The Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP) is a free residential journalism and college preparatory program for high-achieving current juniors from low-income backgrounds who are interested in journalism. Over 10 days, students live on campus at Princeton University and learn reporting skills from professional journalists. They also attend lectures on liberal arts topics led by Princeton U professors. Participants hold a press conference, produce a short documentary, report on a professional sporting event from the press box, attend a play or theatrical production, visit 3-4 major news outlets, and interview subjects for their feature stories in the Princeton Summer Journal. After the program, students are paired with a volunteer college adviser, a professional journalist, to help them through their application process.
Program dates: Friday, July 31 – Monday, August 10, 2020
Cost: None. All program expenses, including meals, housing, airfare or train tickets to and from campus, are covered by the program.
Eligibility: To apply, students must be:
- Current high school juniors (Class of 2021)
- living in the United States
- with an unweighted GPA of 3.5/4.0
- who have an interest in journalism (no experience required)
- and meet one of the financial eligibility requirements below:
- The custodial parent(s)/guardian(s)’ combined income (including child support received) must not exceed $60,000 annually.
- The student must be eligible for Free/Reduced-Priced Lunch.
- The student is eligible for a SAT or ACT fee waiver.
Applying: The online application is available on our website and due no later than Monday, February 17, 2020. Please note that students must submit an unofficial transcript to be considered. You may read about the full application process here.