
Become #MerrillMade
Learn from the best. Become one of the best.
Practice innovative real-world journalism from day one, with guidance from our all-star, Pulitzer- and Peabody-winning faculty. All at one of the nation's top public universities, on the doorstep of the journalism capital of the world.
Howard Centers, AP, FRONTLINE Named Pulitzer Finalist for ‘Lethal Restraint’ Investigation into Police Use of Force
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism earned Pulitzer Prize recognition for the first time in its history when the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism’s “Lethal Restraint” collaboration was named a finalist for the Pulitzer for Investigative Reporting.
READ MOREWhy Merrill?
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism prepares you for the real world. Our students report from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Annapolis and College Park through our Capital News Service. They investigate issues of national importance at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and learn to look beyond the box score at The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism. Data reporting is weaved through every inch of our curriculum and practiced in our signature programs. Our graduates are hired and desired by the top news outlets in the country.
There are a few standout journalism colleges in the country. But Merrill is the only one standing in the media capital of the world, which serves as its laboratory.

Howard Center
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism allows students to work with news organizations and universities across the country to report stories of national and international importance.

Povich Center
The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism prepares students to be innovators and leaders in all facets of sports media. Its experiential curriculum and public programs elevate and amplify discussion of race, gender, politics and the world.

Capital News Service
Overseen by professional journalists, Capital News Service is the University of Maryland’s student-powered news organization with bureaus and news teams in Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington and College Park.

National Association of Black Journalists
NABJ, headquartered in Knight Hall, is an organization of journalists, students and media professionals providing quality programs and services to, and advocating on behalf of, Black journalists.

More Centers and Organizations
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism hosts and supports a number of signature centers and organizations in Knight Hall, a state-of-the-art facility just a few miles from Washington, D.C.
Cutting-Edge Research
The college's faculty and graduate students are active researchers, serving the public and the profession by producing rigorous scholarly work that seeks to improve journalism.
Truly one of the great journalism schools.
#MerrillMade Alumni

Connie Chung




News
Scripps Howard Foundation Selects Five Merrill College Journalists to Roy W. Howard Fellowship Program
CINCINNATI – Five journalists who graduated from the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism will receive hands-on investigative reporting experience working at major media outlets as the new class of Roy W. Howard Fellows. The yearlong fellowships are funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation.The nonprofit newsrooms hosting the fellows during the program are: NPR, Inside Climate News, Wisconsin Watch, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and The Maine Monitor.
Kathy Best, Founding Director of UMD Howard Center, to Retire at End of December 2025
A message from Rafael Lorente, dean of the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism:It is with excitement for her future, sadness because we will miss her, and deep, deep gratitude for what she has meant to Merrill College that I relay to you that Howard Center Director Kathy Best will retire at the end of December.
Sign Up for Merrill Graduate Program Virtual Information Sessions
Want to join one of the nation's best journalism programs? Sign up to learn about the flexible master's curriculum at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, where students leave ready for careers as digitally savvy reporters, editors, data journalists, broadcasters, documentarians and more.