Sulzberger 2025: 4 No-Fee Placements Now Available

Corey Ford -

The application process for the upcoming 2025 Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia Journalism School is in its final stretch with three weeks left until the Oct. 13 application deadline. Decisions for sponsored applicants will be made on a rolling basis, so get your application in as soon as possible.

I am excited to announce that for the upcoming 2025 cohort Columbia Journalism School is offering up to four placements to the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at no fee. Fellows selected for these no-fee placements will be responsible for their own travel and lodging during the New York campus residencies.

These no-fee placements from Columbia Journalism School come at the same time Google News Initiative has decided to stop funding scholarships to programs like Sulzberger. We are grateful for the support GNI has given Sulzberger over the last four years and for the opportunity it gave to the 16 fellows who otherwise would not have been able to participate.

To apply for one of the no-fee placements, simply check a box and fill out an extra question as part of the standard application form.

The Sulzberger Fellowship is open to any leader in journalism and media from anywhere in the world to apply to directly. Tuition is $20,000. Most fellows are sponsored directly by their employer or by a donor to their employer. Since there are a limited number of no-fee placements, all applicants should still talk to their organizations about potential sponsorship BEFORE the application deadline and communicate the results of that discussion to me no later than Oct. 13. No-fee placement decisions will not be made before Oct. 13.

Another funding opportunity comes from AAJA, which is offering up to two scholarships per year for its members to attend journalism executive education programs like Sulzberger. That requires a separate application here and that process is wholly owned by AAJA.

The Sulzberger program trains leaders of the world’s most respected news organizations and promising media start-ups to lead innovation and solve strategic business challenges in a time of rapid transformation, uncertainty, and opportunity. Fellows use the 20-week program to launch, accelerate, and implement a real-world strategic project that is critical to the mission of their organizations and integrated into their day-to-day work.

The program will begin with a two-week residency on the campus of Columbia Journalism School in New York City January 06-17, 2025 and conclude with one final week of residency, May 19-23, 2025, with weekly virtual cohort sessions in between. Sulzberger Fellows will also have regular one-on-one executive coaching sessions with me. Learn more about the program

To learn more about the program, read about it here and on the official Columbia website and join me for my final information session:

  • Sulzberger Info Session #3: Thursday, October 03 Noon - 1PM ET - Register here.

See you then!