Applications are now open for the 2026/27 Knight-Wallace Fellowships ($85,000 stipend + $5,000 for relocation expenses)
Closing Date: 1 December 2025
Applications are now open for the 2026/27 Knight-Wallace Fellowships ($85,000 stipend + $5,000 for relocation expenses)
A Fellowship to Pursue Ambitious Journalism Ideas
The Knight-Wallace Fellowships offer accomplished journalists two rare commodities: time and resources. Journalists eager for growth and deeply committed to the future of journalism spend an academic year at the University of Michigan to access the resources of a world-class university and dive into a journalism project. Areas of focus can include but are not limited to sharpening professional skills, addressing a challenge facing your newsroom, digging into data and research for a long-term reporting project, or developing a journalism venture.
The University of Michigan select up to 20 Fellows from all facets of journalism who are ready to take the next career step and join the fellowship in Ann Arbor for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
- Eight-month program from late August through April of immersive study away from daily deadlines
- Individual journalism projects designed to develop topical depth, gain new skills, address a newsroom challenge or explore a journalism venture
- Specialized resources and access to faculty at the University of Michigan
- Private seminars with newsroom leaders, change agents and world-renowned experts for candid, off-the-record conversations
- Workshops to sharpen professional skills and leadership ability
- International travel to bring context to the political, economic and social forces shaping news coverage
- $85,000 stipend plus $5,000 for relocation expenses distributed monthly from August through April for living expenses (costs for health insurance, auditing courses, and participating in required workshops and fellowship activities paid for by Wallace House)
- Individual relocation support and assistance with finding and securing housing to meet each Fellow’s housing needs
- Spouses and partners are invited to participate in fellowship activities and audit university courses as well
New Specialized Fellowships
Each year Wallace House Center for Journalists awards Knight-Wallace Fellowships to a small cohort of U.S. journalists for immersive projects touching on a range of areas including education, public policy, sports, health and medicine, technology and news innovation, transportation and environment, and international reporting. For the 2026-27 academic year Wallace House Center for Journalists is building on its long-running fellowships with two new fellowships focused on areas critical to the future of journalism.
The Great Lakes Local News Fellowship and Arts Journalism Fellowship will allow selected journalists to be members of the Knight-Wallace Fellowship class and pursue directed study in entrepreneurship, data-driven survey research, and cross-disciplinary arts research. Applicants for these two new fellowships should apply using the general application. Their applications essays must address the focus and requirements of the specialized fellowships.
Revitalizing Local News in the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Local News Fellowship is designed to support the development of new or reimagined locally-focused journalism projects serving communities in the midwestern Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The fellowship will offer support and training to two journalists or journalism strategists from the focus states.
Fellowship support includes access to experts in entrepreneurship, business law, organizational development and post-fellowship consulting to aid in developing and implementing entrepreneurial journalism projects. Projects may include but are not limited to crafting business plans, developing funding and revenue models, addressing technical or distribution challenges, or designing community engagement strategies to rebuild public trust in journalism or reach underserved communities.
- Eligibility: Open to U.S. journalists and journalism strategists building or growing local news outlets in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio or Wisconsin. Applicants should live in or have a demonstrated understanding of the area they are proposing to serve and have at least five years of working experience. Applicants should have a clear intent to remain in and serve a community in one of our focus states after the completion of their fellowship.
- Application Requirements: Applicants must explain in their personal statement their current connection to local news in one of the Great Lakes states and, in their project proposal, describe their entrepreneurial journalism project and how the fellowship and extra resources would help them achieve their goals. Applicants should be specific in the skills they have and the skills they need to develop.
Reinvigorating Arts Reporting
In collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative, the Arts Journalism Fellowship supports journalists specializing in arts reporting and criticism, addressing the decline of arts coverage in U.S. newsrooms. In addition to being a member of the Knight-Wallace Fellowship cohort, the Arts Journalism Fellow will also be a member of the university-wide Arts Initiative, gaining access to valuable professional development opportunities and engaging with leading scholars, creators and innovators in the arts as well as university student interested in arts
- Eligibility: Open to U.S. arts journalists and critics with at least five years of professional experience.
- Application Requirements: Applicants must describe their arts journalism work experience in their personal statement and, in their project proposal, outline a fellowship project focused on coverage of the arts.
Application Deadlines
Applications for the 2026-2027 academic year are now open.
The deadline for international applicants (journalists who do not hold a U.S. passport) to apply for the 2026-2027 academic year is December 1, 2025.
The deadline for U.S. applicants to apply for the 2026-2027 academic year is February 1, 2026.
International fellowship offers are extended by mid-February and U.S. fellowship offers are extended by early May, giving Fellows ample time to plan a move to Ann Arbor in mid-August.
Click Here To Apply
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