Arizona State University Joins Columbia Journalism School’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) Network to Support Local Newsrooms

The Columbia Journalism School Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) network is expanding to include graduates of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

By helping early-career journalists manage student debt, LRAP enables talented graduates to remain in local newsrooms, where they can pursue rigorous reporting, bring diverse perspectives to their work, and produce community-centered stories that inform and engage the public.

“We’re beyond excited to welcome Arizona State University into the growing LRAP network," said Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. "Our institutions share the goal of strengthening local news and building new pipelines for talent in the field. This partnership will help the graduates of our institutions as well as one of the most crucial arenas for journalism.” 

Building on a longstanding commitment to public-service journalism, ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication joins the LRAP network as part of a program recognized for innovation in journalism education. Cronkite graduates are trained to produce impactful reporting that serves communities and meets the evolving needs of local newsrooms.

"The Cronkite School is deeply committed to serving communities through strong local journalism,” said Battinto L. Batts Jr., Dean of the Cronkite School. "We are grateful to be able to join the LRAP network and offer another way to support graduates doing exceptional work in local newsrooms across the country.”

Launched in 2023, LRAP is a cornerstone of the CJS2030 Access Initiative. Since its inception, more than 100 LRAP awards have helped journalists build careers in local news outlets nationwide, with more than $1 million in total assistance awarded, including nearly $450,000 committed in 2026 alone. LRAP awardees are working in local newsrooms across the country, including The Texas Tribune, The Baltimore Banner, The Honolulu Civil Beat and New York Public Radio.

This expansion further strengthens the LRAP network, which includes graduates of Columbia Journalism School, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

About Columbia Journalism School

For more than a century, Columbia Journalism School has been preparing journalists in programs that stress academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry and professional practice. Founded with a gift from Joseph Pulitzer, the school opened its doors in 1912 and offers a Master of Science, Master of Arts, a joint Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Journalism and Doctor of Philosophy in Communications. It houses the Columbia Journalism Review, the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. The school also administers many of the leading journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, the John Chancellor Award, the John B. Oakes Award, the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Meyer “Mike” Berger Award. 

About the Cronkite School

The Cronkite School is widely recognized as the nation’s premier mass communication school, ranked a top collegiate program by the Broadcast Education Association for four consecutive years. Rooted in the time-honored values that characterize its namesake—accuracy, responsibility, integrity—the school fosters excellence and ethics among students as they master the professional skills required to succeed in the digital media world of today and tomorrow.

Based on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus in the heart of the nation’s fifth-largest city, the School is known for its hands-on, “teaching hospital” approach to learning led by a faculty composed of Pulitzer Prize-winning professional journalists, strategic communications leaders and world-class media scholars. More than 2,400 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students regularly lead the country in national competitions as they prepare for careers in journalism, PR, marketing, strategic media and related communication fields.