15 Best Online Media Communications Degree Bachelor’s Programs

One of the biggest cor­ner­stones of a func­tion­ing democ­ra­cy is its media; there’s a rea­son ear­ly social the­o­rists made the press equiv­a­lent to the church, the state, and the peo­ple in impor­tance. Because of this, many schools have ded­i­cat­ed degree pro­grams for study­ing media and com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Today, media com­mu­ni­ca­tions is larg­er and more com­plex than any­one with a print­ing press could have pos­si­bly imag­ined. In the era of the Inter­net, media has more pow­er of influ­ence and cul­tur­al change than ever. And for those who want to be a part of it, a career in media and com­mu­ni­ca­tions can start with an online bachelor’s degree.

A large job mar­ket has sprung up due to the advent of new­er forms of media. Employ­ers and entre­pre­neurs are look­ing to hire experts who are able to eas­i­ly nav­i­gate var­i­ous forms of media in order to grow in suc­cess. Many already work­ing in the field, or who want to make a career change, can turn to an online bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­gram to earn the cre­den­tials they need. Online pro­grams pro­vide con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty, but they also pro­vide the oppor­tu­ni­ty to put new ideas into prac­tice right away in your cur­rent job. For media com­mu­ni­ca­tions pro­fes­sion­als look­ing for a leg up on their job mar­ket com­pe­ti­tion, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter has ranked the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­grams in the US.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Online Communications Degree Programs

To rank the top com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree online pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter start­ed with a com­pre­hen­sive list of all the accred­it­ed, rep­utable media com­mu­ni­ca­tions pro­grams cur­rent­ly offered in a ful­ly online or hybrid for­mat. From there, we ranked pro­grams accord­ing to five equal­ly-weight­ed fac­tors: Cost, Grad­u­a­tion Rate, Job Mar­ket Suc­cess, Rep­u­ta­tion, and Salary. For our data, we used infor­ma­tion from Col­lege Score­card, IPEDS, and Niche. These five cri­te­ria help stu­dents rec­og­nize pro­grams for their qual­i­ty across the board, from afford­abil­i­ty to career impact and return on investment.

1. Arizona State University

From the Walk­er Cronkite School of Jour­nal­ism, stu­dents can earn their online BA in Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media Stud­ies at Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty. Stu­dents study with Pulitzer Prize-win­ning pro­fes­sors and thought lead­ers in the field of com­mu­ni­ca­tions. The pro­gram strives to devel­op each stu­den­t’s under­stand­ing of the role media plays in soci­ety, as well as, its abil­i­ty to influ­ence polit­i­cal and social opin­ion. Stu­dents study media’s impact on race, cul­ture, and legal issues. Spe­cial­ties such as polit­i­cal com­mu­ni­ca­tions and social media add to the broad applic­a­bil­i­ty of this pro­gram. This is a great way to get an online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree.

ASU has been iden­ti­fied by the US News & World Report as the nation’s most inno­v­a­tive school. Stu­dents are giv­en access to influ­en­tial pro­fes­sion­als in the field and the school encour­ages hands-on engage­ment. Through their pro­grams, they grad­u­ate over 20,000 stu­dents each year. The Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tions and Media Stud­ies pro­gram has won numer­ous acco­lades such as the ‘Mark of Excel­lence’ from the Soci­ety of Pro­fes­sion­al Jour­nal­ists. ASU is nation­al­ly ranked and rec­og­nized as an insti­tu­tion turn­ing out high­ly qual­i­fied pro­fes­sion­als with the crit­i­cal think­ing skills the indus­try needs.

Degree: BA Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media Studies

2. CSU Global

The online BS in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion at Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al gives stu­dents the abil­i­ty to per­son­al­ize their course of study so that it meets their spe­cif­ic needs. CSU Glob­al pro­vides every stu­dent sup­port ser­vice to enhance their learn­ing expe­ri­ence. Exam­ples include tutor­ing, an online library, and tech­ni­cal sup­port. Their online career sup­port cen­ter helps stu­dents to explore their career options pri­or to and when they enter the job mar­ket. The Writ­ing Cen­ter is avail­able to pro­vide feed­back and guid­ance for stu­dents. Get­ting a com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree online has nev­er been easier.

As the first ful­ly online cam­pus of a major pub­lic research sys­tem, CSU Glob­al knows the needs of online stu­dents. CSU Glob­al draws on each student’s cur­rent knowl­edge base and pri­or pro­fes­sion­al expe­ri­ence, then works with cur­rent goals and life sit­u­a­tions to devel­op a cur­ricu­lum that meets their needs. As it is an online uni­ver­si­ty, all pro­grams are con­tin­u­al­ly assessed so that they remain cur­rent in a com­pet­i­tive mar­ket­place with rapid­ly chang­ing tech­nol­o­gy and indus­try stan­dards. They also have mil­i­tary and vet­er­an-spe­cif­ic fee dis­counts to sup­port their learn­ing experience.

Degree: BS in Communication

3. DePaul University

With DePaul University’s online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media — a col­lab­o­ra­tion between the Col­lege of Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and the School of Cin­e­mat­ic Arts — stu­dents have course­work rel­e­vant to all areas of com­mu­ni­ca­tions and media. This includes jour­nal­ism, dig­i­tal cin­e­ma, and tech­nol­o­gy in media. The school seeks stu­dents who have a broad range of inter­ests and curios­i­ty so the course offer­ings include adver­tis­ing, pub­lic rela­tions, and orga­ni­za­tion­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion. This pre­pares stu­dents for career paths whether they go into main­stream media pro­duc­tion, gov­ern­ment, or media rela­tions. In addi­tion to more tra­di­tion­al cours­es such as media and cul­ture, they also offer more spe­cial­ized course­work such as Latin Amer­i­can tele­vi­sion, sto­ry­telling through screen­writ­ing, pub­lic speak­ing, and doc­u­men­tary stud­ies. This is viewed as one of the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree programs.

DePaul is ranked nation­al­ly for their pro­grams. US News & World Report named them one of the Best Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ties and one of the Most Inno­v­a­tive Uni­ver­si­ties. The Prince­ton Review called the uni­ver­si­ty one of the Best Mid­west­ern Col­leges in the US. They were named one of the Best Val­ue Col­leges by Forbes. They have also been rec­og­nized for diver­si­ty. Stu­dents have access to thought lead­ers in their field. The recog­ni­tion for var­i­ous pro­grams with­in the uni­ver­si­ty attests to that assessment.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media

4. Bellevue University

The online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Stud­ies at Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty offers cours­es in com­mu­ni­ca­tion the­o­ry, busi­ness com­mu­ni­ca­tion, as well as, work that devel­ops the skillsets required by tra­di­tion­al media, inter­cul­tur­al skills, and lead­er­ship. This pre­pares stu­dents to enter pub­lic rela­tions, jour­nal­ism, and any oth­er dig­i­tal media fields. Their phi­los­o­phy is that stu­dents need a sol­id foun­da­tion in the­o­ry cou­pled with the demands of emerg­ing tech­no­log­i­cal stan­dards. This pre­pares them to enter the field and adapt in a chang­ing world. Pro­fes­sors are all estab­lished, expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­als in their own right so they are able to guide stu­dents and help them under­stand the basic tenets of com­mu­ni­ca­tion and media, as well as, the more advanced top­ics. For an online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree, this is very important.

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty is accred­it­ed by a region­al accred­i­ta­tion agency, the High­er Learn­ing Com­mis­sion. Rec­og­nized by the US Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion, the uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized for the high qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion­al ser­vices while stay­ing afford­able. Beyond its insti­tu­tion­al accred­i­ta­tion, the uni­ver­si­ty also has sev­er­al spe­cial­ty accred­i­ta­tions that assure stu­dents of the qual­i­ty and val­ue of Bellevue’s online degrees.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Studies

5. Florida International University

Stu­dents study­ing for a BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Arts at Flori­da Inter­na­tion­al Uni­ver­si­ty devel­op a sol­id foun­da­tion in com­mu­ni­ca­tion the­o­ry and prac­tice. This equips stu­dents to go into fields such as tra­di­tion­al media and serve with­in the com­mu­ni­ca­tions depart­ments in cor­po­ra­tions, gov­ern­ment or non­prof­its. One aspect that sets this uni­ver­si­ty apart is that every stu­dent has a per­son­al suc­cess coach to guide them through their cho­sen course of study. The pro­grams are all designed to be very flex­i­ble and afford­able to sup­port stu­dents. They also pro­vide train­ing in a num­ber of in-demand skills such as con­flict res­o­lu­tion, cri­sis man­age­ment, and team build­ing. For its ver­sa­til­i­ty, this is one of the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degrees.

FIU recruits high­ly qual­i­fied pro­fes­sion­als in their field. They are acces­si­ble to stu­dents and known for their atten­tion to stu­dents’ edu­ca­tion. The uni­ver­si­ty is accred­it­ed by the South­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Col­leges and Schools Com­mis­sion on Col­leges. They also have a num­ber of spe­cial­ty accred­i­ta­tions for the busi­ness school, nurs­ing school, health­care man­age­ment edu­ca­tion, and pub­lic health pro­grams. Their school of jour­nal­ism and mass com­mu­ni­ca­tion is accred­it­ed by the Coun­cil on Edu­ca­tion in Jour­nal­ism and Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion. US News & World Report has ranked the uni­ver­si­ty as one of the best pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties in the US.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Arts

6. SUNY Oswego

SUNY Oswego’s online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­gram offers two options: BA in Broad­cast­ing and Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion or a BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Social Inter­ac­tion. Both degree pro­grams pro­vide a strong foun­da­tion in com­mu­ni­ca­tions the­o­ry and media. What sets these pro­grams apart is that stu­dents par­tic­i­pate in ongo­ing intern­ships at the cam­pus radio sta­tion (WNYO) or its TV sta­tion (WTOP). Stu­dents have also interned at all of the major net­works (ABC, CBS, NBC, MTV, ESPN), as well as the local Nation­al Pub­lic Radio affil­i­ate. For stu­dents more inter­est­ed in film, their POV pro­gram takes stu­dents on an edu­ca­tion­al explo­ration of the Hol­ly­wood Film industry.

Since 1861, SUNY Oswego has been serv­ing stu­dents. The aver­age class size is 24:1 mak­ing it an inti­mate learn­ing envi­ron­ment. Nine­ty-five per­cent of grad­u­ates are employed fol­low­ing grad­u­a­tion with 91% work­ing in their cho­sen field. In 2019, US News & World Report names them one of the top 15 pub­lic Region­al Uni­ver­si­ties in the North. They also named them as one of the top 10 among Best Val­ue Schools in the North.

Degree: BA in Broad­cast­ing and Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion
BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Social Interaction

7. Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty’s online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for today’s mod­ern com­mu­ni­ca­tions careers. Cours­es have two focus areas stu­dents can pur­sue: oral com­mu­ni­ca­tions or mass com­mu­ni­ca­tions. There is an option to inte­grate both areas. The school believes that stu­dents need a sol­id edu­ca­tion in the human­i­ties for a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ence. Beyond the required course­work and the cap­stone class­es, stu­dents can tai­lor their degree pro­gram to meet their future goals. These elec­tives can range from broad­cast­ing and cable pro­duc­tion, cin­e­ma the­o­ry and radio pro­duc­tion. This is a flex­i­ble option for a com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree online.

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the pre­mier col­leges in New Jer­sey. Char­tered in 1972, they have a sig­nif­i­cant stu­dent sat­is­fac­tion out­come with 95% of recent grad­u­ates giv­ing the insti­tu­tion an ‘excel­lent’ or ‘good’ rat­ing. This is also true amount alum­ni with­in the past five years. With an enroll­ment of 17,000 stu­dents both on-cam­pus and online, they have grad­u­at­ed over 56,000 stu­dents. Most of their stu­dents are old­er. They are either fur­ther­ing their edu­ca­tion or going back to get a degree.

Degree: BA in Communications

8. Loyola University New Orleans

For a BA in Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tion, Loy­ola Uni­ver­si­ty New Orleans stu­dents have the option to spe­cial­ize in broad­cast, adver­tis­ing, pub­lic rela­tions, visu­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and both print and online media. While stu­dents devel­op a sol­id foun­da­tion in com­mu­ni­ca­tions and media the­o­ry, they also have numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties to engage in one on one and hands-on learn­ing sit­u­a­tions. Through their time with the school, stu­dents build a port­fo­lio of their work and edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ences that help them when they are start­ing out in the pro­fes­sion. Stu­dents can spe­cial­ize in sev­er­al areas but two dis­tinc­tive pro­grams make the school stand out. The con­cen­tra­tion on sports pro­mo­tion, social media strate­gies, and the Brand Lab sets stu­dents apart from oth­er recent grad­u­ates. For an online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree, Loy­ola has sev­er­al inter­est­ing options for students.

Loy­ola is a pri­vate, Jesuit uni­ver­si­ty found­ed in 1904. Loy­ola is well known for their qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion offer­ings. In 2015–2016, they were rec­og­nized for pro­duc­ing the high­est lev­el of Ful­bright schol­ars. US News has ranked them one of the most diverse uni­ver­si­ties in the US, one of the best region­al uni­ver­si­ties in the south, and a best val­ue. These are just a few. Fiske Guide to Col­leges rec­og­nized Loy­ola for the access stu­dents have with fac­ul­ty, small class size, high amount of col­lab­o­ra­tive work and chal­leng­ing aca­d­e­m­ic coursework.

Degree: BA in Mass Communication

9. University of Texas of the Permian Basin

Stu­dents in the online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas of the Per­mi­an Basin have access to world-class pro­fes­sors while keep­ing it flex­i­ble and afford­able. Anoth­er unique aspect of the pro­gram is that there are six dif­fer­ent start dates stu­dents can choose from. The fac­ul­ty designs online course­work to be as demand­ing as the cam­pus ver­sion. Fol­low­ing the required com­mu­ni­ca­tions and media the­o­ry class­es, stu­dents are avail­able to tai­lor their elec­tive toward their spe­cif­ic area of inter­est such as print ver­sus broad­cast jour­nal­ism. The flex­i­ble course sched­ule and afford­able cost make this the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree for busy professionals.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas is well known for the qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion they pro­vide. At the provider of the online edu­ca­tion sys­tem, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas of the Per­mi­an Basin has estab­lished itself as a leader in the field. In their 45-year his­to­ry, there have been many acco­lades. US News & World Report ranked them among the region’s best online edu­ca­tors, par­tic­u­lar­ly for their online bachelor’s programs.

Degree: BA in Communication

10. University of Memphis

The Col­lege of Com­mu­ni­ca­tions and Fine Art pro­vides stu­dents with the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mem­phis BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Stud­ies. Stu­dents enjoy the ben­e­fit of 19 full-time fac­ul­ty mem­bers. While stu­dents seek­ing a Com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree can com­plete their work online, stu­dents with a greater inter­est in film stu­dents will need to vis­it the main cam­pus. The Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides every stu­dent with the foun­da­tion in com­mu­ni­ca­tions they need, then sup­ports their desire to spe­cial­ize in par­tic­u­lar media top­ics through the elec­tives. Stu­dents also have the option to pur­sue advanced degrees fol­low­ing grad­u­a­tion in their active grad­u­ate pro­grams. For an online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree, this is a good pro­gram to explore.

Found­ed in 1912, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mem­phis has grown into a major research insti­tu­tion. They also pride them­selves on the diver­si­ty of their stu­dent pop­u­la­tion and fac­ul­ty who have come 79 dif­fer­ent coun­tries around the world. Stu­dents ben­e­fit as the cam­pus has 25 Chairs of Excel­lence. The class­room ratios are also kept small at 15:1, so stu­dents ben­e­fit from per­son­al inter­ac­tion with faculty.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Studies

11. Webster University

The online BA Media Com­mu­ni­ca­tions at Web­ster Uni­ver­si­ty begins with a ground­ing in media the­o­ry and pro­duc­tion meth­ods. Stu­dents are then able to pur­sue elec­tives that let them spe­cial­ize in giv­en areas. The university’s meth­ods ensure stu­dents devel­op crit­i­cal think­ing skills and under­stand how the media impacts the cul­tur­al and polit­i­cal world. One require­ment of the pro­gram is that stu­dents devel­op and sub­mit a port­fo­lio of their work dur­ing their junior year. Giv­en the flex­i­ble but chal­leng­ing cur­ricu­lum, this pro­gram is a good com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree online to consider.

Web­ster Uni­ver­si­ty has been rec­og­nized for its US and inter­na­tion­al pro­grams. Forbes ranked them in 2018 among America’s Top Col­leges for the 8th year in a row. They have also been rec­og­nized by Forbes and US News & World Report for their study abroad pro­grams. They con­tin­u­al­ly build their fac­ul­ty of pro­fes­sors who are known for their fields of study. All course­work is reg­u­lar­ly reviewed to ensure that stu­dents get an edu­ca­tion is chal­leng­ing and in step with the ever-chang­ing media tech­nol­o­gy and techniques.

Degree: BA Media Communications

12. Brenau University

The Bre­nau Uni­ver­si­ty online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media Stud­ies pro­gram focus­es on applic­a­ble, adapt­able skills and knowl­edge that grad­u­ates can take to a wide vari­ety of set­tings and indus­tries. A ground­ing in the lib­er­al arts tra­di­tion of crit­i­cal think­ing and analy­sis com­bined with knowl­edge of the most cur­rent media tech­nol­o­gy to pro­vide one of the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­grams in the nation. Bre­nau stu­dents are equal­ly equipped for work in mass media and non­prof­its, gov­ern­ment and pri­vate entrepreneurship.

Bre­nau Uni­ver­si­ty began as a women’s col­lege in 1878, but the seeds for Brenau’s cur­rent sta­tus were sown in the 1960s when the col­lege began offer­ing evening cours­es for work­ing women and men. Today, Bre­nau is well known for its online degree pro­grams, and its long his­to­ry of pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for work­ing adults has made Bre­nau one of the best choic­es for an online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Media Studies

13. Southern New Hampshire University

South­ern New Hamp­shire University’s online BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and New Media is a prime exam­ple of why SNHU has been rec­og­nized as a leader and inno­va­tor in online high­er edu­ca­tion. This ful­ly online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pre­pares stu­dents for work in the media of today and tomor­row — social media, online mar­ket­ing, and what­ev­er comes next. And that “what­ev­er comes next” is not a mys­tery, since SNHU’s pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents to be the ones who make what comes next. Adapt­abil­i­ty, afford­abil­i­ty, and con­ve­nience make SNHU one of the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree programs.

SNHU has become one of the fore­most names in online high­er edu­ca­tion, build­ing on a tra­di­tion of out­reach to non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents dat­ing back to 1932. As an ear­ly adopter of online edu­ca­tion, SNHU has made its mark, earn­ing a nation­al and inter­na­tion­al rep­u­ta­tion. Today, SNHU is one of the fastest-grow­ing uni­ver­si­ties in the world with more than 90,000 stu­dents — almost all of them online.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and New Media

14. Arkansas State University

The BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Stud­ies at Arkansas State Uni­ver­si­ty is designed for afford­abil­i­ty and flex­i­bil­i­ty, pro­vid­ing stu­dents with rea­son­able tuition rates, mul­ti­ple start dates through­out the year, and cred­it trans­fer plans that can short­en the process for busy work­ing adults. One of the top-ranked pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties in the South, Arkansas State’s Depart­ment of Media is ACEJMC accred­it­ed, promis­ing stu­dents the high­est lev­el of qual­i­ty in media and com­mu­ni­ca­tions edu­ca­tion. Grad­u­ates will have a full skill set for work in busi­ness, gov­ern­ment, or any­where else that com­mand of com­mu­ni­ca­tion is valued.

Arkansas State has its begin­nings in an agri­cul­tur­al and mechan­i­cal col­lege like many state uni­ver­si­ties. How­ev­er, for over more than a cen­tu­ry, ASU has turned that foun­da­tion in applied sci­ences into one of the fore­most STEM and pro­fes­sion­al research uni­ver­si­ties in the South. Arkansas State is espe­cial­ly con­cerned with pro­vid­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ty for the work­ing adults of the Deep South. That’s why the uni­ver­si­ty has become par­tic­u­lar­ly known in recent years for its grow­ing col­lec­tion of ful­ly online degree programs.

Degree: BA in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Studies

15. Mid-America Christian University

The online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree offered by Mid-Amer­i­ca Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty is quite unique. Mid-Amer­i­ca Christian’s online BS in Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Media, and Ethics fore­grounds the role media plays in the cul­tur­al for­ma­tion, lead­ing stu­dents to under­stand the eth­i­cal impli­ca­tions of media’s social influ­ence. This unique per­spec­tive, in turn, pre­pares stu­dents to use their career in media com­mu­ni­ca­tions for the bet­ter­ment of soci­ety, while also build­ing a strong foun­da­tion in media the­o­ry, tech­nol­o­gy, dig­i­tal media, and work in the media industry.

Based in Okla­homa City, OK, Mid-Amer­i­ca Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty began in 1953 as a sim­ple Bible col­lege, teach­ing stu­dents about Chris­t­ian the­ol­o­gy in the First Church of God. How­ev­er, MACU is bet­ter known today for its online pro­grams, offer­ing a range of bachelor’s degree com­ple­tion pro­grams in busi­ness, psy­chol­o­gy, Chris­t­ian min­istry, and more. With an empha­sis on the needs of work­ing adults, MACU has put togeth­er one of the best online com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­grams out there.

Degree: BS in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion, Media, and Ethics

Is a Communications Degree Worth It?

Absolute­ly. Some may think of major­ing in com­mu­ni­ca­tions won’t teach you much. How­ev­er, this field is extreme­ly help­ful in land­ing grad­u­ates in all sorts of media-relat­ed jobs. The thing about media is that it is preva­lent every­where in our soci­ety; pro­fes­sion­als will be need­ed to under­stand and use dif­fer­ent forms of media.

For exam­ple, social media man­age­ment is one of the newest careers; 20 years ago, it was unthink­able. New careers have come about from a need to build a brand’s pres­ence online; a social media man­ag­er is adept at gain­ing the atten­tion of poten­tial cus­tomers by post­ing on sites like Face­book, Insta­gram, or Twitter.

On top of the wide range of jobs that will be avail­able to a media stud­ies major, there will be plen­ty of high-pay­ing jobs in this com­pet­i­tive mar­ket. Payscale esti­mates that some­body with a bach­e­lor of arts in media com­mu­ni­ca­tion will earn $61,000 per year on aver­age. The salary will large­ly depend on what kind of job you take and how much expe­ri­ence you have under your belt.

Will Employers Trust an Online Communications Degree?

As long as the degree is earned under an accred­it­ed pro­gram, yes. In order to check whether a school or pro­gram is accred­it­ed, vis­it the school’s web­site. Infor­ma­tion about accred­i­ta­tion from orga­ni­za­tions should be list­ed there. For a media com­mu­ni­ca­tions degree pro­gram, the high­est stan­dard is ACEJMC accred­i­ta­tion — the Accred­it­ing Coun­cil on Edu­ca­tion in Jour­nal­ism and Mass Com­mu­ni­ca­tions. Stu­dents hop­ing for media and com­mu­ni­ca­tion careers would do well to look for ACEJMC accred­i­ta­tion; it ensures that the pro­gram is teach­ing the most cur­rent skills and infor­ma­tion, and also mak­ing an impact in stu­dents’ careers.

There are plen­ty of entry-lev­el jobs relat­ed to media when a grad­u­ate is first look­ing to enter the job fields. The more expe­ri­ence the entry-lev­el work­er can gain, the more oppor­tu­ni­ty for advance­ment in media and com­mu­ni­ca­tion careers will open up. As men­tioned before, social media man­ag­er is a com­mon job for this major. Mar­ket­ing, in gen­er­al, is a pop­u­lar area of work; a media stud­ies major could find a job as a mar­ket­ing strate­gist, mar­ket­ing direc­tor, dig­i­tal media spe­cial­ist, mar­ket researcher, or pub­lic rela­tions expert. You could also become a con­tent writer, con­tent man­age­ment spe­cial­ist, tech­ni­cal writer, copy­writer, or jour­nal­ist if you enjoy writ­ing. There is also the option of work­ing as a pro­duc­er in video, film, tele­vi­sion, radio, pod­cast­ing, and more. Media and com­mu­ni­ca­tions careers are as var­ied as media itself.

What Will I Learn in an Online Media Communications Program?

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion stud­ies is a field that explores the abil­i­ty to con­vey a mes­sage, and media stud­ies look at the plat­forms used to share the mes­sage. Thanks to mass media, com­mu­ni­ca­tion can be per­formed through a vari­ety of out­lets, includ­ing writ­ing, radio, film, tele­vi­sion, social media, and oth­er forms of sharing.

Media cours­es tend to cov­er areas like infor­ma­tion the­o­ry, rhetoric, cul­tur­al stud­ies, soci­ol­o­gy, psy­chol­o­gy, anthro­pol­o­gy, phi­los­o­phy, polit­i­cal sci­ence, fem­i­nist the­o­ry, film the­o­ry, lit­er­ary crit­i­cism, media tech­no­log­i­cal devel­op­ment, and mod­ern mar­ket­ing strate­gies. A pro­gram gen­er­al­ly goes over the his­to­ry of mass media, the meth­ods used to per­suade or inform peo­ple, and the dif­fer­ent forms of com­mu­ni­ca­tion used in today’s world. Ulti­mate­ly, a media or com­mu­ni­ca­tions pro­gram should pre­pare stu­dents for a career in media. To get a bet­ter idea of the com­mon media stud­ies syl­labus, vis­it the pro­gram’s web pages to see what cours­es are listed.

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