Judges select Pacemakers based on the following: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, design, photography, art and graphics.

Newspaper Pacemakers are judged in three categories: four-year dailies, four-year non-dailies and two-year papers. Pacemakers are selected by the staff of a professional newspaper in the host city of the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention. Finalists will be notified about one month before the fall convention.

The online publication must be accessible via Internet Web browsers during the months of February and/or March, when the sites will be judged. The site must be produced and maintained primarily by students. Awards will be based on design, ease of navigation, writing and editing, graphics and interactivity. Sites will be judged by non-ACP staff members knowledgeable about design, journalism and interactive media.

Entries in the Reporter of the Year competition consist of a reporter's three best single news or feature stories published in a college newspaper during the competition year. There are separate categories for two-year and four-year schools. Three winners in each category will receive cash prizes of up to $1,000. The four-year competition is co-sponsored by KRT Campus.

ACP's Photo Excellence (formerly Picture of the Year) competition honors student photographers in five categories: news, feature, sports, and fine arts and picture story. The awards are co-sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association. Starting in 2008, entries for Photo Excellence are being accepted online, rather than via mail.

The Design of the Year competition, honoring visual excellence in the college press, is co-sponsored by Adobe Systems. First Place winners receive free Adobe software.

Starting in 2003, the following two ACP contests replaced awards formerly offered by College Media Advisers:

The ACP Cartooning Awards, co-sponsored by Universal Press Syndicate, are open to students at ACP member newspapers in two categories: Editorial Cartoon and Comic Strip/Panel. Universal Press Syndicate has provided a total of $1,000 in prizes for the first-place winners of this contest.

ACP's Advertising Awards honor ad staffs' work at member publications in five categories: display ad, in-house promotional ad, classified page/section, ad/editorial supplement and marketing brochure/rate card. The contest is co-sponsored by Larson Newspapers of Arizona.

Magazines will be judged by professional non-ACP staff persons knowledgeable about magazine production.

Yearbooks will be judged by professional non-ACP staff persons knowledgeable about design, journalism and yearbooks. Each judge will work independently, and the scores will be added to decide the final winners.

The Best of Show competition is held at all conventions and workshops sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press. The number of entries and places awarded may change from year to year, usually corresponding with overall attendance. Only publications and broadcast teams with students in attendance at the convention are eligible to enter the contest. Nonmembers may also enter the competition, in some cases, for an additional fee. Competitiveness varies depending on time of year and the convention location. The competing pool is typically much smaller and distinct from our national contests, such as the Pacemaker. The Best of Show award does not signify a ranking of national excellence, but rather overall excellence among the attendees and entries.

Because it is an onsite contest, the judging process is accelerated. ACP makes every effort to obtain judges of the highest caliber. Customarily, one judge makes the selections for each category. There is no panel and no discussion is allowed. This also makes the judging process for Best of Show very different from our national contests, where a panel may have time for deliberation and debate. Best of Show judges do not provide ACP with comments on winners or other entries. ACP retains the winning entries for future use.

Contest forms are sent with convention registration confirmations or are available at the convention registration desk. Best of Show entries for print publications consist of one issue of a newspaper from the current school year or one copy of a magazine or yearbook from the previous school year.

These awards have either been discontinued or have been replaced by another award.

Previous winners of these awards are linked below.

View the list of Hall of Fame inductees

In 1987, the Associated Collegiate Press established a Hall of Fame for member student publications. Publications can qualify for the ACP Hall of Fame in three ways: if you've earned 10 All-American ratings from our publication critique service within an 11-year span, received a total of 10 national Pacemaker awards since 1970 or received a combination of 15 national Pacemaker and Pacemaker finalist awards since 1970.

Hall of Fame inductees receive a special honor plaque to mark the induction and are added to the ACP Hall of Fame plaques, which are displayed at our annual ACP/CMA National College Media Conventions.

New Hall of Fame inductions are made once a year, in May, and are honored the following fall at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention.

Advisers who believe their publication has achieved Hall of Fame status may apply for the Hall of Fame by writing a letter indicating the name of the publication, information showing the publication meets the induction criteria and publication/adviser contact information. Mail it to ACP Hall of Fame, 2221 University Ave. SE, Suite 121, Minneapolis, MN 55414. The letter must be received by Sept. 15 to be inducted that year and honored at that year's convention.