The Broadcasters Foundation of America is widening its college scholarship program to include students without a family connection to broadcasting, expanding one route into radio and television careers.
The expansion, reported October 29 by Radio Ink, adds six annual awards of $2,500. Alongside the existing $10,000 award for a qualifying student from a broadcast family, that brings annual support to $25,000 across seven recipients.
The foundation’s current scholarship page identifies the new awards as Next Generation Scholarships. Its Legacy Scholarship retains the immediate-family broadcasting requirement.
Applicants must be enrolled at a U.S. college or university, demonstrate financial need, study media and communications or a related field, have an overall GPA of at least 3.0, and be U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens. Related fields include broadcast journalism, audio production, broadcast engineering and sports communications.
The timing matters: the 2026 application window is closed. The foundation says the 2027 window will open in spring, with funds paid directly to recipients’ colleges or universities.
These are student scholarships, not operating grants for training organizations. For broadcasters developing a talent pipeline, the immediate opportunity is to share accurate eligibility information with colleges and prospective applicants before the next application cycle.