The Pinnacle Awards are CMA’s flagship national honors, recognizing the best student work in collegiate journalism, media production and organizational excellence. Winners are selected by a panel of experienced media professors and educators. The 2025 Pinnacle Awards were presented at MediaFest25, October 16-18, 2025 in Washington, D.C. This year, we had a total of 3,358 entries and 1,165 finalists across 8 categories.

We know how much work goes into producing student media that is meaningful to our communities, and we commend everyone for putting in the time and effort it takes to submit contest entries this year. A complete list of finalists can be viewed here.