ACES SCHOLARSHIPS
Six scholarships are awarded annually through the ACES Education Fund, enabled by the generosity of donors.
Application materials for each year’s scholarships open in August.
Five ACES Scholarships are awarded to students who excel in critical thinking about written materials in any field and aspire to a career involving editing.
Bill Walsh was an author, blogger, and longtime copy editor at the Washington Post.
Merv Aubespin was a pivotal voice behind the formation of ACES in the late 1990s.
Four of these winners each receive $1,500, and the student chosen as the Aubespin scholar receives $2,500. All five winners also are eligible for aid to attend the ACES national in-person conference.
The Bill Walsh Scholarship — in honor of the late editor, author, and ACES guiding spirit — goes to a student who demonstrates excellence in the editing of news. The winner receives $3,500 plus financial aid to attend the ACES national in-person conference.
Applications for the ACES Scholarships and Walsh Scholarship are open on this website between Aug. 15 and Nov. 15, when they close at 11:59 p.m. ET. The links below work during that window only.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Applicants for all ACES scholarships must have completed at least one year of higher education and be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the time of the deadline, Nov. 15.
They must also demonstrate an interest in editing as a career. Scholarships are awarded without regard to the student’s nationality, residence, or field of academic concentration.
Previous scholarship winners are not eligible, nor are members of the ACES Board of Directors, ACES administrators, or their families.
REQUIREMENTS
The Walsh Scholarship will go to an applicant who aspires to edit news and who demonstrates the talent and passion for language and journalism that Bill Walsh devoted his career to.
Applicants for the other five scholarships should have a commitment to the editing of written materials and demonstrate effectiveness in doing so. We’re looking for critical thinkers who have a passion for words and enjoy making writing clear, accurate and engaging.
A student may simultaneously seek both the Walsh award and one of the other five scholarships but may win only one.
DEADLINE
The deadline each year for ACES Scholarship applications is Nov. 15. Applications open Aug. 15.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
See the list of all of the ACES Scholarship recipients since 1999.
JUDGING PROCESS
The scholarship program is administered (but not judged) by members of the ACES Education Fund Board of Directors. Judging of the applications is done by two separate panels of five people each.
The selection of winners is a two-step process. In December, the judges choose the finalists, who then take a timed editing test in early January. Test results are then added to the applicants’ portfolios, and a second round of judging decides the winners.
BACKGROUND
Since 1999, the ACES Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and its predecessor have awarded more than 150 scholarships to deserving students who have a passion for editing. The Walsh Scholarship honors the late Bill Walsh, longtime copy editor at the Washington Post and active member of the ACES Education Fund Board of Directors.
Learn more about Bill Walsh.
The Aubespin Scholarship honors the late Merv Aubespin, a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists who, as a committee chair of the American Society of News Editors in the mid-1990s, greatly helped inspire the creation of ACES.
Learn more about Merv Aubespin.
QUESTIONS?
Contact ACES Education Fund President Lisa McLendon at lisamc@aceseditors.org for more information.