SAN FRANCISCO – The winners of the annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s Intercollegiate Writing, Photojournalism, Broadcast and Multimedia Competitions have been announced, with $100,000 in awards granted to the top schools.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, monetary prizes are awarded to the top three universities in each Intercollegiate division, while the top 10 schools in each category receive Hearst trophies. Often referred to as “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst Journalism Awards Program conducts year-long competitions in writing, photojournalism, audio, television, podcasting and multimedia for undergraduate journalism students nationwide.
Points earned by individual students in the monthly competitions determine each discipline’s Intercollegiate rankings, with schools accumulating points based on the entrants’ highest accumulated points in each category throughout the year.
Overall Intercollegiate winners are determined by the highest combined student point totals from all 1,353 entries submitted across the 14 competitions this year.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earned the Overall Intercollegiate First Place title. The Hussman School of Journalism and Media received a $15,000 award in recognition of its students’ outstanding achievement across all competition categories.
The Overall Intercollegiate winners are the schools with the highest accumulated student points from the 1,353 entries submitted this year in ALL fourteen competitions.
The 2026 Intercollegiate Competition winners are:
INTERCOLLEGIATE WRITING:
$10,000 First Place, University of Florida
$5,000 Second Place, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$2,500 Third Place, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
INTERCOLLEGIATE PHOTOJOURNALISM:
$10,000 First Place, University of Montana
$5,000 Second Place, California State University, Northridge
$2,500 Third Place, University of Missouri
INTERCOLLEGIATE AUDIO & TELEVISION & PODCAST:
$10,000 First Place, Syracuse University
$5,000 Second Place, University of Missouri
$2,500 Third Place, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
INTERCOLLEGIATE MULTIMEDIA:
$10,000 First Place, Western Kentucky University
$5,000 Second Place, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$2,500 Third Place, University of Florida
INTERCOLLEGIATE OVERALL:
$15,000 First Place, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$10,000 Second Place, University of Florida
$5,000 Third Place, Syracuse University
Intercollegiate Writing trophies are awarded to: University of Missouri, fourth place; University of Southern California, fifth place-tie; Syracuse University, fifth place-tie; Pennsylvania State University, seventh place; University of Oregon, eighth place; University of Colorado, ninth place; Kent State University, tenth place.
Intercollegiate Photojournalism trophies are awarded to: Pennsylvania State University, fourth place; Ohio University, fifth place; University of Kentucky, sixth place; Michigan State University, seventh place-tie; Western Kentucky University, seventh place-tie; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ninth place; University of Oregon, tenth place.
Intercollegiate Audio, Television, Podcast trophies are awarded to: University of Florida, fourth place; Arizona State University, fifth place; University of Memphis, sixth place; Pennsylvania State University, seventh place; Mississippi State University, eighth place; University of Tennessee, Knoxville, ninth place; Marshall University, tenth place.
Intercollegiate Multimedia trophies are awarded to: University of Southern California, fourth place; Syracuse University, fifth place; Michigan State University, sixth place; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, seventh place; Pennsylvania State University, eighth place, University of Kentucky, ninth place; University of Iowa, tenth place.
Intercollegiate Overall trophies are awarded to:
University of Missouri, fourth place; Western Kentucky University, fifth place; Pennsylvania State University, sixth place; Michigan State University, seventh place; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Eighth place; University of Southern California, ninth place; University of Montana, tenth place.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program operates under the auspices of the accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. Presently, 104 colleges and universities with accredited undergraduate journalism schools are eligible to participate in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Funded and administered for 66 years by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Journalism Program awards up to $700,000 in scholarships, grants and stipends annually.
The Intercollegiate Awards have been acknowledged since the inception of the program, and in 1990 monetary awards were added to the Hearst Journalism Awards Program budget.
Publisher William Randolph Hearst established the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and The Hearst Foundation, Inc. in the 1940’s, a few years before his death in 1951. Since then, the Foundations have awarded over $1.5 billion in grants and programs.
