Communications is a broad degree label. Scholarship eligibility may instead depend on a public-relations career, electronic-media study, association membership, or your college’s participation.
Start with your intended work and the academic year the scholarship funds. The selected programs below support different branches of communications; they are not interchangeable general awards.
Compare two verified routes
Checked October 14, 2026. Full provider rules apply.
| Program | Who should investigate | Support/status | First action |
|---|---|---|---|
| BEA broadcasting/electronic-media scholarships | Eligible juniors, seniors or graduate students at BEA institutional members; specified transfer applicants included | Individual awards vary; application deadline October 16, 2026; funds support 2027–28 | Confirm your institution and future academic stage |
| Betsy Plank/PRSSA Scholarship | PRSSA-member college juniors/seniors preparing for public relations | $5,000, $1,500 and $1,000 awards; April 30, 2026 deadline passed | Monitor the next official cycle |
BEA lists, among others, a $4,000 Vincent T. Wasilewski Award and $3,500 Peter B. Orlik Award. Applicants are considered for all eligible awards without extra forms. A total scholarship pool is not one student’s award. BEA current list.
Institution membership and personal membership are different
BEA requires the college or university to be a member; individual student membership is not required to receive a scholarship. Its page includes certain students transferring from two-year institutions to member four-year institutions. BEA eligibility.
Check the destination if you plan to transfer. Do not assume membership at your current school answers the requirement for the funded year.
PRSSA’s Betsy Plank award, by contrast, uses the student’s membership and junior/senior status. Read the individual program rather than applying one association’s rule to another. Betsy Plank criteria.
Match the application to the work
For public relations, describe a real communication problem, audience, ethical decision and your contribution. The Betsy Plank program evaluates academic achievement, leadership, practical experience and commitment to ethical practice; its statement is at most 300 words and requires an adviser recommendation. Application requirements.
A hypothetical student could explain revising an approved campaign message after audience feedback. Do not invent reach figures or claim a client’s commercial success without evidence and permission.
For electronic media, identify whether you reported, wrote, recorded, edited, produced, designed or researched. Make team contributions clear. Follow the actual scholarship’s work-sample checklist rather than sending an unrelated creative reel.
Check when funds can be used
BEA says selections are announced by mid-December and funds are awarded in summer 2027 for the 2027–28 academic year. The October 2026 application is therefore not immediate funding for an already-due bill. BEA payment timing.
Betsy Plank funds are paid to the recipient’s university for educational pursuits. Confirm the relevant future cycle before counting it in a budget. PRSA payment terms.
For each actual offer, record eligible expenses, payment recipient, academic period and renewal if any. Keep pending applications separate from confirmed funds.
Separate tuition awards from conference support
PRSA Foundation’s broader page lists internship recognition and conference grants alongside scholarships. BEA also offers research and creative grants. Those benefits have different purposes and should not all be labeled tuition funding. PRSA categories · BEA awards/grants overview.
Protect client, employer and source information in any submission. Use only authorized samples and check links without your own login.
Next step
Choose public relations or electronic media, verify membership and funded-year status, and prepare the actual program’s materials. Ask your department about separate institutional communications awards.
