Television Academy Foundation’s National Awards Competition Affords College Students Top-Tier Career Exposure, Cash Prizes and Scholarships.
The Television Academy Foundation today announced the opening of the submission period for the 45th College Television Awards, a spring 2026 ceremony that recognizes and rewards excellence in student-produced storytelling from colleges and universities nationwide, along with two significant additions to the program. The deadline for entries is Oct. 10, 2025, at 5 p.m. (PDT) through the TelevisionAcademy.com/CTA/submit portal.
“For 45 years, the College Television Awards has been a career launching pad for emerging storytellers and content creators. Widely regarded as the most prestigious honor a media arts student can receive in the U.S., it continues to spotlight the next generation of talent,” said Tina Perry, chair of the Television Academy Foundation. “We’re proud to offer this one-of-a-kind opportunity that celebrates talented media-arts students and helps provide access to the entertainment industry. We encourage students nationwide to submit their work for consideration.”
New for the 2026 awards program is the “The Chance Perdomo Legacy Scholarship,” a $10,000 scholarship awarded to the winning college team in the Comedy Series category. Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios created the scholarship as a tribute to the late Gen V actor Chance Perdomo who passed away in a motorcycle accident in 2024.
In addition, the Foundation has also introduced a new Scripted Series category solely for graduate students, spotlighting creators whose specific screen credits are producer, writer and director and whose functions support those credits.
Emulating the Emmy Awards selection process, College Television Awards entries are judged by Television Academy members. Awards and over $40,000 in cash prizes will be presented by television stars at a red carpet ceremony in Hollywood to winning teams in nine categories: Animation Series; Comedy Series (for undergraduate students); Commercial, PSA or Promo; Drama Series (for undergraduate students); News; Nonfiction Series; Scripted Series (for graduate students); Sports; and the Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award.
Criteria for the awards reflect industry standards of excellence, imagination and innovation across categories. Nominations will be announced Nov. 19, 2025.
The program also includes exclusive opportunities to network and connect with industry executives over three days of professional-development events with top entertainment-industry talent and executives for all participating nominees prior to the awards ceremony held at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre in the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California. College Television Award winners may also have the opportunity to participate as collegiate fellows and screen their projects at SeriesFest, May 6-10, 2026, in Denver, Colorado.
The $10,000 Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award recognizes either a student-produced program focused on people with disabilities or emerging artists with disabilities and is underwritten by the Loreen Arbus Foundation. In addition, the Seymour Bricker Humanitarian Award, a $4,000 cash prize, is presented to each year’s College Television Award-winning project judged to best highlight a humanitarian concern.
The Foundation has also announced the formation of a College Television Awards Honorary Committee comprised of industry talent who will serve as ambassadors for the program. Along with the Foundation’s board of directors, the Honorary Committee is invited to serve as jury members for the Seymour Bricker Humanitarian Award. Confirmed members for the 2026 ceremony include: Carlacia Grant (Outer Banks), Timothy Omundson (This Is Us), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary), Melissa Peterman (Happy’s Place) and Rebecca Wisocky (Ghosts).
Nominees and winners of the 45th College Television Awards automatically become members of the Television Academy Foundation's alumni family, gaining access to year-round networking opportunities, events and professional-development resources.
Prominent College Television Awards alumni include CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen; Shrek 5 director Brad Ableson; Escape at Dannemora executive producer Brett Johnson; Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado director Alberto Belli; 60 Minutes producer Shachar Bar-On; Maya and the Three executive producer Jorge R. Gutierrez; Outlander orchestrator Benjamin Hoff; and CBS Mornings producer Catherine Cannon.
The deadline for entries is Oct. 10, 2025, at 5 p.m. (PDT) through the online portal at TelevisionAcademy.com/CTA/submit; application fee is $25. Detailed submission guidelines, rules, eligibility criteria and category descriptions are available online. For more information, applicants can also view the College Television Awards Information Session.
The 2026 College Television Awards is supported by philanthropists and corporate partners, including The Loreen Arbus Foundation, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios.
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