Student Programs FAQ

Who is eligible to apply for AAJA student programs?

Anyone who meets the criteria stated in the application. The criteria is determined by AAJA and the partner media organization. AAJA does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion or political beliefs.

AAJA requires that all applicants agree with the mission of AAJA:
. To encourage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to enter the ranks of journalism.
. To work for fair and accurate coverage of AAPIs.
. To increase the number of AAPI journalists and news managers in the industry.

What general qualities will the selection committee be looking for?

Interest in journalism, demonstrated skills, academic achievement, financial need, commitment to diversity.

In most cases, they will want to see how the applicant fulfills AAJA's mission because Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are greatly underrepresented in newsroom across the U.S.

May foreign students apply?

Yes, unless the application states otherwise. AAJA accepts applications from all students regardless of national origin, residency or citizenship. You must be enrolled full-time at a college or university for the entire year for which you are applying.

For our partner internships that are paid, you must secure a working visa in order to participate in the internship. AAJA does not provide any assistance for your stay in the U.S.

Can students who are studying at universities abroad apply?

Yes, unless the application states otherwise. Note that AAJA is a U.S.-based non-profit organization and our program partners are usually U.S. media companies and institutions.

How many non-Asian or foreign students have been selected for AAJA programs?

This varies depending on the program. Note that AAJA has limited statistics available, since we have not historically tracked these figures. 

Some things we do know:

J Camp is a program that strives to prepare high school students for multicultural work environments that include Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latinos, Native Americans and European Americans. Our outreach is done to schools across the country.

Asian and non-Asian students, speakers, faculty, and directors have participated in many AAJA programs.

While we do not recall any students studying abroad to have been selected for programs in recent years, it's possible that non-U.S. residents studying in the U.S. have been selected.

Who is the selection committee and can I contact them?

There are separate selection committees for each program. Judges are all professional journalists. Many are AAJA members. Most committees have a minimum of three judges.

Depending on the program, our partner media organizations sometimes, but not always, participate in the selection process. For our partner programs, partners always have final approval of candidates.

To ensure fairness, AAJA makes every attempt to rotate judges annually in programs where that is possible. Students, parents, teachers and others are prevented from contacting judges or knowing their identities, as to not influence the selection process.

All communications about the selection process are done through AAJA's national staff via the Student Programs Coordinator, Nao Vang, at programs@aaja.org. Staff does not participate in the judging of any applications, and only checks to see that applicants have met the necessary criteria of each program.