Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio Scholarship

APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

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Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio Scholarship
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Application deadline: 11:59 p.m. (EST) on April 14, 2025

The scholarship offers awards to residents of Rhode Island PBS’s demographic market area who demonstrate promise of a successful career in the fields of broadcasting, communications, and/or journalism.

2024 Winner:
Timothy Yean of Cranston

Yean was selected from 27 applicants from the station’s broadcast area in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. A 2024 graduate of Cranston High School East, he plans to major in communications at Rhode Island College.

“To have my efforts recognized to this extent would have been unimaginable to me four years ago, and it’s still unimaginable to me. I’m so glad to have a lot of the usual financial burden of college covered by this scholarship, and I’m so happy to tell my mother and father that they don’t have to worry too much anymore about the cost of college,” said Yean.

Yean gives a lot of credit to his parents, Heang Chorn and Sokha Yean. “They’ve worked tirelessly in all ways to ensure a good life not only for me but my sister, and I love them so much for all that and more,” he said.

SCHOLARSHIP INFO

Selection criteria:

  • Resident of Rhode Island or Bristol County, Massachusetts
  • A graduating high school senior planning to attend an accredited 4-year post-secondary school, or a student currently enrolled in an accredited 4-year post-secondary institution
  • Demonstration of merit toward a successful career in broadcasting, communications, and/or journalism
  • Award: up to $15,000; past recipients are eligible to reapply
  • Current employees of Rhode Island PBS, The Public’s Radio, and their children and other immediate family members are not eligible to apply.

A complete application includes:

  • Completed online application form
  • Most recent high school or college transcript
  • Students must demonstrate evidence of financial need, as demonstrated by information provided about his/her family’s financial resources and projected expenses, and prove that this scholarship will make a meaningful difference in their educational plans.
  • Scholarship resume worksheet
  • Recommendation letter from a teacher or professional in the fields of communications, broadcasting, and/or journalism
Past Scholarship Recipients

Famiglietti, a personal injury lawyer who serves on North Providence’s town council, won more than 70% of the district’s votes in a four-way race
A rare legal clash between the Justice Department and the federal judiciary echoes to Rhode Island, where a 1990s-era lawsuit filed by then–U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse offers precedent and underscores the escalating tensions between executive power and judicial independence
The new state law also mandates RAs to be trained to administer the life-saving opioid reversal medication
In her latest novel These Summer Storms, Rhode Island author Sarah MacLean trades dukes for tech dynasties, spinning a tale of inheritance games, family dysfunction, and second chances—set against the brooding backdrop of a storm-lashed island estate
After a near-fatal accident left him paralyzed, Google engineer Sasha Blair-Goldensohn turned personal adversity into advocacy—transforming Google Maps and New York City’s subway system to better serve people with disabilities, and reminding the world that accessibility benefits everyone