The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1988.
| Public service | The Charlotte Observer | "For revealing misuse of funds by the PTL television ministry" |
| General news reporting | Staff of Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Massachusetts | "For an investigation that revealed serious flaws in the Massachusetts prison furlough system and led to significant statewide reforms." |
| Investigative reporting | Staff of Alabama Journal, Montgomery, Alabama | "For its compelling investigation of the state's unusually high infant-mortality rate, which prompted legislation to combat the problem." |
| Investigative reporting | Dean Baquet, William Gaines and Ann Marie Lipinski of the Chicago Tribune | "For their detailed reporting on the self-interest and waste that plague Chicago's City Council." |
| Explanatory reporting | Daniel Hertzberg and James B. Stewart of The Wall Street Journal | "For their stories about an investment banker charged with insider trading and the critical day that followed the October 19, 1987, stock market crash." |
| Specialized Reporting | Walt Bogdanich of The Wall Street Journal | "For his chilling series of reports on faulty testing by American medical laboratories." |
| National reporting | Tim Weiner of The Philadelphia Inquirer | "For his series of reports on a secret Pentagon budget used by the government to sponsor defense research and an arms buildup." |
| International reporting | Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times | "For balanced and informed coverage of Israel." |
| Feature writing | Jacqui Banaszynski of St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch | "For her moving series about the life and death of an AIDS victim in a rural farm community." |
| Commentary | Dave Barry of The Miami Herald | "For his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns." |
| Criticism | Tom Shales of The Washington Post | "For his television criticism." |
| Editorial writing | Jane Healy of Orlando Sentinel | "For her series of editorials protesting overdevelopment of Florida's Orange County." |
| Editorial cartooning | Doug Marlette of Atlanta Constitution and The Charlotte Observer | |
| Spot news photography | Scott Shaw of Odessa American | "For his photograph of the child Jessica McClure being rescued from the well into which she had fallen." |
| Feature photography | Michel du Cille of The Miami Herald | "For photographs portraying the decay and subsequent rehabilitation of a housing project overrun by the drug crack." |
| Fiction | Beloved by Toni Morrison (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| Drama | Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry (TCG) |
| History | The Launching of Modern American Science 1846-1876 by Robert V. Bruce (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| Biography or autobiography | Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe by David Herbert Donald (Little) |
| Poetry | Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems by William Meredith (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| General non-fiction | The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (Simon & Schuster) |
| Music | 12 New Etudes for Piano by William Bolcom (Edward B. Marks) Premiered March 30, 1987, by Marc-Andre Hamelin. |