The Collier Prize for State Government Accountability is an annual American journalism award established in 2019 by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The prize recognizes outstanding investigative and political reporting focused on state government accountability and is presented at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
History The prize was created to encourage in-depth coverage of state government after Nathan S. Collier, a descendant of Peter Fenelon Collier, founder of Collier’s Weekly, initiated an annual donation to the University. Each year, the Collier Prize awards first, second, and third place honors to journalistic works that exemplify excellence in state government reporting. First prize is $25,000, second is $5,000 and third is $2,500. Entries are accepted from all professional news organizations, regardless of platform or medium, including print, digital, broadcast and radio outlets.
In 2024, Nathan Collier made an $8 million gift to the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications to permanently endow the prize and establish an annual symposium on state government-related accountability journalism.
The journalism prize is administered by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, with oversight from an appointed director. Winners YearWinnerWinning project/workDescription2026KARE 11Housing HustleInvestigation into Medicare fraud scheme within Minnesota's Housing Stabilization. 2025Associated PressPrison to Plate: Profiting Off America’s Captive WorkforceInvestigation into the prison labor industrial complex. 2024The Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and FrontlineUnpreparedInvestigation into the law-enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting2023Los Angeles TimesBlack Men Get Brunt Of State Bar’s DisciplineInvestigation into the State Bar of California to regulate and enforce the integrity of lawyers in the state. 2022Miami Herald and ProPublicaBirth & BetrayalInvestigation into Florida's oversight of children who suffered catastrophic brain injuries at birth. 2021The Marshall Project and Mississippi TodayMississippi Penal System, UncoveredInvestigation into violence, financial improprieties, and debtors' prisons within the Mississippi penal system. 2020The OregonianPolluted by MoneyInvestigation into unlimited campaign contributions and oversight of political spending in Oregon.
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