Return to: School of Journalism and Mass Communications

The M.A. is a traditional academic program involving a minimum of 24 semester hours of course work plus a 6-hour thesis, for a minimum of 30 graduate hours. The thesis, an extensive and well-documented research paper, is designed to demonstrate that the student is capable of independent research on a meaningful topic under the supervision of a faculty committee. A minimum of 21 hours must be earned in graduate-level journalism and mass communications courses, including the basic M.A. core listed below. With the approval of the faculty advisor, the M.A. student may take 9 semester hours of course work outside the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The M.A. degree is especially appropriate for those students with extensive professional experience in journalism and mass communications who are interested in teaching and/or research careers in mass communication and those who may want to pursue a doctorate.