Knight-Wallace Fellowships — Fellowship

The Knight-Wallace Fellowships give working journalists an academic year at the University of Michigan to develop an individual journalism project. Fellows relocate to Ann Arbor, audit university courses, attend private seminars and workshops, and step away from daily assignments. Wallace House Center for Journalists selects a small, internationally mixed cohort each year.

The program lasts eight months, from late August through April. The 2027–2028 cycle is between application periods and is scheduled to open in October 2026, but the official site does not publish an exact opening day.

Benefits & funding

An $85,000 stipend plus $5,000 for relocation, distributed monthly from August through April for living expenses.
Wallace House pays for health insurance, course auditing, required workshops and fellowship activities.
Fellows receive access to University of Michigan faculty and resources, private seminars, skills workshops, international travel, relocation assistance and housing-search support.

Eligibility

Applicants must have at least five years of experience and currently work in journalism for a news organization or independently.
For applicants who are not full-time journalists, most of their work must be in journalism.
Public relations writers, internal trade writers, lobbyists, public advocates and people seeking a degree are not considered.
U.S. citizens use the U.S. application; all other citizens use the international route, including U.S. permanent residents without U.S. citizenship.
Selected Fellows must live in Ann Arbor, attend all seminars and events, and make the fellowship their primary professional focus; they may not accept new assignments during the program.

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.

Experience required
≥ 5 yrs

Check my eligibility — free

Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.

We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.

Application process

1
Review the official FAQ and the preparation page for the correct citizenship route.
2
Create an OpenWater account and select the U.S. or international application based on citizenship.
3
Upload a résumé, a journalism project proposal of no more than 500 words, a personal statement of up to 1,500 words and three recent work samples; also provide a project summary of no more than 60 words.
4
U.S. applicants provide two professional references, while international applicants enter referee names, titles and affiliations in Phase One and contact their referees only if invited to Phase Two.
5
Submit by the route-specific deadline; an international application placed in the U.S. portal is not considered.

Program timeline

October 2026
Applications for the 2027–2028 academic year are scheduled to open; no exact day is published.
International application deadline.
December 1, 2026
International finalist interviews.
January–February 2027
International fellowship offers.
Mid-February 2027
U.S. application deadline.
February 1, 2027
U.S. finalist interviews.
April 2027
U.S. fellowship offers.
Early May 2027
Fellows are expected to arrive in Ann Arbor.
Mid-August 2027
The eight-month fellowship begins.
Late August 2027
The fellowship concludes.
April 2028