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Webinars for Prospective Applicants
Wallace House Center for Journalists invites all prospective Knight-Wallace Fellowship applicants to an interactive webinar conversation, featuring presentations from fellowship alumni. More information about upcoming webinars is available here.
Eligibility
Qualified applicants must have a minimum of five years of experience and be currently working in some aspect of journalism for a news organization or as an independent journalist. We are looking for a diverse range of journalists, including reporters, editors, data experts, visual journalists, audio producers, engagement specialists, designers, developers, entrepreneurs and organizational change agents.
If you are not a full-time journalist, the majority of your work should be in journalism. We do not consider full-time academics, public relations writers, internal trade writers, lobbyists, public advocates, or those seeking a degree.
If you are a U.S. citizen, apply as a U.S. applicant, even if you work in another country or for a non–U.S. journalism entity. If you are not a U.S. citizen, apply as an international applicant, even if you work in the United States or for an American journalism entity. A Green Card is not the same as citizenship.
Terms
All Fellows awarded our in-person fellowship must maintain residency in Ann Arbor for the duration of the fellowship, attend all program seminars and events, and make the fellowship their primary professional focus. Applicants working in a newsroom are encouraged to obtain employer consent granting a leave of absence with the understanding that, upon completion of the fellowship and where applicable, the Fellow will return to their place of employment.
Timeline
Applications for the 2026-2027 academic year are now open.
- Deadline for international journalists to apply for the 2026-2027 academic year is December 1, 2025. International applications uploaded under the U.S application portal will not be considered.
- Deadline for U.S. journalists to apply for the 2026-2027 academic year was February 1, 2026.
- Offers for international Knight-Wallace Fellows will be extended by mid-February 2026. Offer for Knight-Wallace Fellows with U.S. citizenship will be extended by early May 2026.
- The 2026-2027 academic year begins in late August 2026. Fellows are expected to arrive in Ann Arbor by mid-August.
Selection
Great care goes into assembling classes of Fellows that represent a diversity of experience, journalism specialty, geographic region and type and size of news organizations. Typically, up to six international colleagues join ten to twelve U.S. journalists. International finalists are interviewed in January and February to allow time for visa processing after selections are made. U.S. finalists are interviewed in April.
U.S. Applicants:
We award fellowships to U.S. journalists for immersive study projects touching on various areas including education, public policy, sports, health and medicine, technology and news innovation, transportation and environment, and international reporting. In addition, for the 2026-2027 academic year, we will have two new specialized fellowships—the Great Lakes Local News Fellowship and the Arts Journalism Fellowship— for U.S. journalists. Applicants for these two specialized fellowships will apply using our general application with essays that address the specialty focus and requirements as outlined on our About page.
