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    Columbia University Pre-College Programs CSPA Spring Convention

    by Columbia University Pre-College Programs

    • 2027 program

    The CSPA Spring Convention brings student editors and faculty advisers from newspapers, websites, yearbooks, magazines and broadcast outlets to Columbia University's campus in New York for three days. At the 2027 convention, from 17 to 19 March, you choose from more than 220 sessions grouped into sequences by medium. You can also use an on-site critique service, half-day workshops and a student swap shop, and the convention ends with the Crown Awards Convocation on Friday afternoon.

    Facts checked against the official page on 11 Nov 2026 · Editor: Ben StacyBen Stacy · Sources

    At a glance

    Official facts · checked 11 Nov 2026
    DatesOfficial
    2027: 17 to 19 March
    Who can applyOfficial
    Student editors and faculty advisers representing newspapers, websites, yearbooks, magazines, and broadcast media. CSPA membership is not required to attend
    Total costNot published
    The organizer doesn't publish this.
    Format and placeOfficial
    In person, Columbia University, New York
    Length
    3 days
    Included / budget separately
    Not published
    Deposit and refunds
    Not published
    Financial aid
    Not published
    Apply by
    Not published
    Cohort and selectivity
    Not published
    Credit or certificate
    Not published
    Official page
    precollege.sps.columbia.edu/columbia-scholastic-press-association/cspa-spring-convention

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    CSPA Spring Convention

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    Should you apply?

    Succeed

    In short

    A strong pick for students who already help run a school newspaper, yearbook, magazine, website or broadcast, since every sequence is built around that work. Students who don't work on a publication will get much less out of it.

    • Why it's worth it

      All seven sequences run at once, so a newspaper editor and a yearbook designer from the same school can each spend three full days on their own craft, and an on-site critique service and a keynote from Scott Pelley come on top of that.

    • What it asks of you

      Three weekdays in New York, Wednesday to Friday, plus travel for anyone outside the city. The full cost won't be clear until CSPA posts its registration fee.

    • Who should skip it

      Students who want a teacher following their progress, because this is a convention where you pick your own sessions from a large program rather than a class with one instructor.

    How do the three days work?

    The convention runs from Wednesday 17 March to Friday 19 March 2027, and you build your own days from more than 220 sessions. They're grouped into seven sequences that run side by side for all three days: newspaper, online media, yearbook, magazine, video/broadcasting, law and ethics, and advisers. CSPA also lists photography, careers, misinformation and disinformation, and AI among the convention's topics.

    Alongside the sessions there's an on-site critique service, special half-day workshops and a student swap shop where students meet to trade ideas. Everything closes on Friday afternoon with the Crown Awards Convocation, CSPA's ceremony for its Crown Awards for student publications, which only member publications can enter.

    Who speaks at the convention?

    The 2027 keynote comes from Scott Pelley, who spent 37 years at CBS News. He worked there as a war correspondent and a political reporter, served as anchor and managing editor of The CBS Evening News, and was a correspondent at 60 Minutes for 27 years. He's a Journalist in Residence at the Columbia Journalism School for the 2026-2027 academic year.

    Speakers for the 2027 sessions beyond the keynote aren't listed yet. Recordings from earlier CSPA events give a sense of the level, with a panel featuring New York Times managing editor Carolyn Ryan and CNN's Marcus Mabry, moderated by Columbia Journalism Review executive editor Sewell Chan, and a keynote from Richard Gingras, a strategic advisor at Google.

    Who can go?

    CSPA built the convention for student editors and faculty advisers from newspapers, websites, yearbooks, magazines and broadcast outlets, and you don't need CSPA membership to attend. CSPA doesn't give an age or grade requirement or an application process for the convention, and it doesn't say whether students register on their own or through their school. Delegates come representing publications, so your adviser is the natural person to start with.

    What should you do next?

    CSPA says registration for the 17 to 19 March 2027 convention opens at the end of November 2026. Before then, talk with your publication's adviser about who from your staff will go and which sequences you'll each cover. If your publication is a CSPA member for 2026-2027, its $55 membership fee can be used once as a credit toward registration for a CSPA event in that membership year, so ask the CSPA office how to redeem it if it hasn't already been used.
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    Frequently asked questions

    It's run by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, an international student press association founded in 1925 that operates within Columbia University's Pre-College Programs. The convention takes place on Columbia's campus in New York.

    CSPA takes questions by email at cspa@columbia.edu or by phone at (212) 854-9400.

    Sources

    Facts checked against the official page on 11 Nov 2026

    Editor: Ben Stacy

    Succeed has no commercial relationship with Columbia University Pre-College Programs.

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