Mission

The Master of Arts in Communication prepares students for future excellence at the Ph.D. level. This degree also prepares students who do not pursue doctoral education for careers in their chosen profession.

Requirements

The program involves a two-year program of study that includes the following elements:

1. Students are required to complete 60 credit hours of course work, plus an additional 12 credit hours of thesis research, in order to graduate.
2. The minimum number of hours for a full-time load for graduate students receiving assistantships and/or scholarships is 12 hours of graduate course work per quarter.
3. During the first year in the program, full-time students take three required communication graduate courses per quarter (nine core required courses). During the second year in the program, students take one content-rotating communication seminar during each quarter. Students also take relevant elective courses outside the communication program during the second year. SEE SAMPLE COURSE SCHEDULE BELOW.
4. All students complete a Masters Thesis, an independently developed and executed research project. The thesis can involve a variety of approaches and methods, including experimental, observation/participation, fieldwork, or critical-textual.
5. The Department assigns a faculty member to serve as an advisor for each first-year student. Students are responsible for identifying a faculty member in the Department who will serve as their thesis adviser, and for forming a thesis committee that includes the adviser and two additional faculty members.
6. The Department provides two years of funding for students who receive a graduate assistantship position when admitted to the program.

Sample Schedule