If you need financial assistance to attend an IRE training program, we invite you to apply for one or more of IRE’s fellowships/scholarships. Assistance typically includes a one-year IRE membership/renewal and the program registration fee.
Note: Eligibility for IRE fellowships /scholarships renews every three years. For example, if you received a fellowship in 2021, you will be eligible again in 2024. In 2022, we are making an exception. If you received a virtual fellowship in 2020 or 2021 to NICAR, IRE or DBEI conferences, you will be able to apply for an in-person only fellowship to NICAR or IRE 2022.
If you have questions or need more information about fellowships, please contact Anna López.
To make sure each applicant is considered for as many awards as possible, IRE uses a common application for most, but not all of the fellowships/scholarships. Just make sure you meet the deadlines for the trainings you want to attend using the information below. Click on the scholarships below for the application.
Use this application (universal application) for all the fellowships/scholarships except the following which have their own applications:
Holly Whisenhunt Stephen Fellowships — TV and/or radio journalists. Students are not eligible.
Ottaway Fellowships — Journalists and educators of color. Students are not eligible.
R-CAR Fellowships — U.S. professional journalists working for small news organizations with a significant rural audience and demonstrated rural readership. And freelance journalists who have: a clearly defined project with rural impact; a small, rural news organization committed to publishing the story; and most of their income from independent journalism.
Educator of Color Scholarships — Educators of color teaching, or interested in teaching, data journalism within one’s curriculum. No data journalism experience or data teaching experience necessary.
Python Bootcamp Scholarships — Anyone who has an interest in learning how a programming language like Python can help in the newsroom.
R Bootcamp Scholarships — Anyone who has an interest in learning how a programming language like R can help in the newsroom.
David Donald Fellowships for Data Journalism — Journalism educators who teach data journalism and investigative reporting.
Jennifer Leonard Scholarships — Women of modest means who are college journalism students or early-career professional journalists (three years or less of post-college work experience). Women of color and trans women are encouraged to apply.
Diversity Fellowships — Journalists, educators and students of color are eligible.
Eric B. Sager Scholarships — U.S. journalists and independent journalists. Journalists from trade publications and small outlets are encouraged to apply. Students are not eligible.
Jennifer Leonard Scholarships — Women of modest means who are college journalism students or early-career professional journalists (three years or less of post-college work experience). Women of color and trans women are encouraged to apply.
Diversity Fellowships — Journalists, educators and students of color are eligible.
Napoli Management Group TV Scholarships — U.S. early-career (five or fewer years of post-college work experience) TV journalists interested in investigative reporting. Students are not eligible.
James Richard Bennett Scholarships — Journalism students in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma or Louisiana. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville students are not eligible.
David Dietz Fellowships — Journalists and independent journalists with less than 10 years’ professional experience and a demonstrated interest in financial investigative journalism who have a financial need for assistance. Students are not eligible.
Godfrey Wells Stancill Fellowships — U.S. journalists working for a newspaper with a Sunday circulation of under 50,000. Students are not eligible.
Eric B. Sager Scholarships — U.S. journalists and independent journalists. Journalists from trade publications and small outlets are encouraged to apply. Students are not eligible.
Gary Marx Scholarships — U.S. college journalism students and early-career journalists (five years post-college graduation). Preference will be given to applicants from Illinois.
The Mike Levine Journalism Education Fund — Journalists with less than five years of experience working in daily or weekly print news organizations or digital-only news outlets.
Jennifer Leonard Scholarships — Established by IRE member David Cay Johnston to honor his wife, Jennifer Leonard, the president of the Rochester Area Community Foundation and a national leader in promoting ethical standards for endowments.
Diversity Fellowships — The Diversity Fellowships are funded by the Philip L. Graham Fund, the IRE Diversity Development Fund and individual donors. The goal of the fellowships is to increase the diversity of IRE’s membership.
Eric B. Sager Scholarships — Established through an estate gift by the late Eric B. Sager, an IRE member from West Virginia, who worked mainly in trade publications.
Freelance Fellowships — Journalists who make their living primarily as freelancers and need assistance in conducting investigative projects. Freelance journalists who will publish the work primarily in the U.S. and in outlets where the primary audience will be at least a part of the American public.
IRE Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowships — U.S. journalists of color with at least three years of post-college work experience. Students are not eligible.
Do you want to pay it forward by donating to an existing fellowship or scholarship? Do you value IRE training and want to see as many journalists, educators and students received invaluable training from IRE? It’s easy: Donate here and indicate your fellowship or scholarship of choice.
Are you interested in creating a new fellowship or scholarship? Contact Anna López, director of partnerships, at anna@ire.org.
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