Entries open for 2025-2026 CT SPJ college contest

The Connecticut SPJ college contest is now open for entries! Enter here.

The entry deadline is Wednesday, May 13, at 11:59 p.m.

College journalists at CT schools are invited to enter work created for a student publication and published during the 2025-2026 academic year.

COLLEGE CONTEST CATEGORIES

• General Reporting

• Editorial/Op-ed

• General Column/Commentary

• Newspaper Layout (1-2 page spread)

• Magazine Layout (1-2 page spread)

• News Photo

• Feature Photo

• Sports Photo

• Sports Feature Story

• Sports News Story

• Breaking News

• Feature

• Video Storytelling

• Podcasting

• Innovative Digital Storytelling

WHAT YOU NEED TO ENTER

• ​Know which categories your entries are in (see list of categories above)

• The date each entry was published (must be during the 2025-2026 academic year, although you will have to select 2025 as the year when you enter)

• A credit card number or check

• A user name and password: Register for a new account on the site here.

  • Even if you had an account in the past, you must make a new account for this year

• A working link to each entry, or a file in one of the following formats

  • Audio: .mp3

  • Video: .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .avi

  • Images: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf

  • Print: PDF or JPG version of the page the article appeared on

ENTRY FEES

​We charge a small fee per entry to support the cost of running the contest:

• $5 per entry for college students entering on their own behalf

• $10 per entry for college media outlets paying for entries

  
  

STEPS TO ENTER

• ​Register for an account on the contest site here

• Log in to the site using your new account.

• From the Main Category drop-down menu, select "College Contest."

PLEASE NOTE:

• If you're paying with a credit card, you'll be redirected to the third-party payment platform Stripe.

• The work must have been published online or in print, or broadcast or streamed.

• While the entries must be from the 2025-26 academic year, a technical error on the website makes it so that you MUST enter the year 2025 on the contest site. (Judges will verify that the work was published/broadcast during the 2025-26 academic year).

• Contest winners will be announced on our Facebook page, Instagram and on our website, and winners are invited to the annual awards dinner.

• Certificates will be delivered to winners through their school or can be picked up at the annual awards dinner this spring or summer (date still TBD).

Please email spjconnecticut@gmail.com with any questions, and thank you again for helping to support journalism in CT with your entries and participation.

Money raised from the annual Excellence in Journalism Contest supports journalistic causes including the Connecticut Council for Freedom of Information, Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, student SPJ chapters, SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund, the SPJ Region 1 fund and CTSPJ scholarships. The money also funds administrative costs of the contest and the Connecticut Pro Chapter of SPJ.

See more details and enter at the contest site here.

Please note that even though you may have entered before, you will have to create a new login to the contest site this year before you can submit your entries.

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns - and as always, feel free to forward this to a friend or colleague!

Email spjconnecticut@gmail.com with any questions.