ACES platform.

Important: The information you include in the entry form will appear on any plaques and/or certificates. Please confirm it is correct before submitting. Entrants will be responsible for the cost of corrections to plaques and/or certificates.

  • BASIC INSTRUCTIONS
  • Step 1 — Your Association Code (seccode) is SDPC (case sensitive). Register on the contest website using your email address. You will receive a confirmation email, which you will need to complete registration. Use this link to register.
  • Step 2 — Login here (or use the link above). You will see a page showing any entries you have already submitted. Complete rules for the contest are available above (click links). Some browsers, such as Safari, will open the rules in a new window; others will require you to download the PDF file to your computer.
  • Step 3 — Click on the “Add New Entry” link.
  • Step 4 — On this page, select your company name. Information will autofill. If that information is incorrect, please email sdpc@newspapercontest.com. Fill in the preparer’s name.
  • Step 5 — Select the contest class. These are drop-down menus for your convenience. This field will clear each time you save an entry, so you must select a class for each new entry. When you select the class, special instructions will appear below it.
  • Step 6 — If necessary, provide an explanation of your entry. The explanation/cutline box is limited to 3,000 characters. It’s a good idea to write your explanation in another program, such as Word, and copy/paste into the explanation box. If a URL is required, fill in the URL box; there is no need to type “http://.”
  • Step 7 — Include the name of the entry. If uploading full-page PDF files, it will be helpful if the entry name matches the headline on the page so the judges can find it easily. If the judges cannot tell what is to be judged, the entry will be discarded without refund.
  • Step 8 — Include the name of the person or people who should be credited for any award. This is generally the writer, reporter, photographer, graphic artist, cartoonist, etc. It is not necessarily the name of the person submitting the entry nor the person picking up the award at the conference.
  • Step 9 — Add your file or files. You can drag and drop files or use the “Add files” button to navigate your files. Generally, files should be in PDF format. Other files and URLs may be acceptable as noted in the special instructions. Upload as many files as are necessary to complete your entry but refer to the special instructions for any limitations.
  • Step 10 — When you have completed your submission, click the “Save” button. If you click the “Back to list” button, you will lose the entry you just completed. After clicking “Save,” you will be directed back to the list of your entries.
  • Step 11 — To submit another entry, click “Add New Entry.” As long as you have not logged out of the system, your newspaper name will still be in place and you can simply start at Step 6 again. You may log out and log back in later to continue adding entries. You will need to select your newspaper name each time you log in.
  • Step 12 — If you are done submitting entries, please review the list. You may not change an entry, but you may delete an entry and resubmit it. 
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  • Add Comments (if applicable) but keep them brief (e.g. 100 words).

In the interest of facilitating judging, please do not enter more than three pieces of work in a given category. If you choose to do so, please know judges will be advised to disregard extra entries. A single story that is part of a series may be entered in the series as well as an individual category. Beyond this exception, the same work may not be entered in more than one category. Failure to adhere to this rule may result in all entries being disqualified.

This is your account – you can return to it at any time during the call for entries time period – until the deadline of Thursday, September 4. Once you have completed all your entries, document the amount due and enter it on the payment portal using this link to pay immediately or send a copy of your invoice with a check to: 

San Diego Press Club

302 Washington St. #441

San Diego, CA 92103

ENTRY FEES
College membership: $20

College entries: $10   

Have fun and best of luck to everyone! And we look forward to the 52nd Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards on Oct. 28. Stay tuned for updates, you will not want to miss this year’s event!  

Again, if you have any questions at all – please do not hesitate to call or email.

SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB  2025 EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS STUDENT CONTEST CATEGORIES

COLLEGE MEDIA – PRINT/ONLINE  

Best Newspaper Submit up to three examples of the publication. No hard copies, please.
Best Magazine Submit up to three examples of the publication. No hard copies, please.
News  

Feature 

Column 

Investigative 

Opinion/Commentary 

Reviews: Movie, theater, performing arts, books, restaurant, television, etc. 

Sports 

Photography 

Drawing, Illustration or Cartoon Includes political cartoons. 

Cover design 

Feature story layout

COLLEGE MEDIA – TV AND ONLINE VIDEO 

                   Newscast  

General News Story 

Feature Reporting 

Investigative Reporting 

Sports Reporting 

COLLEGE MEDIA – RADIO AND PODCAST
Newscast 

General News Story 

Feature Reporting 

Investigative Reporting 

Sports Reporting   

Official recognition and introduction of the winners will be at the 52nd Annual Excellence in Journalism & Scholarship Awards on October 28, 2025.

Good luck!