Since 1960, the overall ranking of the top schools in the writing category has been recognized. As the program grew to include photojournalism and broadcast news, cash prizes were granted to the intercollegiate competitions in 1990, giving journalism schools a higher financial stake in the collective success of their students.

The Intercollegiate Competitions award prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 to the top three universities in each division - writing, photojournalism and broadcast journalism - for a total of $52,500. Medallions are also awarded to the top ten schools in each category.

The accumulated points earned by individual students in the monthly writing, photojournalism and broadcast news competitions determine these Intercollegiate rankings. The winners are those schools whose students have earned the highest total points in each division. The Overall Intercollegiate winners are those schools whose students have earned the highest accumulated points in the writing, photojournalism, broadcast news and multimedia competitions.