Students of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication will have new opportunities to compete for scholarships, grants and internships through the Scripps Howard Foundation this year.

The Greenlee School has been named an internship partner school in the Scripps Foundation, said Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

“[The Scripps Foundation] has looked at schools in this area and has invested in us,” Bugeja said.

The Scripps Howard Foundation, founded by the E. W. Scripps Company, “strives to advance the cause of a free press through support of excellence in journalism, quality journalism education and professional development,” according to its Web site, www.scripps.com/foundation.

Professors of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication said they are excited about the partnership with Scripps Foundation.

Tom Emmerson, professor of journalism, said he thinks it is “a real feather in the [Greenlee School’s] cap” to be listed along side such great schools as Indiana University, Ohio University and the University of Colorado.

“Scripps School of Journalism is a guru,” he said. “I’m really thrilled.”

Iowa State will be the only university of the 25 internship partner schools to be located in the Midwest, Judith Clabes, president of the Scripps Foundation, said.

Through its “Summer Internship Program,” the Scripps Foundation will fund an annual $3,000 grant to cover expenses for an unpaid internship to a student in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Clabes said. Upon satisfactory completion of the internship, that student will also receive a $1,000 scholarship.

“We started this internship program a number of years ago, and we do at least 50 a year,” Clabes said.

The Scripps Foundation also offers six students from its internship partner schools an opportunity to take a “Semester in Washington” working for their student wire service, Bugeja said. The students selected for this program get a chance to learn how to be a bureau reporter and have their articles widely published by Scripps Publications and more.

“That is what I am very excited about,” Bugeja said.

Students of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication will also be allowed to apply for one of 10 scholarships that provide a $10,000 award each year, Clabes said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing some ISU students on board,” Clabes said.