Columbia Scholastic Press Association

CSPA is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges, textbooks, critiques and award programs.

Gold Circle Awards

OUR GOLD CIRCLE ENTRY
PLATFORM IS OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS.

YOU MUST ENROLL AS A MEMBER
BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO SUBMIT
YOUR GOLD CIRCLE ENTRIES.

Follow this link to access
our Gold Circle
entry platform

The Gold Circle Awards are available to members as part of the Regular Membership, Associate Membership, or Basic Membership.

Gold Circle Awards are offered to recognize superior work by student journalists usually as individuals but sometimes as an entire staff working with either print or online media. These media are published in schools or colleges throughout the United States and in overseas schools following an American plan of education.

 

GOLD CIRCLE AWARD ENTRY DEADLINES

The submission deadline for Print Newspapers and Magazines is June 30, 2023. Eligibility for these categories is July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.

The submission deadline for Yearbooks and Digital Media is October 16, 2023. Eligibility for these categories is October 14, 2022, through October 16, 2023.

Your publication must have a CSPA membership to enter the Gold Circle Awards. Click here to find out more about the three different types of membership available.

All Print Newspaper and Magazine entries must be SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY by June 30, 2023.
All Yearbooks and Digital Media entries must be SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY by October 16, 2023.


Please note that the above deadlines are for Gold Circle submissions and do not necessarily coincide with the deadlines for submitting entries for critique and/or Crown consideration.


CATEGORIES

Presently, 177 different categories of entry are provided with detailed information given here. Recognition is given by various certificates of award. Secondary schools are judged separately from colleges and universities so that each student’s work is evaluated against others produced in similar circumstances. Judges are experienced journalists and educators familiar with the context surrounding student journalism as produced in schools and colleges. In recent years, more than 15,000 entries have been submitted for this annual competition and about 1,200 awards were given in the various categories.

Gold Circle Awards were first given in 1984, following a long tradition of CSPA awards for individual achievement by student journalists.


IMPORTANT
CSPA does not require approval of your membership or immediate payment in order to submit Gold Circle entries; only that membership enrollment has been completed online.