About the Institute

Follow in the footsteps of the best and brightest young journalists in America by applying to The New York Times Student Journalism Institute.

The Institute is offered once a year in May. Even-numbered years (including 2014) are for student members of the National Association of Black Journalists or any student at a historically black college or university, and the program is held in New Orleans, at Dillard University. Odd-numbered years are for student members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The next Institute will be held from May 18 to June 1, 2014, at Dillard University, for student members of NABJ or students at HBCUs. Students who think they may have scheduling conflicts should contact the director for information about flexible attendance arrangements. Those who have been accepted into the Chips Quinn Scholars program will not have a schedule conflict if they also apply to the Institute.

The postmark deadline to apply to the 2014 Institute is Nov. 1, 2013.

There is no cost whatsoever to attend the Institute. Students are provided with room and board and all of their costs, including transportation to and from the Institute, are paid by The New York Times Company. A stipend is provided for incidentals.

One student each year will also be awarded an Armando Montaño Scholarship to help with his or her educational or professional ambitions. The scholarship honors Mando Montaño, a promising young journalist who attended the Institute in 2010 and who died at age 22 in Mexico City in 2012.

During the program, students are working journalists supervised by reporters and editors from The New York Times. Students cover actual events in the cities in which the Institute is held. Opportunities for students include reporting, copy editing, photography, Web production, newspaper page design and video journalism and interactive news.

In a supportive environment of students and staff who share the same goals, aspiring journalists are given the opportunity to learn to produce material that meets the standards of the most prestigious and demanding news organizations in the nation. In addition, with almost 400 alumni of the Institute now working at major news organizations that include the Associated Press, Reuters, The Los Angeles Times, Politico, The Washington Post and The New York Times itself, as well as dozens of mid-size news organizations, the program represents one of the most effective networking opportunities available to young journalists.

To apply, a student must submit a completed application form; an essay of up to 500 words on why he or she wants to be a journalist; a letter of recommendation from a professor or an editor, which must be mailed separately; and work samples. Required work samples vary according to which specialty a student is interested in: Reporters should send six clips from a student or other publication or Web site of stories they have written. Copy editors should supply six stories they have edited (with headlines they have written). Video journalists should offer three video documentaries. Still photographers should have six photographs. Designers should send six graphics or layouts. Interactive journalists should present six examples of coding, such as an interactive graphic they have created. (Reporting and copy editing samples must be from a published source. Videos, photographs, graphics and similar material may be from an unpublished portfolio and may be submitted as a URL for a Web site where they appear, or on a CD or DVD.)

For information about membership in NABJ or NAHJ, contact those organizations directly.

For more information about the Institute, contact:
Don R. Hecker,
Director, The New York Times Student Journalism Institute
The New York Times
620 Eighth Ave.
New York, NY 10018-1405
(212) 556-1576
hecker@nytimes.com