Television Academy Foundation Reveals Nominees For The 45th College Television Awards

The Television Academy Foundation has announced nominees for the 45th College Television Awards, honoring student-produced programs from colleges and universities nationwide. The Foundation also revealed the recipients of the $10,000 Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award and introduced the inaugural Chance Perdomo Legacy Scholarship, which will award $10,000 to the winning team in the Comedy Series category. This year’s competition includes a new Scripted Series category exclusively for graduate students.

Twenty-four programs were nominated from 186 submissions representing 44 colleges across the United States. Entries were evaluated by Television Academy members using criteria consistent with industry standards of excellence, imagination, and innovation. “The College Television Awards celebrate the extraordinary creativity and talent emerging from campuses across the country,” said Tina Perry, chair of the Television Academy Foundation. “With nominees selected by Television Academy members, these honors not only recognize excellence in student-produced content but also offer aspiring professionals invaluable exposure and connections within the Hollywood creative community and a meaningful step toward building lasting careers in entertainment.”

The Chance Perdomo Legacy Scholarship was created by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios in memory of actor Chance Perdomo, who died in 2024. The award honors his legacy by supporting students creating new comedic work. Winners across all categories will receive trophies and more than $45,000 in cash prizes, presented by television performers at the awards ceremony on March 28, 2026, in North Hollywood. Categories for this year's awards include Animation Series, Comedy Series, Commercial/PSA/Promo, Drama Series, News, Nonfiction Series, Scripted Series, Sports, and the Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award.

Student nominees in the Animation Series category include Beautify from Ringling College of Art and Design, Blooky: The Book Who Wanted to be Read from the University of Southern California, and Love & Gold from Brigham Young University. Comedy Series nominees receiving consideration for the Chance Perdomo Legacy Scholarship include Dandelion from the American Film Institute, Rex from Florida State University, and Thanksgiving from Brigham Young University. Additional nominees include projects from Brigham Young University in the Commercial, PSA or Promo category; Biola University, Savannah College of Art and Design, and the American Film Institute in Drama Series; Montclair State University, the University of Miami, and Montclair State University again in News; and the Savannah College of Art and Design, University of California Berkeley, and New York University in Nonfiction Series. Scripted Series nominees include ¡Que Suene La Banda! from the University of California, Los Angeles; Patakha from the American Film Institute; and Trife from the University of Southern California. Sports nominees include productions from Arizona State University and the University of Miami.

The $10,000 Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award was presented to Savannah College of Art and Design students Danzheng Chen and Yangshiyi Liu for their project Step Forward. The animated film follows a character named Ollie, who confronts despair after losing his leg in a car accident. Guided by visions within a magical dream world, he navigates internal challenges and discovers the personal agency required to begin anew. Loreen Arbus, a two-time Emmy nominee and the first woman to lead programming for a U.S. network, established the award through The Loreen Arbus Foundation. This year marks the fourteenth presentation of the honor, which supports emerging artists and projects exploring disability themes.

The Seymour Bricker Humanitarian Award, offering a $4,000 cash prize to a project highlighting a humanitarian issue, will be announced during THE MARCH ceremony. In addition to the awards presentation, nominees will participate in three days of professional development events from March 26–28, including industry panels and a special screening of their work for Television Academy members.

Tickets for the 45th College Television Awards ceremony are priced at $25 for students with ID and $50 for general admission and are available at TelevisionAcademy.com/cta/tickets. Winners will be announced by celebrity presenters at the Academy's North Hollywood campus on March 28, 2026.

The Foundation has formed a College Television Awards Honorary Committee composed of artists who will serve as ambassadors for the program and as jury members for the Seymour Bricker Humanitarian Award. Members of the 2026 committee include Carlacia Grant, Timothy Omundson, Chris Perfetti, Melissa Peterman, and Rebecca Wisocky, working alongside the Foundation’s board of directors.