CSPA's Membership portal for
| Click here
| Deadlines to submit Spring publications/media: June 16, 2023 Fall yearbooks: October 16, 2023 |
| MEMBERS WILL ENROLL FOR A NEW MEMBERSHIP EVERY YEAR. WHEN ENROLLING, PLEASE USE THE SAME E-MAIL ADDRESS PROVIDED FOR YOUR PUBLICATION MEMBERSHIP. A NEW CONFIRMATION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR YOU TO USE DURING THIS MEMBERSHIP YEAR. | ||
What can CSPA do for you?
Only CSPA members can participate in our contests. Membership is per publication, not by school.
High school, middle school, and collegiate publications can now choose one of three (3) different types of CSPA membership levels:
- Regular Membership: includes detailed critique, Crown judging, 30 free Gold Circle entries, and access to Special Edition Crown Awards slideshow presentations. [Digital $279, Print $279, Hybrid $319]
- Associate Membership: includes Crown judging, 30 free Gold Circle entries, and access to Special Edition Crown Awards slideshow presentations. NO critique included. [$239]
- Basic Membership: includes 30 free Gold Circle entries, and access to Special Edition Crown Awards slideshow presentations. NO critique, NO Crown Awards entry included. [$219]
HYBRID – a print publication that provides live digital coverage (via a fixed website, QR codes, and/or social media posts) between print editions. Can include expanded content for stories already covered in print. Could also include updates or completely new coverage via the digital resources. (Hybrid members receive a total of 60 Gold Circle entries.)
DIGITAL – Online content only (news reporting, and/or magazine-style content); no print component. If a print edition co-exists with the digital site, then it’s a hybrid publication.
PRINT - Content provided in print only; no digital (online) component. If a digital edition co-exists with the print component, then it’s a hybrid publication.
Please note: posting a PDF version of a publication designed for print DOES NOT qualify as a hybrid publication.
How to join
- When the "Join CSPA" link appears above, follow the link to access our online membership system. This is where you will choose your membership level and manage your online profile.
- Each membership profile will require a unique e-mail address for use as a username in the system.
- If you are submitting multiple publications for membership, be prepared to use a separate e-mail address for each publication to use for access the membership system.
- Complete the membership profile for each of your publications.
- Once you've submitted your membership information, you will receive a link via e-mail, taking you to the membership profile survey.
- Completion of this survey is REQUIRED of all Associate and Regular members, as it provides supplemental information to our Crown and critique judges.
- Crown and/or critique judging CANNOT BE COMPLETED without the completion of this profile.
- Send your payment (via check or money order) as soon as possible.
- Full payment of your membership fee is required before judging will take place.
- Our address can be found below, in the "Where to Send Your Materials" section of this page.
- CSPA does NOT accept credit cards at this time.
- ABOUT PURCHASE ORDERS: Please remember that a purchase order is a "promise to pay" NOT payment.
- Send your materials for judging to CSPA.
- For detailed information on what to send and where, consult the "What to Send" and "Where to Send Materials" sections on this page.
PLEASE NOTE: We have retired the use of hard copy and PDF membership forms. No hard copy or PDF forms will be available for download or submission.
What to send (for 2023)
Physical and PDF entries are being accepted across all publication types.
DETAILS ON WHERE/HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR PDFs FOR CRITIQUE/CROWN WILL BE SENT VIA E-MAIL AFTER ENROLLING AS A MEMBER.
DIGITAL ENTRY:
Print and hybrid members should submit: one (1) PDF of the print edition newspapers produced this year, one (1) PDF of the magazine issues produced this year, or one (1) PDF of their 2023 yearbook (if possible).
Note: College newspapers should include up to the best 10 issues from the year as part of their PDF entry.
YEARBOOK PDF FILES SHOULD NOT INCLUDE ADS.
Digital members should continue to provide their URLs as part of the member profile.
PHYSICAL ENTRY (only if digital entry is impossible):
Regular Members should send two sets of newspapers, two copies of their magazine, or two copies of their 2023 yearbook. One set/copy will be sent to a critique judge; the second set/copy stays in our office from Crown judging in Fall 2023.
Associate Members will send one set/copy of their publication when sending us their initial materials.
HOW TO NAME YOUR PDF FILES
- Please use the following naming conventions:
- News (print):
2023-Nws-PublicationName-SchoolName-IssueNumber.pdf - Magazines (print):
2023-Mag-PublicationName-SchoolName.pdf - Yearbooks (print):
2023-Yrb-PublicationName-SchoolName.pdf
- News (print):
(Please note that you should replace the phrases "PublicationName" and "SchoolName" shown above with YOUR publication name and YOUR school name.)
DETAILS ON WHERE/HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR PDFs FOR CRITIQUE/CROWN WILL BE SENT VIA E-MAIL AFTER ENROLLING AS A MEMBER.
Critique/Crown Submission Deadlines
June 16, 2023
Regular and Associate Memberships for all news, magazine, digital, and Spring delivery yearbooks; Basic Memberships for all news, digital, and magazines.
October 16, 2023
Regular, Associate, and Basic Memberships for all Summer/Fall delivery yearbooks.
Where to Send Materials
Please send all payments/materials to:
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
90 Morningside Drive, Suite B01
New York, NY 10027
Who's eligible?
One membership per print publication or digital media. (College newspapers, fall and spring semesters are now considered ONE membership.)
Memberships for student media are offered for print publications or digital media.
CSPA accepts newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, and digital media edited and produced by students in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities for membership.
Schools and colleges may be public, private, or church-affiliated institutions located in the United States, Canada, or overseas schools following an American education plan.
All CSPA memberships run from July 1 through June 30 of the following year. Memberships are for one year only and must be renewed.
A note about digital (online) sites: To be critiqued/evaluated as a digital publication and/or site, your website must include material adding web features. Sites offering only PDFs of the existing print publications do not qualify for digital or hybrid news site critique consideration.