The California Scholastic Press Association, a nonprofit founded in 1951, runs an annual summer workshop for high school journalists at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on California’s Central Coast. 2026 was its 75th year.
Over 12 days, students take hands-on classes taught by working journalists and educators, covering newswriting, breaking news, court and police reporting, features, photojournalism, sports and television production.
Benefits & funding
- Tuition: US$2,500 for 2026, covering all costs while at the workshop; travel to and from it is not included.
- Financial aid is requested on a separate form; the workshop urges students unsure they can afford it to apply.
- Students must live on campus for the whole workshop and attend in full.
Eligibility
- Must be 15 at the start of the workshop.
- High school students; preference generally goes to current juniors and seniors, and seniors may attend the summer after graduating.
- Students from every US state and territory and international students may apply; no citizenship or residence rule is stated.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Education required
High School
Age requirement
≥ 15 yrs
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Application process
- 1Submit the online application with writing samples of any kind (published or not); a video of up to 1 minute is optional and recommendation letters are not required.
- 2Apply for financial aid on the separate form, if needed.
- 3Apply by the priority deadline (22 March in 2026); review continues on a rolling basis afterwards.
- 4Once accepted, pay a US$400 deposit (by 10 May in 2026) and the balance (by 7 June).
Program timeline
Priority deadline
22 March 2026
First acceptances
March 2026
Workshop
12–24 July 2026
December 2026
2027 application expected