Not all summer pre-college programs for high school students cost a pretty penny. In fact, one such program for aspiring journalists is completely free and takes place on one of America’s most beautiful college campuses!

While year three of the virtual component of the Emerging Journalists Program at Elon University starts tonight – January 16 – in the dead of winter, there is still time for current high school juniors (11th graders) to apply for Elon’s free, fun, and immersive summer journalism experience, which takes place on Elon’s campus from June 17 through 28, 2024.

According to Colin Donohue, Elon’s Emerging Journalists Program (EJP) Director, the on-campus and immersive summer residential learning workshop component of the EJP is open to rising seniors from diverse socio-economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds and is completely free thanks to a generous grant from the Scripps Howard Fund.

Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, which is a half an hour from Greensboro and an hour from North Carolina’s capital, Raleigh. Last year’s summer EJP cohort produced a newspaper, a forty-minute newscast, and a website. Here’s a video snapshot of what last year’s participants did while on Elon’s campus. Students who complete the summer immersion program are also assigned two mentors — an Elon communications student and a professional journalist — to help identify, report, and produce multimedia stories during their senior years of high school.

If you think the Emerging Journalists Program would be an exciting opportunity for you or your student, learn more and apply at www.elon.edu/ejp. Application review will begin soon and priority will be given to applications submitted before March 1.