Highest-achieving journalism and mass communication majors to receive $2,000-$3,000 each year as “Promising Scholars”

Kent State University’s Promising Scholar Awards will
provide $2,000 a year, renewable for up to four years, to
the 10 highest-achieving incoming freshmen in the
university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

To attract and retain the strongest journalism and mass communication students in the nation, Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication is introducing a financial award program specifically designed for first-time freshmen in Fall Semester 2014.

The Promising Scholar Awards will provide $2,000 a year, renewable for up to four years, to the 10 highest-achieving incoming freshmen in each of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s undergraduate degree programs: advertising, electronic/digital media, journalism and public relations. The top two incoming freshmen will be awarded $3,000 a year, renewable for up to four years, as Ralph C. Darrow Promising Scholars. Darrow was a founding figure in the school’s public relations program.

“Our school has made a commitment to provide scholarships to the highest-achieving incoming freshmen who are committed to an education in journalism and mass communication,” says Thor Wasbotten, director of Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “This scholarship is intended to help throughout their four years in our school. Attracting top students has become more competitive than ever, and the Promising Scholar program will help us and our students tremendously.”

With the Promising Scholar Award and other university financial assistance programs, Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication has become one of the most affordable schools in the nation. It also is one of the strongest. The undergraduate program at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) for nearly 50 years. Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication is one of only 111 accredited journalism schools in the world, and the only accredited school of journalism and mass communication in Northeast Ohio.

In 2013, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication ranked in the top 10 of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program; ranked second in the nation in the Public Relations Student Society of America 2013 Bateman Case Study Competition; and won gold, silver and bronze medals in the international College Photographer of the Year competition. For the last two years, Kent State’s TV2, part of the school’s independent student media program, has been named “TV Station of the Year” by the College Media Association.

To be eligible for a Promising Scholar Award, students must apply by Feb. 1, 2014, and meet the following criteria:

• Be a first-time freshman. In addition to high school seniors, nontraditional students, especially U.S. military veterans, are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Must apply to and be admitted to the Kent Campus and must select a School of Journalism and Mass Communication major
• Must complete a Promising Scholar Award application (available online at www.kent.edu/jmc)
• A high school transcript
• A résumé emphasizing leadership experiences
• A 750-1,000 word essay describing why they are choosing an education in journalism and mass communication
• Up to three original work samples
• One letter of recommendation
  

The first Promising Scholar Award winners will be announced in spring 2014. The award is renewable if students remain in good standing in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a 3.0 GPA overall and a 3.3 GPA in their journalism and mass communication courses.

Kent State’s Promising Scholar Awards are being funded through the generosity of private donors, including alumni, media and communication industry leaders and members of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Professional Advisory Board. Matching gifts from the university’s College of Communication and Information also help fund the program.

“I am tremendously grateful for the generous support of our alumni and friends in creating these scholarships,” says Stan Wearden, dean of the College of Communication and Information at Kent State. “These are gifts that make an enormous and immediate difference. They are life-changing. I want to offer a huge thank you on behalf of the students, the faculty and the leadership of this college to those who have made a financial sacrifice to improve the lives and the education of our students.”

For more information about the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Promising Scholar Awards, contact Mark Goodman at mgoodm10@kent.edu or 330-672-6239. For information about other forms of financial assistance, contact Kent State’s Student Financial Aid Office at finaid@kent.edu or 330-672-2972.

For more information about Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visit www.kent.edu/jmc.

To watch a video about Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE3ntDOVISk&feature=youtu.be.