ACP membership is the tried-and-trusted foundation upon which to build and improve collegiate media. 

Membership is by publication, not by school or individual. When a publication joins, all students on staff and advisers of that publication are covered under that membership. You can join at any time and your membership will be active for the school year.

As a member, your staff will be notified of all contests, conventions, workshops and deadlines.

 

ACP MEMBERSHIP GUIDE


Download our membership guide
with a handy planner to organize your Individual Award entries.

 

HONORS AND RECOGNITION

ACP offers competition opportunities to fit your specific staff.

Its top awards, the prestigious Pacemaker Awards, are renowned as the Pulitzer Prizes of collegiate journalism. The nation’s top individual honors in student journalism include the ACP Individual Awards, in multiple categories in print and digital.

Through our conventions (and now remotely), our Best of Show Awards allow current staffs to showcase their work.

Through our critique service, you can also earn an All-American rating and establish a tradition of excellence for your publication. Extended achievement earns your publication recognition in ACP’s prestigious Hall of Fame.

 

GROUP MEMBERSHIPS
FOR ACP MEMBERS

Your ACP membership now qualifies you for significant membership discounts in two national journalism associations.

Just add $100 to your ACP membership, and any student in your organization can join one of these organizations. Join both for $200.

Both organizations expand training and network opportunities, and they open doors to internships and careers.

Once ACP receives payment, media advisers will be notified to send a list of students and their contact information for the group membership.

 

The Society of Professional Journalists is a network of thousands of journalists and get the member rate for SPJ awards and conferences.

 

The Society for News Design is the world’s leading community for visual storytelling in journalism.

This partnership is sponsored by both SND and the Society for News Design Foundation.

 

FEEDBACK ON IMPROVING YOUR PUBLICATION

We offer a range of critiques for publications and websites. They give your staff helpful, constructive insight from an impartial, experienced source.

Our critique service offers traditional written critiques, plus digital critiques and expanded super-critiques with feedback presented on your publication. If you attend an ACP convention, be sure to register for an on-site critique, often one of the highlights of the convention experience.

Regardless of the form, your critique is an invaluable stepping stone to improvement.

 

TRAINING & NETWORKING
WITH PEERS & ADVISERS

By attending an ACP convention, workshop or webinar, you’ll interact with student journalists and advisers from across the nation.

We’re now offering the Pacemaker Master Class series of webinars to connect you with experts and colleagues across the country on both trends and fundamentals.

Get even more networking through our social media:
on Facebook,
@acpress on Twitter and
collegiatepresson Instagram.

 

ACP’s partnership with Issuu grants ACP members free access to the Issuu Starter Plan, enabling users to publish unlimited documents of up to 500 pages per upload or 100MB of file size.

Learn more about this budget-saving benefit.

 

Overlooked, the social-news network that battles disinformation in social media, is now an affiliate of ACP. Learn more about how your student-media organization can connect and benefit with an Overlooked partnership.

 

ACP Membership Benefits and Pricing

ACP Membership Benefits and Pricing
Newspaper Online only Yearbook Magazine Broadcast
Membership $155 $155 $155 $155 $155
Eligibility to enter Pacemaker contests
Eligibility to enter Individual Awards
for 2023-24
$99 + membership $99 + membership $99 + membership $99 + membership $99 + membership
Reduced registration fees for conventions
Member rate for Best of Show Awards $30 $30 $30 $30 $30
Nonmember rate for Best of Show Awards $45 $45 $45 $45 $45
Society of Professional Journalists group membership $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on
Society for News Design group membership $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on $100 add-on
Issuu Starter Plan
Certificate of membership
Virtual critique (1 hour) $149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
Traditional critique $119
+ membership
$119
+ membership
$119
+ membership
$119
+ membership
$119
+ membership
Annotated critique $149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
$149
+ membership
Eligibility for the ACP All-American Hall of Fame with critique purchase with critique purchase with critique purchase with critique purchase with critique purchase
Consultation on current work $99
+ membership
$99
+ membership
$99
+ membership
$99
+ membership
$99
+ membership