Bess Whitehead Scott Scribes Scholarship
Scholarship Applications are now being accepted through Friday, March 8, 2024 for the 2024-2025 academic year. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply. Please carefully review the criteria below before submitting an application.
Note: Please review the Scott Scribes Scholarship criteria carefully to be sure you are eligible. This is a separate scholarship and is geared toward applicants with 10 or more years of work experience. If you would like to apply for a general Headliners Foundation scholarship, please click here to review the criteria and access the application. Feel free to contact the Foundation’s Executive Director if you have questions about which scholarship application best suits your circumstances.
The Bess W. Scott Scribes Scholarship is different from other Headliners scholarships in that it focuses on the nontraditional student – the working journalist or writer who has accrued at least 10 years of experience. It is fitting that this award be considered nontraditional because Scott herself was anything but conventional for her era. She talked her way into an all-male newsroom in the early 20th century when men had a lock on reporting and editing jobs. Her colleagues at The Houston Post were dismayed at this interloper in a skirt, but she persisted and plowed new ground as a reporter and entertainment writer. Scott went on to work in teaching, advertising and magazine writing well into her nineties.
In 1991, the Bess Whitehead Scott Scholarship Fund began awarding annual scholarships to aspiring journalists and writers. In 2020, the Headliners Foundation of Texas incorporated the scholarship into our existing portfolio and now awards the $3,000 Bess W. Scott Scribes Scholarship to a qualified recipient applying directly through the Headliners Foundation.
Our Academic Excellence Committee will give strong preference to applicants with 10 or more years of professional experience in journalism, nonfiction writing or a related field. Applicants should demonstrate an interest in pursuing a degree or career advancement through academic study in journalism, communication or a related field.
Eligibility Criteria
Is a Texas resident.
Demonstrates interest in obtaining an undergraduate or graduate degree, or pursuing study in journalism, nonfiction writing or a related field in communication.
Demonstrates financial need.
Fields of Study
Journalism/Mass Communication
Use of Scholarship
Work toward accredited college/university degree
Accredited college/university coursework in journalism or communication taken as a non-degree-seeking student either in residence or on-line.
Academic residencies/internships
Questions? Contact us at info@headlinersfoundation.org.