Grants up to $15K for High-Impact Reporting that “Follow the Money”
Applications are now open for the Fall 2026 McGraw Fellowships for Business Journalism. If you have a great idea for a high-impact story that “Follows the Money” but need funds to get it done, we’d love to hear from you.
The McGraw Fellowships, an initiative of the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, provide experienced journalists with a grant up to $15,000 and the editorial support needed to produce deeply reported enterprise and investigative stories with a strong economic, financial or business angle. Both freelance and staff journalists in all forms of media with at least five years’ professional experience are eligible. Journalists from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
The upcoming deadline to apply is October 12, 2026. We will hold McGraw Fellowship Office Hours on Zoom to answer any questions every Wednesday at 11 am EST from Sept. 2nd through Oct. 7th.
Previous McGraw Fellows have explored a wide variety of topics — and you don’t need to be a business reporter to apply. Many have been generalists, or follow the environment, health care, immigration or other beats. Others focus on economic justice or corporate accountability. Here are some examples of their work:
- A For-Profit Hospital Slashed Costs. Then a Patient Froze to Death on Its Roof. Mother Jones
- He helped clean up the Fox River. Then cancer came for him. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- California’s child farmworkers; Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields LA Times
- Clean energy bans skyrocket under Trump USA Today
- Haitians in Ohio alter daily life, forging new abilities, as immigration chaos grinds on The Haitian Times
- No roads home: How a chronic housing shortage keeps reservation communities in crisis Montana Free Press
- Science For Sale: How Drugmakers Captured the FDA The Lever
- Developers See Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal as an Alluring New Waterfront. But for Years, It Stunk. Inside Climate News
- Prison telecoms providers are shifting strategy by exploiting tablet services Prism
- The Revolution That Died on Its Way to Dinner NY Times
You’ll find more information, an FAQ, and the application at www.mcgrawcenter.org. For further questions, please contact us at .
The McGraw Center for Business Journalism was established at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2014 by the family of the late Harold W. McGraw, Jr., former chairman and CEO of McGraw-Hill and long-time publisher of BusinessWeek magazine. The Center is dedicated to enhancing the depth and quality of business and economic news coverage through training, student scholarships and support for veteran journalists.
CONTACT:
Jane Sasseen
Executive Director
McGraw Center for Business Journalism
mcgrawcenter@journalism.cuny.edu