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2026 Bateman Case Study Competition

Enhance Your Education

The Bateman Case Study Competition is PRSSA’s premier national case study competition for public relations students and gives you an opportunity to apply your classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full public relations campaign.

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First established as the National Case Study in 1973 and later renamed to honor the late J. Carroll Bateman, APR, it challenges teams of students to research, plan, implement and evaluate a public relations campaign for an actual client. More than 75 teams enter the competition each year, giving students real-world experience that can translate to résumé additions, portfolio pieces and even jobs. After an extensive judging process, three finalists are chosen to present their campaigns to the sponsor, who receives the right to ideas presented. If your company is interested in enhancing the educational experience of public relations students while also benefitting from their hard work, knowledge and resources, find out more about becoming a Competition sponsor.

2026 Competition

Students are challenged to develop a campaign on behalf of ACCESS Newswire for this Bateman Competition. ACCESS Newswire’s mission is to reinvigorate and refresh the outlook on the world of communications by letting our customers inspire our thinking and innovation. 

The Competition will focus on the new ACCESS Newswire educational program which allows college professors access to the platform free of charge, giving students hands-on experience with press release distribution, media pitching, and coverage tracking across every channel. The main goals of this campaign will be to drive adoption of ACCESS Newswire’s platform by professors nationwide, integrating it into their teaching curriculum to train students in essential PR and media skills and to increase brand awareness among universities as institutions, highlighting ACCESS Newswire as a trusted partner for their own news distribution, media services, and newsroom needs.

Competition Results

PRSSA Headquarters received 46 entries for the Bateman Competition. Of these submissions, eleven entries received honorable mentions and three were chosen as finalists to present their campaigns to a panel of judges on May 7. The results are below.

Finalists

  • Texas State University AdvoCats - 1st Place (summary)
  • Montclair State University - 2nd Place (summary)
  • Texas State University StarCats - 3rd Place (summary)

Honorable Mentions

  • Brigham Young University - Navy Team
  • California State University, Long Beach
  • Elon University
  • High Point University
  • Kent State University Gold
  • Louisiana State University
  • Loyola University New Orleans
  • University of Florida CommuniGATORS
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • University of Oklahoma Gaylord College
  • University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Competition Materials

Client Materials