DEADLINE:
Saturday, November 15, 2025

Graduate and undergraduate students at North American colleges and universities or American students studying abroad are invited to apply for Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar Awards. An applicant must be a college junior, senior or graduate student enrolled in a degree program at the application deadline and have demonstrated an interest in international journalism.

In a typical year, the Foundation grants 18 scholar awards for the pursuit of academic goals. Winners receive either a $3,000 scholarship for independent work or a $4,000 fellowship to be used to fund time in a bureau of a leading news organization such as the Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal.

Our program is aimed primarily at helping students, of whatever nationality, who wish to pursue international journalism, rather than returning to their countries of origin and becoming local reporters. Our program is also heavily oriented toward helping journalists launch their careers rather than assisting mid-career professionals.

The application must include the following three elements:

1) COVER LETTER: The one-page cover letter should be autobiographical in nature and should address such questions as how the applicant developed an interest in journalism and in a particular part of the world or international communities or issues, and how they would use the scholarship to further their career in journalism. Please explain any gaps or leaps in progress.

2) RESUME: The one-page resume should emphasize past journalism experience as well as language and media skills and visa/passport status for working overseas. Please include any international or domestic postings, freelance published work or independent unpublished projects.

3) WORK SAMPLE (choose one, either print, photo, video or audio):

  • Print journalism:
    Applicants must submit a writing sample of 600-800 words that should concentrate on an area of the world or an international issue that is in keeping with the applicant’s interest and experience. Please mention if the work had been published previously and if it were edited or condensed, or if it is a school project. Winners have written on such diverse topics as playing blackjack on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the Indian diaspora in South Sudan and a Taiwanese bookstore in mainland China. Applicants need not have traveled abroad to apply. Past scholars have won for describing the dynamics among Syrians and Lebanese immigrants in a bar in Brooklyn or reporting on Ukrainian refugees on Long Island.

  • Photojournalism:
    Please send one PDF of photos or a link to a website or other location where judges can view the work online. An entry may be a feature, personality, or news journalism piece, and may be either narrated or rely completely on interviews and verité.  Applicants are also required to submit a writing sample of approximately 500 words that contextualize the photos, explaining how the images were captured or their significance.

  • Video and Audio Journalism:
    Please send a link where the judges can view or listen to the work online. An entry may be a feature, personality, or news journalism piece, and may be either narrated or rely completely on interviews and verité. No entry should be shorter than two minutes or longer than seven minutes and should consist primarily of international interest. Applicants are also required to submit a writing sample of approximately 500 words that contextualize the video or audio entry, explaining how the images or audio were captured or their significance as well as the role the applicant played in the creation of the piece. Applicants must give appropriate credit to all team members who participated. Each video or audio file must demonstrate the full arch of the story, with a beginning, middle and end.

Additional Notes for the Applications:

The substance of the writing sample/photography/videos/audio may have appeared in an individual's previously published work but should be reformatted to meet the requirements of the application. Do not send a clip or URL for the writing sample.

Judges respond well to applications showing strong original reporting skills, color and a sense of perspective and have a clear beginning, middle and end. Applications that are exceedingly long may be disqualified. Carefully proofread your materials.

As four of the 18 awards are reserved for international business or economic coverage, the judges encourage applicants with an interest in these sectors to provide work samples that demonstrate a strong understanding of global economic topics such as trade, finance, emerging markets, immigration or climate and public health issues.

The Scholar Awards reception will be held in New York City in late February or early March 2025 and will be part of a two-day series of events including relevant training and networking with professional journalists. Winners are required to participate. In addition, winners become members of the Overseas Press Club. Winners will be contacted by mid-January and posted on our website.

All applications with resume, cover letter and work samples should be emailed to foundation@opcofamerica.org.

For more information, contact Jane Reilly, Executive Director, at foundation@opcofamerica.org or call 201-819-2639. Or contact Katri Reilly, Associate Director, at katri@opcofamerica.org

Hear it from former OPC Foundation Scholar Award Winners:

Catherine Cartier

New York University

Reuters Scholarship 2024 with OPC Foundation Fellowship with Reuters
in Dubai

“Last summer I reported on finance, energy and breaking news at Reuters in Dubai. I interviewed an Olympic swimmer, a Minister, business owners, analysts and countless people who helped me to understand the changes underfoot in the Gulf and beyond. I also helped to write text for visual stories filed by the Reuters team Gaza documenting the devastating impact of the conflict. The lessons I learned in Dubai shaped my next steps in international journalism. This spring, I traveled to Argentina and reported on the country's bid to become a nuclear-powered AI hub. The OPC fellowship prepared me to report in another unfamiliar context and gave me the confidence to chase a challenging story. I am thankful to Reuters and the Overseas Press Club Foundation for this transformative opportunity!”

Brunella Tipismana

Yale University

Seymour and Audrey Topping Scholarship 2024

“The OPC Foundation has truly changed the course of my career, both in terms of the great friends it has introduced me to and the material support it has provided for my work, especially as an immigrant from Peru.”

Brett Simpson

University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Irene Corbally Kuhn Scholarship 2021

In 2021, thanks to the Overseas Press Club Foundation scholarship, I spent a summer in the Norwegian Arctic reporting on an Indigenous rights protest against a state-sanctioned copper mine on Sámi reindeer herding lands. That story, which appeared in National Geographic in 2022, launched my career as an international freelance journalist. And that experience shaped the direction of my reporting: today, I'm living in the Norwegian Arctic full-time, still reporting on the intersections of climate, energy, and human rights. Needless to say, the OPC Foundation changed my life.

Stephen Kalin

American University in Cairo

Roy Rowan Scholarship 2013

The OPC award launched me into more than a decade of foreign reporting. Back in 2013, I used the scholarship to fund a summer internship in Reuters, where I learned the ropes and proved my mettle enough to eventually get a full-time job there. I spent that first summer in Lebanon before moving onto assignments in Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A boost from the OPC Foundation early on helped set the course of my career.