Columbia Journalism School Receives $3 Million Grant from Knight Foundation to Expand Loan Repayment Assistance Program Across Four Universities
For two years, LRAP has made it possible for Columbia graduates to pursue public service journalism without being constrained by educational debt.
Columbia Journalism School has received a transformative grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in order to expand its pioneering Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP).
Their $3M investment ensures continued and broadened support for alumni across four different universities who work in local news — a sector that is vital to the public good.
“This generous gift allows us to continue dismantling the economic barriers that stand in the way of talented journalists committed to serving the public,” said Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. “It’s not only an investment in our alumni, or those of other institutions — it’s an investment in the future of democracy.”
LRAP will now support up to 100 journalists annually across four schools: Columbia Journalism School and three other schools.
Launched in 2023, LRAP is the first program of its kind in graduate journalism education. In its first two years, the program awarded more than $300,000 to over thirty alumni working full-time in nonprofit news organizations.
“Nurturing the next generation of journalism talent is essential to strengthening the field,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “If emerging journalists can’t afford to pursue work in public service reporting, we risk losing vital voices who hold power to account.”
Recipients say the program has already empowered them to take bold steps and grow their careers in local and nonprofit news.
“I took out the loans in expectation that I’d be paying high sums each month in response to my degree,” said Susanna Granieri, ’22 M.S., who works at First Amendment Watch. “But [LRAP] has already made that more feasible to me. And, it lets me continue to do the work rather than look for work outside of journalism.”
LRAP is a cornerstone of the School’s CJS2030 Access Initiative, designed to reduce financial barriers for students and graduates alike and create pathways for more diverse and equitable newsrooms. In 2024, the School waived application fees for all prospective students, further strengthening this commitment to inclusivity.
Now, this grant from Knight Foundation ensures CJS can further support its community in size, duration and impact.
As editorial budgets shrink and news deserts expand, Columbia Journalism School is proud to lead the way in supporting work foundational to a functioning democracy.
About the Loan Repayment Assistance Program
Graduates working full-time in the public interest sector and who are within three years of their CJS graduation date are eligible to apply. Those qualified may receive up to $50,000 over five years of participation. To learn more about eligibility, visit the program page.
Read more about LRAP's impact.
Learn more about applying to Columbia Journalism School.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
We are social investors who support democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once had newspapers. Learn more at kf.org and follow @knightfdn on social media.
About Columbia Journalism School
For 113 years, the 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 in 1912 and offers Master of Science and Master of Arts degrees, as well as a Master of Science in Data Journalism, a joint Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Journalism, The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism and a Doctor of Philosophy in Communications. It is home to the Columbia Journalism Review, and several world-class research centers, including the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, The Tow Center for Digital Journalism, The Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights, The Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism, the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security, and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. The school also administers many of the leading journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the John Chancellor Award, the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma, Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award, the Mike Berger Awards and the WERT Prize for Women Business Journalists.