By The Student Press Report News Desk Main Facts Every Monday evening just before 7 p.m., Elias Kemp makes his familiar walk to The Colby Echo newsroom in Waterville, Maine. As a senior and co-editor-in-chief of the independent student newspaper, Kemp settles in for a grueling, multi-hour editing marathon. In the United States, roughly 1,100 college newspapers operate on campuses nationwide. Yet, fewer than half of these publications are backed by academic journalism departments or degree programs. According to data from U.S. News & World Report, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the Association for Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC), only 120 to 450 institutions nationwide offer formal journalism curricula or accreditation. Some of the most prominent, decorated student media operations in the country—including UCLA’s Daily Bruin, The Michigan Daily, The Harvard Crimson, The Cornell Daily Sun, The Chicago Maroon, and The Colby Echo—operate entirely within universities that lack formal journalism education programs. At Colby College, a small, elite liberal arts institution with a student body of roughly 2,400, The Echo has no journalism majors or minors on its staff. Most contributors have never even taken a single class on the subject. Despite this complete absence of formal academic instruction, Kemp and his peers consistently produce, edit, and print a comprehensive weekly newspaper entirely through trial, error, and sheer self-motivation. Chronology of the Campus Press: Trial by Fire The trajectory of a student journalist at a non-journalism school is rarely linear. For many, entry into the newsroom is sparked by sudden, high-intensity campus events rather than academic planning. The Freshman Awakening: Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon entered the University of Chicago intending to study history and education. He joined The Chicago Maroon strictly as a freshman photographer, with zero background or interest in reporting. The Spring 2024 Protests: Pro-Palestine encampments and campus activism erupted across the United States in the spring of 2024, mirroring similar seismic events at Vanderbilt University, Columbia, and beyond. At the University of Chicago, Rodwell-Simon spent grueling 16-hour days capturing the unrest through his camera lens. The Pivot to Reporting: Recognizing his deep institutional knowledge of the unfolding protests, Maroon editors urged Rodwell-Simon to begin writing news updates. Overnight, a photographer with no journalism training transitioned into a frontline campus reporter. By March 2026, his assignments expanded to photographing the Oval Office of the White House and covering high-profile campus events, such as a visit from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Leadership Under Pressure: At Vanderbilt University, Jorie Fawcett took the helm of The Hustler in the spring semester of her junior year. She was immediately thrust into the chaos of campus unrest, which included a high-profile sit-in at Kirkland Hall that resulted in three arrests. Having already spent two and a half years working her way up through the paper, Fawcett relied on instinctive crisis management, logging months of sleep-deprived labor to keep the independent publication running. Supporting Data: The Landscape of Higher Education Journalism The numerical reality of American higher education highlights a stark disconnect between where journalism is taught academically and where robust student journalism is practiced. Total Publications: Approximately 1,100 student newspapers operate across American college campuses. Academic Programs: U.S. News & World Report lists roughly 330 schools offering a journalism major. The National Center for Education Statistics cites approximately 450 institutions. Accreditation: Only about 120 journalism programs nationwide hold official ACEJMC accreditation. Elite Benchmarks: Institutions famed for producing legendary journalists—including Harvard, UCLA, Michigan, and Cornell—do not maintain standalone undergraduate journalism schools. Staff Capacities: At schools like The Davidsonian at Davidson College, small staffs of roughly six staff writers and 15 editors handle the immense burden of producing a weekly print edition, severely limiting their bandwidth for long-form investigative journalism or large-scale digital projects. Conversely, larger papers like Vanderbilt’s The Hustler manage sprawling staffs numbering around 300 students, creating a massive administrative and editorial oversight challenge for student leaders. Official Responses and Perspectives from the Newsroom Student editors, reporters, and academic observers offer mixed feelings regarding the lack of formal training programs on their campuses, weighing the operational hurdles against the distinct advantages of unbridled independence. The Hurdle of Institutional Memory Without professors to establish standardized practices, student-run papers often struggle with institutional lineage. Jorie Fawcett, the 2024 editor-in-chief of The Hustler, often found herself unable to answer basic process questions from incoming writers. "I never really knew the answer," Fawcett admitted. "Because someone had just told me that that’s how we do it, and then I was passing that along… It was just replication." Similarly, Aidan Marks, the former editor-in-chief of The Davidsonian, noted that his small liberal arts staff often felt "ill-equipped to navigate ethical dilemmas" without direct faculty oversight. Marks relied heavily on his own research and high school media experiences to guide his editorial decisions. To fill these gaps, student leaders frequently keep alumni editors on "speed dial" for crisis consulting. The Value of Professional Mentorship The scarcity of classroom guidance makes external exposure exceptionally valuable. Hailey Weiner, news editor for The Hustler, interned with The Atlanta Press Club, finding immense relief in professional oversight. She noted that she is one of very few students at her paper with professional journalism experience, as only a small fraction of Hustler alumni enter the field professionally. The Power of Self-Taught Resilience Despite these hurdles, student journalists emphasize that the craft is fundamentally experiential. "With enough attention and self-motivation, you can teach yourself how to become a decent journalist," said Elias Kemp. Kemp learned the core tenets of reporting through practical application and foundational reading, such as William Zinsser’s classic guide, On Writing Well. Hailey Weiner echoed this sentiment: "Journalism is a job that you can only learn with experience." Implications: A Lower Barrier to Entry and Civic Pride The absence of a journalism department is not merely a logistical hurdle; it profoundly alters the makeup and culture of campus newsrooms. Lower Barriers, Greater Representation At universities with prestigious, pre-professional journalism programs—such as Northwestern University, the University of Missouri, or Arizona State University—student media outlets are frequently dominated by pre-vetted journalism majors. For undergraduates at schools without these programs, the intimidation factor is significantly diminished. Elias Kemp noted that he likely would have lacked the confidence to apply to The Colby Echo as a freshman if he felt he was competing against formally trained journalism students. This low academic barrier to entry has a democratizing effect, attracting students from diverse academic disciplines—philosophy, history, education, and the sciences. "If the goal of The Colby Echo is to be an echo of the campus community, you have the campus community in larger numbers and more representative numbers on the Echo staff simply because there’s a lower academic barrier to entry," Kemp explained. For the Love of the Game The personal sacrifices required to run these operations are immense. Kemp routinely walks back to his dorm at 11 p.m. on production nights, sacrificing time that could otherwise be dedicated to his philosophy major, job applications, or socializing during his senior year. The small financial stipends provided by independent papers pale in comparison to hourly wages in standard employment. Yet, the driving force behind these students is a deep-seated civic duty and passion for their communities. Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon noted that his time at The Maroon cemented his love for producing impactful journalism, keeping the field at the top of his career considerations despite broader industry uncertainties. Ultimately, the immediate and visible impact of student reporting on campus life serves as a powerful motivator. As Hailey Weiner observed: "People here have a lot of drive, civic drive. Journalism is a career that you can… see your results kind of immediately, and how they manifest in your community. Hearing people talk about your articles, seeing [the university] make decisions based off of something that you published, doing research on something… and then bringing it to light. I think that really motivates people." 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