From the Newsroom to the Campus, IPB Opens the Way for Journalists to Earn a Master's Degree

JAKARTA - IPB University opens a Journalist Scholarship program for the master's degree (S2) as an effort to improve the quality of human resources in the field of science-based journalism and public communication as well as sustainable development. This program offers an opportunity for media personnel to continue their postgraduate education through a full or partial scholarship scheme.

The Rector of IPB University, Dr. Alim Setiawan Slamet, said the program was part of strengthening national capacity through collaboration between universities and media.

"IPB University believes that quality information is the foundation for an intelligent, democratic, and globally competitive society," said Alim in a soft launch with the editorial leaders of national media at IPB Baranangsiang, Bogor City, Monday, May 25.

According to Alim, this program is designed with a flexible, collaborative, and sustainable learning system so that it is relevant to the challenges of the media world and future development.

Through this program, IPB hopes to produce graduates who are able to become public communicators, media managers, and journalists who are adaptive to technological developments and digital information disruptions.

IPB also assesses that collaboration between campuses and media is a strategic step to strengthen a healthy, independent, and responsible public communication ecosystem.

The IPB Journalist Scholarship Program provides 10 master study programs, namely Communication for Agricultural and Rural Development, Digital Communication and Media, Natural Resources and Environmental Management Science, Small and Medium Industry Development, Agro-Maritime Logistics, Applied Climatology, Regional Development Management, Management Science, Resource and Environmental Economics, and Management and Business.

Several study programs are said to be the favorite of prospective participants, especially Business Management and Communication Science for Development and Environment.

In the selection process, journalistic experience is one of the main aspects considered. The organizers said that the seniority and work experience of journalists were important so that the students who were accepted had a strong journalistic track record.

In addition to work experience, the background of education and accreditation of the origin campus is also a concern. Certification of journalist competence is said to be an added value when the number of applicants is crowded with relatively equivalent quality.

VOI.ID Editor-in-Chief, Iqbal Irsyad, who was also present, appreciated the steps of IPB University which opened a special postgraduate education space for journalists. According to him, this program is a breath of fresh air for the national journalism world, which is currently facing major challenges in the digital era.

"Programs like this are very important because today's journalists are required not only to quickly convey information, but also to be able to understand issues in depth, data-based, and have a strong academic perspective," said Iqbal Irsyad.

Iqbal assessed that increasing the capacity of journalists through formal education can strengthen the quality of journalistic products as well as increase the resilience of the media in the face of information and disinformation floods in the digital space.

According to him, journalists need a learning space that is able to bring together journalistic practices with the development of science, technology, communication, and environmental issues and sustainable development.

"Collaboration between campuses and media is an important need today. Journalists must continue to learn so as not to be left behind by changes in technology, artificial intelligence, and the rapidly changing patterns of public information consumption," he said.

This program is also expected to be able to strengthen national information resilience through the formation of human resources who have the ability to face the challenges of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda in the digital era.

The registration for the IPB Journalist Scholarship is open until June 19, 2026 through the official IPB University admission portal. The selection process is carried out online starting from the administrative stage, examination, to interview.