Six scholarships are awarded annually through the ACES Education Fund. Application materials are made available in late summer. The application deadline is November 15 and the awards are announced early the following year.
In addition to individual cash awards, these six scholarships also include financial aid to attend one of the two annual ACES conferences, in-person or virtual.
The Bill Walsh Scholarship
Given in honor of the late editor, author, and ACES guiding spirit to a student who demonstrates excellence in the editing of news. The cash award is $3,500. Apply here for a Walsh Scholarship.
ACES Scholarships and Aubespin Scholar
Given to five students who excel in critical thinking about written materials in any field and aspire to a career involving editing. Four of the awards come with a $1,500 cash prize. One student is chosen to be the Aubespin Scholar, which comes with a $2,500 cash prize. Apply here for an ACES Scholarship.
Applicants for all ACES scholarships must be seeking degrees as enrolled college/university juniors, seniors, or graduate students at the time of the deadline (November 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.
The Walsh Scholarship is awarded to an applicant who aspires to edit news and who demonstrates the talent and passion for language 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.
The deadline for ACES Scholarship applications is Nov. 15. Applications open in late summer. The awards are announced early the following year.
See the list of all of the ACES scholarship winners since 1999.
Since 1999, the ACES Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and its predecessor have awarded nearly 150 scholarships to deserving students who have a passion for editing.
The Walsh Scholarship honors Bill Walsh, author, blogger, and longtime copy editor at The Washington Post. Walsh, who died in early 2017, was an active and creative member of the ACES Education Fund board.
The Aubespin Scholarship honors Merv Aubespin, a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists who, as the chairman of the Human Resources Committee of the American Society of News Editors in the mid-1990s, greatly helped inspire the creation of ACES.
The scholarship program is administered (but not judged) by members of the ACES Education Fund Board. 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.
Apply for a Bill Walsh Scholarship