With so many students taking up Communications and its various permutations, it is no wonder that a lot of organizations and colleges are now offering educational grants for media studies. And for students who have already chosen their majors, it is easier to look for special scholarships offered to specific course programs. The list of scholarships includes sub-categories such as Television Production, Radio/Broadcast, Visual, Technical, Document, Graphic, Rhetorical, Speech, Agricultural, Religious, and Deaf Interpretation.

Another plus for Communication majors is the opportunity to qualify for a General Communication Scholarship. This grant is given to students who have not yet decided on which major to take. Aside from giving you time to think about what major to take, this scholarship would also permit you to still be qualified even after you have chosen your major.

Scholarships from Media-related Organizations

In choosing a good scholarship, consider the difference in qualifications such as GPA requirement and financial need. You can start with the financial support programs given by media-related organizations. One of these is the National Association of Broadcasters which gives the James Lawrence Fly Scholarship to student-members of any BEA institution. They are awarded $2,500 worth of scholarship depending on their interest and scholastic performance.

Another organization offering Communications grants is the Electric Document Systems Foundation (EDSF). Each year, it offers 30 EDSF David Hoods Memorial Scholarships to students having a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. and are enrolled on a full-time basis. Grants may also be given depending on some qualifications such as career goals and community service.

For Communication majors in Virginia, Maryland or Washington D.C., you can avail of the Betty Endicott/NTA-NCCB Student Scholarship which awards $5,000 to its scholars annually. Students should have earned a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. and must have a background in the field of communications as shown by their extracurricular activities.

The Department of Radio-Television-Film also awards scholarship grants to qualified Radio-Television-Film majors studying at the University of Texas in Austin. Applicants are required to submit a recommendation form, application form, scholarship application cover sheet, transcript, and financial information form. Some scholarships may also ask for additional requirements. They also offer the Dean's Scholarship worth $1,000 each to fund undergraduate research work.

Other scholarships for undergraduates majoring in radio, film, or television are the Adolph Family Scholarships worth $1,000 each, the Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan Scholarship worth $1,500, the Drago Spirit of Life Endowed Memorial Scholarships worth $1,000 each, the Paul Pierre Standifer Endowed Scholarship in Film Production worth $2,000, and the Entertainment's Partners (EP) Scholarships for Production Excellence worth $1,750 each.

Meanwhile, the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is the professional organization for development of media practitioners, professors, and students. They offer a total of fourteen educational grants for undergraduates and graduates in media studies. Some of them are listed below:

*The Harold E. Fellows Scholarship offers four awards worth $1,250 each to broadcast students. This program is sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C.
*The Walter S. Patterson Scholarships are worth $1,250 each and are awarded to students planning a career in radio.
*The Alexander M. Tanger Scholarship offers $5,000 to broadcast students.
*The Two Year/Community College BEA Award gives away two scholarships worth $1,500 each to students who will be enrolling at a BEA four-year college/university for graduate studies or at a BEA two-year/community college.

University-based Scholarships

Aside from these organizations, there are universities like the University of Miami and the University of Texas at San Antonio who also have educational grants for Communication majors.

At the University of Miami, the Miami Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America started the Ev Clay Memorial Fund which offers monetary aid to student-members based on their G.P.A., financial need and participation in the organization.

The University of San Antonio offers three educational grants to Communication majors: the Univision Communication Inc. Annual Scholarship (awards $1,500 worth of scholarship to a full-time student having a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. and is fluent in Spanish), the Yolanda M. & Robert J. Crittenden Endowed Scholarship in Communication (awards a $250 scholarship during the fall and spring to financially incapable high school graduates of any Texas high school) and the the San Antonio Express-News Endowed Scholarship (gives $500 each to two students annually). To qualify for a San Antonio Express-News Endowed Scholarship, students must have attained a minimum 3.0 G.P.A., have earned 60 credit hours and be enrolled on a full-time basis. They must also have specific career goals wherein their Communication degrees would be a big help.