Grants for College Photography

Alexia Foundation Scholarships

The Alexia Foundation for World Peace and Cultural Understanding runs a competition in which students vie for paid trips to London to study in a photojournalism program through Syracuse University Abroad. The competition is open to undergraduates and graduate students as long as they have less than one year of professional experience and no more than three internships. Applicants must submit a resume and a portfolio along with a proposal for a photo essay that promotes the Foundation's goal of international understanding.

The Databazaar Scholarship Fund is a creation of Databazaar.com, an online printing supply company. Databazaar initiated the fund in recognition of its economic ties with the United States and South Asia. The fund seeks to bring these cultures together by promoting the activities of students who have the potential to act as ties between the two spheres. Each year the fund awards two scholarships of $2,500, as of 2010: one to a South Asian student, and one to an American student. The recipients must be students of photography, photojournalism, broadcast journalism or film making, and they must use the prize money to conduct a project abroad: in South Asia if they are American, and in America if they are South Asian.

College photographers who have an idea for an environmental or humanitarian photo essay project should consider applying to the Photocrati Fund. It awards $5,000 for photography projects: $4,000 initially and $1,000 upon the project's completion, as of 2010. The awards are intended to fund the photographer's full-time work on the project. The awards are not specific to students, but they are geared toward emerging photographers rather than professionals.

Check with your photography school or department to see if there are grants available through your institution for student photographers. Another option is to apply to photography contests and put any winnings toward the cost of your education. There is a wide range of photography competitions available. The National Geographic Contest awards a first prize of $10,000, as of 2010, annually, but it is highly competitive. Aim high, but also consider smaller competitions. Visit PhotographyCompetitions.net to see a list of upcoming contests. If you are using contests to raise money, it may be a good idea to limit your applications to those contests that are free to enter.