Financial Aid

What is the YDN Foundation stipend program?

  • We want to make it easier for students with significant financial need to participate in the YDN. Our goal is to remove financial circumstances as a barrier to serious involvement with the Yale Daily News.

  • Why does this program exist? The stipends allow low-income students to allocate more time to the News, reduce their need to work campus jobs and mitigate their financial stress. By creating an environment that is welcoming to students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, the YDN can recruit and retain a staff that reflects the breadth of the undergraduate population.

  • How much are the awards? Stipends for each student range from $1,000 to $3,000 per board year.

  • When did this start? The stipend program launched in 2016.

  • Who funds this? The YDN Foundation — the alumni group that provides financial and other support to the News. 

Who should apply for the stipend?

  • Students whose annual “expected family contribution” amounts to $60,000 per year or less. This number can be found on your Yale College Financial Aid Award Letter. (Learn more about the award letter here.)

  • Students must hold certain positions within the News to qualify. 

      • Generally, our expectation is that all stipend recipients are contributing at least 10 hours of time to the News per week.
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      • Members of the News’ 2025-’26 Managing Board are all eligible.
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      • Additionally, some beat reporters are eligible if they have demanding beats that usually entail an average of 2-3 stories written per week. (Based on recent years, the beats that consistently require 10+ hours a week are Woodbridge Hall, student life/student policy and affairs, faculty and academics, admissions, city hall, cops and courts, housing and homelessness, Yale-New Haven relations, and Yale School of Medicine.)
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      • Students who have multiple, smaller roles at the News may still be eligible if they contribute at least 10 hours of work to the News per week.
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      • First-year staffers are not eligible. Seniors are eligible only if they will be holding stipend-eligible YDN positions throughout their senior year.
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      • Stipend-eligible positions will be re-evaluated by each incoming Board.

  • Can I apply for the stipend for more than one year? Yes — as long as your position within the News and your financial situation render you eligible, you may apply again.

  • Can I apply in the spring? Generally, we only accept stipend applications in the fall. However, we may consider additional applicants on a case-by-case basis in the spring, if a student’s financial circumstances or position at the YDN has changed; this is dependent on whether there is residual stipend funding left over after the fall, which we cannot guarantee.

  • If you meet the qualifications and think the money could help you, then you should apply!

How do you decide how to allocate stipends? 

  • We’re looking at two main factors: Student’s financial need and their level of participation in the News.

  • Extenuating circumstances: We will also consider other factors that a student may outline in their application.

  • How much can I expect, if I’m eligible? We can’t guarantee a certain amount of money per student; decisions are also dependent on the number of applicants and available funds each year. But here are a few hypothetical examples, to help students understand the range of what’s possible:

      • A third-year head photo editor with a $34,000 family contribution might receive a $2,000 stipend.
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      • A second-year beat reporter with a family contribution of $22,000 might receive a $1,500 stipend.
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      • A third-year University Desk editor with a family contribution of $0 might receive a $3,000 stipend.
  • Who’s making the decision? Stipend award decisions are made by the YDN Foundation’s four-person stipend committee, composed of YDN alums. 

  • Are current students involved in the process? Current undergraduates are involved in finalizing the eligibility criteria, but are not involved in reviewing stipend applications. However, the alumni committee does consult with the editor-in-chief to verify applicants’ participation in the News and the demands of their positions.

  • Is this process confidential? Who will know if I apply to or receive the stipend? In part, yes. Only the alumni stipend committee and Emad Haerizadeh (the News’ professional business manager) will know the details of a student’s application. They alone will view applicants’ financial aid information and related documents. Any financial aid letter submitted to the stipend committee will not be shared. However, the current and previous editors-in-chief will be made aware of the list of stipend recipients. This will allow the stipend committee to ask questions about students’ positions and their contributions to the News. Still, the editor-in-chief will only know whether or not a member of the News is a stipend recipient; they will not know the amount of money awarded to that student, or any details about that student’s financial situation, beyond the simple fact that they receive some amount of financial aid from Yale.

How do I apply?

  • Where can I find the application? Here’s the link to the 2025-2026 application form.

  • What do I need to apply? As part of the application, students submit their Yale College Financial Aid Award Letter for the 2025-’26 academic year, as well as a short personal statement with details on what you expect to do in your role.

  • When is the application due? Applications for the 2025-’26 school year must be submitted by Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.

  • When will I hear if I received a stipend? We expect to inform applicants of the committee’s decisions by Sept. 21, 2025.

  • When would I receive my stipend? The stipend will be paid in three installments over the course of a board year: immediately after award decisions are made in the fall, at the start of spring semester, and after spring break.

  • Are there any other requirements? Before the second and third stipend payments are sent out, recipients will be asked to fill out a brief self-evaluation, asking for you to update us on your work with the YDN, and vouching for your contributions as a YDN staffer. This helps us ensure that all recipients remain eligible for the stipend program.

Other questions that may be on your mind…

  • What if I quit the News? Quitting the News would void your eligibility for the stipend program. Therefore, you would forfeit the remaining money in your stipend.

  • Can I still have a campus job? Yes, you may still have a campus job. Though we hope the stipend provides adequate financial support, we understand that students may still choose to work. Many students have reported that the stipend enables them to only work one campus job rather than two or three, and to take on fewer shift hours.

  • Will the stipend impact my financial aid? No, the stipend will not impact your financial aid from Yale. The stipend intends to fulfill the student share of the term bill, which can be met by outside scholarships, loans, parental help or work earnings, without affecting Yale’s contribution. 

  • Should I report the stipend as income to the IRS? No. Based on legal advice, the YDN Foundation has concluded that under IRS rules these stipends qualify as scholarships, which are not subject to income tax. Therefore, the YDN Foundation will not report the stipend to the IRS on Form 1099 and will list the stipends as scholarships in its annual IRS information report. We understand that similar programs at other Ivy newspapers have reached the same conclusion. 

  • Are international students eligible? Generally, yes. International students have received the stipend, which is a tax-ineligible scholarship, without issue in the past. 

  • What other support does the News offer to students from non-traditional backgrounds, first-generation and/or low-income students? FGLI students may join the FGLI affinity group, which consists of other FGLI students within the YDN. There is also funding from the YDN for unpaid or underpaid summer internships, as well as for ambitious reporting projects. Additionally, we encourage students to apply for the the annual Scot Haller Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding student journalism published, in any form, by the Yale Daily News during the academic year.

  • Who can I contact if I have more questions? Email the members of the YDN Foundation Stipend Committee: Martine Powers ’11 (martine.powers@gmail.com), Melinda Beck ’77 (melinda.beck@gmail.com), and Jeff Muskus ’07 (jeff.muskus@gmail.com).

If you would like to make a donation to this vital program, please click here.