Thank you for your interest in applying or nominating for a JEA award. This homepage lists all award applications that are currently open. If you don't see the award you're looking for here, that means the application is not currently open. Please visit jea.org/awards to verify relevant dates for the specific award you are interested in.
To submit an award application, you must first create a Submittable account. This is not tied to your JEA member account, although we will verify current membership status for awards that require it. Through your Submittable account you will be able to complete the award submission form in stages and your progress is saved.
All parts of the award submission form must be completed by the award deadline to be eligible. Please visit jea.org/awards for more information. Questions can be directed to staff@jea.org.
This $1,000 annual award goes to a JEA member whose work has actively supported, defended, and fought for student journalists and their advisers on the local, state or national level.
Learn more about the application on JEA's website.
Note: Once the online application has been submitted, applicants should receive a confirmation email within 24 hours. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please contact JEA headquarters at staff@jea.org to make sure your application was received.
If your school won the First Amendment Press Freedom Award or received a Commendation last year, one adviser from the program must complete this Round 1 form.
- If your program DID NOT win the FAPFA or receive a Commendation last year, this is not the form you need to complete. Please complete the regular "Round 1" form (one media adviser and one student editor/leader).
- Please note the award looks at the entire student media program at the school: digital and print newspaper, yearbook and student broadcast.
To reapply, this first round just requires one of last year's media advisers to complete this form with your Submittable account. If your admin and advisers are all the same as last year, your Round 2 forms will also be modified. If they have changed, your team will complete the same Round 2 forms as usual.
If you feel your school actively supports and honors the First Amendment through its student media, consider submitting an entry for this year’s First Amendment Press Freedom Award. Please note the award looks at the entire student media program at the school: digital and print newspaper, yearbook and student broadcast.
If your program won the FAPFA or received a Commendation last year, this is not the form you need to complete. Please complete the "FAPFA: Round 1 - 2025 Winners Only" form.
To apply, a school must submit two questionnaires – one from a student and one from a teacher. Each submitter will need to create a Submittable account.
The Linda S. Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award recognizes a teacher who, through the teaching and/or advising of journalism, inspired others to pursue journalism teaching as a career and who has made a positive difference in the teaching community. The award was named after Linda S. Puntney, JEA’s executive director from 1989-2010.
Retired journalism teachers and advisers, along with those currently teaching or advising may be nominated. The nomination must come from a teacher who is a current JEA member and who advises a publication or broadcast program, teaches journalism classes or is retired after having spent at least 10 years in scholastic journalism.
Learn more: https://jea.org/awards/teacher-inspiration-award/
JEA gives this award to retirees for lifetime dedication to journalism education in the form of advising or other contributions to the profession. Scholastic press associations and individuals who are JEA members are encouraged to submit names of retirees in their state. Multiple awards may be presented each year.
Learn more: https://jea.org/awards/lifetime-achievement/
The Journalism Education Association awards up to two $1,500 Future Administrator Scholarships to advisers who intends to earn a secondary administrator’s credential/license and seek a position in administration.
Each recipient must be a current JEA member and student media adviser who is in or past their fourth year of teaching and advising. The scholarship check is sent to the student’s college/university account after the winner is announced.
Learn about the entry criteria: https://jea.org/awards/future-admin-scholarship/
The Journalism Education Association’s Diversity Award honors a scholastic journalism teacher, student media adviser or scholastic journalism group demonstrating a commitment to cultural awareness and encouraging a multicultural approach with its student media staff, media production and/or community. The honoree must be in the forefront in promoting diversity in the scholastic media arena and must have taken steps to break down walls of misunderstanding and ignorance.
Learn more: https://jea.org/awards/diversity-award/