Call for Entries: 2026 Yearbook Contests

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

The Official Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Site

Call for Entries: 2026 MIPA Yearbook Contests

Call for Entries: 2026 MIPA Yearbook Contests

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To: MIPA Yearbook Advisers
From: Jeremy Steele, MIPA director
Subject:  MIPA Contests for 2026 Yearbooks

As we wind down the school year, don’t forget to prepare your 2026 edition of your yearbook for MIPA contests! Gather your digital files while you still have easy access to them! You can put your students to work helping you organize or even submit entry materials, or save your files in a safe place so you can do it later.

Deadlines

Deadlines for yearbook contests vary. Please carefully review the schedule below.

  • Yearbook individual categories 1-33 (from your 2026 book): Feb. 19, 2027
    • Save 10% off individual contest entry fees when you submit by Nov. 16!
  • Spartan Critique deadline for spring-delivery yearbooks: July 15, 2026
  • Spartan Critique LATE deadline for spring-delivery yearbooks: Aug. 17, 2026
  • Spartan Critique deadline for fall-delivery yearbooks: Nov. 16, 2026
  • Spartan Critique LATE deadline for fall-delivery yearbooks: Dec. 15, 2026

Special Honors

  • Administrator of the Year: July 15
  • John V. Field Award for a friend of scholastic journalism: July 15
  • 2027 Golden Pen Award: Feb. 19, 2027
  • 2027 Student Journalist Staff for outstanding graduating seniors: Feb. 19, 2027
  • 2027 Aspiring Young Journalist for middle school students: Feb. 19, 2027

Judging Day

Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 6, 2027, at Michigan State University

Get Contest Help

MIPA Executive Director Jeremy Steele is available to consult with advisers and small groups of students about entering contests. While Jeremy can’t select entries for you, he can help you through the process of submitting and answer questions about category requirements and submission materials. Advisers can book appointments with Jeremy at https://mipamsu.org/contact-us/meet-with-mipas-executive-director/

Contests Overview

  • Please go https://mipamsu.org/contest-central to get all contest information. You can also find all contest information by clicking on the Contests & Awards menu at MIPA’s website.
  • Award winners will be announced in spring 2027.
  • It’s important to carefully read category descriptions and contest rules. Failure to follow contest directions may result in your entries being disqualified.
  • YOU MUST BE A MIPA MEMBER TO ENTER CONTESTS. Membership information, including a member list that is updated weekly, is available at https://mipamsu.org/membership. Membership in MIPA runs the academic year. We welcome you to renew your membership now for 2026-2027 to secure our lowest membership rate!
  • All entries must be submitted by the deadline to be eligible for awards. Entries submitted electronically must be uploaded using MIPA’s contest submission system by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline day. Books for Spartan Critiques should be be postmarked by the deadline. Payment is due by the same deadline.
  • We are using the same online systems as last year to run contests. Some systems require you to make a new account to submit entries.
  • PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR STUDENTS TO CREATE THEIR OWN ACCOUNTS TO UPLOAD INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY CONTEST ENTRIES! You should have only one account for your media program. It’s OK with us if you allow students to your account to help submit entries.
  • DO NOT RELY ON YOUR CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE TO MAIL CONTEST MATERIALS! It’s best to go to the post office yourself and mail the package! It is too important to you and to your students to risk letting it go through school mail. And to be even more sure (especially if you are mailing it on the deadline day), ask to see the postmark on the package and then get a receipt. We also recommend you get a tracking number.
  • Please keep a copy of each of the forms that you send for your records. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact the MIPA office if you have questions at 517-353-6761 or ask@mipamsu.org.
  • A Cut Above, MIPA’s showcase of first-place contest winners, is available online at http://acutabove.mipamsu.org. This website features first-place winners in each division of previous contests to help you get an idea of what judges are looking for. (We will be updating this site over the summer to add last cycle’s contest winners.)

Solve our most common problems by carefully reading category descriptions!

  • First time entering? Need contest help? Schedule an appointment with MIPA’s executive director!
  • Each year, MIPA’s staff spends many hours trying to fix problems with entries because we don’t want them to be disqualified by judges for simple mistakes. Most problems we run across are because entry instructions were not followed.
  • Carefully check over any entries uploaded into the contest system by students. See the contest how-to guide for information on how to view and edit entries.
  • We recommend that you submit original photos AND the final designed pages for photography categories. It helps judges more accurately determine the quality of an image.
  • Double-check to make sure entries are submitted into the correct category. Entries submitted into the wrong category will be disqualified. You must delete and then resubmit any materials submitted into the wrong category.
  • Some categories (like Headlines, Captions and advertisements) ask for up to 3 different examples of that content to be submitted as one entry. Those examples must be submitted into the same entry form. Material submitted into separate entry forms are counted as their own entries.
  • You can upload files to an entry form or submit a link to entry material via file sharing services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. Make sure any shared files are set to public view or the entry could be disqualified
  • Uploaded files are capped at 100 MB combined per entry. If your files exceed this limit, you can submit them via URL to a website or a shared location on a file service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
  • Please plan ahead so your contest entry fees are processed by the contest deadline. It can take school business offices days to weeks to issue checks or make credit card payments.
  • If an entry is one of several similar items on a page, make sure it is very clear which item should be judged!

Find these materials at mipamsu.org

These are the items you will find at the MIPA website on the contest page. Look for the Contests & Awards menu at the top of the page:

Spartan Critique – July 15 (spring books); Nov. 16 (fall books)*

Your yearbook will be evaluated against MIPA’s standards for excellence. You’ll receive written comments and an award based on your score.

*It is possible to send your Yearbook Spartan entry by the following late deadlines for an additional $40 fee:

  • Spring Yearbook Spartan Late Deadline: Aug. 17, 2026
  • Fall Yearbook Spartan Late Deadline: Dec. 15, 2026 

Spartan submissions postmarked after the late deadline may receive a critique, but will not be eligible to receive an award ranking.

Special Honors

Please consider nominating worthy individuals for the following:

Start planning now to ensure you have students apply for these honors:

  • Student Journalist Staff for outstanding graduating seniors, including All-MIPA scholarships and JEA Student Journalist of the Year-Michigan Representative: http://mipamsu.org/all-mipa-student-journalist-staff/student-journalist-staff-tips/ MIPA’s Student Journalist Staff includes recognition of students for Photojournalism, Yearbook Design and Yearbook Writing! Deadline: Feb. 19, 2027
  • Aspiring Young Journalist, for outstanding students in their final year of middle school. The winner will be submitted for JEA’s national competition to compete against students from other states: https://mipamsu.org/aspiring-young-journalist/ Deadline: Feb. 19, 2027

Students can nominate their teacher for this award:

Individual Category Contests – Feb. 19, 2027

Students’ work will compete head-to-head in one of our 33 yearbook-only categories! (Your program also can enter our Digital Media categories, which includes social media, once those categories are released in the fall.)

ACES – OUR CONTEST SUBMISSION SYSTEM

  • We use the ACES platform – Advanced Contest Entry System – designed by our friends at the Illinois Press Association.
  • Each MIPA member will need to register for an ACES account – even if you had one last year.
  • Before you can create your ACES account, we need information about your yearbook to program into the contest system. Complete this form. You must be logged into MIPA’s website and have a valid membership account to access the form.
  • View video tutorials on how to use the new system in our “how to” guide
  • All categories in our contest use the same fields. Some categories use fields differently, so it’s important to read the instructions for each category.
  • If you can’t find your yearbook program in the pre-programmed list in ACES, please contact the MIPA office before you begin uploading.
  • Programs compete in divisions (sort of like your sports teams) based on the page count of books. Page counts in ACES are represented in the “enrollment” field.
  • If you run into any problems, please contact the MIPA office. We’re happy to help you!

WHAT’S NEW FOR THE 2026 YEARBOOK CONTEST?

Every year, we try to improve MIPA’s contests to keep up with changing technologies and the world of media. We also are constantly working to make the contests easier to enter and manage. Here are some changes for this year’s contest:

GENERAL RULES REVISIONS

  • Rules are unchanged from last year.

NEW CATEGORIES

  • No new yearbook categories.

CATEGORY REVISIONS

  • Y-15. Graphics: The category description and judging criteria were revised to clarify appropriate content for submission.

CATEGORY REVISIONS

  • No yearbook categories were eliminated.