Those students who have first been admitted to the Honors College may be invited by the School of Journalism to receive additional benefits through the Walter Williams Scholars program.

Qualifications: To be invited into the exclusive circle of top Walter Williams Scholars, incoming freshmen must first apply and be accepted to the MU Honors College. An evaluation of ACT or SAT score, high school grades and class rank follows. Candidates must rank in the top 20 percent of their high school class (if the school ranks) or have a weighted GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Benefits:

• Additional renewable scholarship funds directly from the School of Journalism.
• Placement in a special Freshman Interest Group, space permitting.
• Assigned individual faculty mentors.
• A $1,000 scholarship that can be used for School of Journalism global programs, including our New York or Washington programs. The scholarship can be used at any time before graduation.
• Automatic admission to the one-year BJ/MA program at the School of Journalism, which allows students to complete their graduate degrees in one year rather than two. Admission is contingent upon the following criteria:
  • Maintenance of a 3.25 GPA in your journalism coursework and for your cumulative average, throughout your undergraduate career;
  • Submission of a complete MA application, including payment of the application fee, and with two (out of three) of your letters of recommendation from journalism faculty. You do not need to take the GRE.

For more information, contact the School at 573-882-1908 or email journalism@missouri.edu.

Honors Eligibility

The School of Journalism works closely with the MU Honors College to provide intellectually-stimulating courses and extra-curricular activities to provide an exceptional “Honors Experience” to qualifying students. Accordingly, the School strongly encourages high-ability students to apply for admission to the MU Honors College.

Apply to MU Honors College