The association provides scholarships to promising journalism students at partner colleges and universities around the country.
Since expanding its work to add scholarships in 1991, the WHCA has provided $1.7 million in grants, and leveraged another $1.4 million in aid. The scholarships are financed by proceeds from the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner as well as tax-deductible contributions to the WHCA.
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In addition to the financial assistance, the students are invited to the annual WHCA dinner in Washington, featured at a scholarship luncheon the day before, and paired, when possible, with volunteers from the White House press corps for a year of mentoring
Some of the scholarships honor former White House correspondents including Frank Cormier, Deborah Orin, Hugh Sidey and Harry McAlpin. Others honor journalist Cokie Roberts and Carter Holland, the late son of former WHCA President Steve Holland.
Criteria differs school to school for selecting recipients. All are selected by the WHCA’s partner schools and associations.
The following is a brief description of each.
The WHCA and American University support a scholarship at the School of Communication. The scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student in journalism at American who shows promise in the field of investigative journalism. The grant is $5,000, with half coming from the WHCA and half coming from the university.
The White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship is financed through the generosity of and in partnership with Reuters. The Trust in Reporting Scholarship provides a $7,000 grant.
The White House Correspondents’ Association supports three students each year at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A majority of the recipients are expected to reflect the diversity of the school’s student population. The association will provide each with a $2,500 grant, and the school will provide a $1,000 grant.
The partnership started in 2021. The student must have a demonstrated interest in a career in journalism and proven academic performance. “The student must also be aware of issues facing the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and have a commitment to accuracy and fairness in the coverage of these issues.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association awards a $5,000 grant to a Master’s Degree candidate, preferably from the Middle East, with an interest in political coverage, and an intention to cover the Middle East.
The scholarship is co-sponsored by the White House Correspondents’ Association and the Asian American Journalists Association. Winners are judged on academic achievement, demonstrated journalistic ability, and commitment to the field of journalism and/or sensitivity to Asian American and Pacific Islander issues. The grant is for $3,500, with the WHCA contributing $2,500 and the AAJA contributing $1,000.
The scholarship is co-sponsored by the White House Correspondents’ Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The winning student must be aware of the issues facing the Latino community and Latinos in the newsroom while also striving to portray all people in a fair and accurate manner in coverage of stories. The grant is for $3,500, with the WHCA contributing $2,500 and the NAHJ contributing $1,000.
The Trust in Reporting Scholarship is in partnership with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Education at Hampton University. It goes to a journalism student at the Scripps school, preferably with an interest in government and/or political reporting. The $7,000 annual grant is financed by Reuters.
The WHCA in 2014 named the Harry S. McAlpin, Jr. Scholarship to honor Harry S. McAlpin, Jr., the reporter whose fight for equal rights made him the first African American able to attend a presidential press conference at the White House. McAlpin made history in February 1944 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed the correspondent for the Atlanta Daily World to the White House. McAlpin went on to head the NAACP in Louisville, Kentucky. He died in 1985. The Scholarship is an award of $7,000.
The White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship prize is a one-time award of $7,000 to each of two students.
The WHCA co-sponsors the Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship in Print Journalism at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University with the White House Historical Association. The $5,000 grant goes to a student who exhibits extraordinary understanding of the responsibilities of covering the chief executive and the core principle of social responsibility. Sidey was a long-time White House correspondent and later chairman of the Historical Association.
The WHCA created a partnership in 2020 with the NAHJ, its first non-academic partner. The scholarship is awarded annually to a student “with a demonstrated interest in a career in journalism and proven academic performance. The student must be aware of the issues facing the Latino community and Latinos in the newsroom while also striving to portray all people in a fair and accurate manner in coverage of stories.” The WHCA and NAHJ both contribute to the grant.
The Deborah Orin Scholarship honors the late White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for The New York Post. Thanks to a gift, the endowed scholarship provides each of two students a $5,000 grant.
The WHCA supports a student at the Medill School of Journalism through a $5,000 grant toward a post-graduate degree in the Government and Public Affairs reporting track.
The WHCA supports three students at the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism with an annual award of $5,000 each, with the WHCA providing a $4,000 grant and the university contributing $1,000.
The White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship at Syracuse University is a $5,000 prize awarded annually to a journalism student with a focus on pursuing government or political reporting.
The WHCA supports a student in the Government and Public Affairs reporting track at The University of California, Berkeley, through a $5,000 gift toward a post-graduate degree.
The WHCA Scholarship at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas is aimed at students who excel at media information management. The student will have a reputation for accuracy in fact-checking and the ability to access databases, government documents, and personal sources. In addition, the students will excel at using methods of dissemination of information, including use of traditional and social media. The grant is for $5,000, with the WHCA contributing half and the school contributing half.
The Frank Cormier Scholarship is an annual award of $5,000 given to each of four students at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
The WHCA supports three students studying government in Washington or at the Missouri statehouse. Each receives a grant this year of $7,000. The school waives the remaining tuition for the semester.
The Carter Holland Scholarship at the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee honors the late Carter Holland, a promising young journalist and the son of Lucie and Steven Holland, a longtime White House correspondent for Reuters and former president of the WHCA. Carter Holland died in 2020. The scholarship is $4,500, with the WHCA contributing $2,500 and the university contributing $2,000.