Twin Cities campus

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Twin Cities Campus

Mass Communication Ph.D.

School of Journalism & Mass Communication
College of Liberal Arts
Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information
Department of School of Journalism and Communication, 111 Murphy Hall, 206 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-625-9824; fax: 612-625-9525)
  • Program Type: Doctorate
  • Requirements for this program are current for Fall 2015
  • Length of program in credits: 70
  • This program does not require summer semesters for timely completion.
  • Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the General Information section of this website for requirements that apply to all major fields.
The Ph.D. offers training for academic careers primarily in communication instruction, research, or policy. Areas of specialization include media processes, influences, and effects (including health communication, advertising, and political communication); media law, ethics, history; and media management. The program is suffused with the study of new communication technologies.
Program Delivery
  • via classroom (the majority of instruction is face-to-face)
Prerequisites for Admission
Other requirements to be completed before admission:
Students whose native language is not English are required to submit scores from the TOEFL or IELTS (academic). In addition, such students seeking teaching assistantships are required to pass the SPEAK test of spoken-English proficiency prior to appointment. Admission is considered for fall semester only; the application deadline is December 15. The mass communication M.A. and Ph.D. programs offer a joint degree with the Law School. Applicants to either joint degree--either the M.A./J.D. or the Ph.D./J.D.--are reviewed separately by the Law School and the mass communication programs for admission, but are asked to identify themselves as seeking the joint degree option in their statement of intent for the mass communication application. For more information, contact sjmcgrad@umn.edu.
Special Application Requirements:
Applicants must submit a department application; a clearly written statement of career interests, goals, and objectives; three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with their scholarship and research potential; a complete set of transcripts; academic work samples in English; a resume or curriculum vita; and scores from the General Test of the GRE.
Applicants must submit their test score(s) from the following:
  • GRE
    • General Test - Verbal Reasoning: 158
    • General Test - Quantitative Reasoning: 158
    • General Test - Analytical Writing: 4.5
International applicants must submit score(s) from one of the following tests:
  • TOEFL
    • Internet Based - Total Score: 94
    • Internet Based - Listening Score: 22
    • Internet Based - Writing Score: 24
    • Internet Based - Reading Score: 22
    • Internet Based - Speaking Score: 26
    • Paper Based - Total Score: 550
  • IELTS
    • Total Score: 7.0
    • Listening Score: 7.0
    • Reading Score: 7.0
    • Writing Score: 7.0
    • Speaking Score: 7.0
  • MELAB
    • Final score: 83
Key to test abbreviations (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, MELAB).
For an online application or for more information about graduate education admissions, see the General Information section of this website.
Program Requirements
34 credits are required in the major.
12 credits are required outside the major.
24 thesis credits are required.
This program may be completed with a minor.
Use of 4xxx courses toward program requirements is permitted under certain conditions with adviser approval.
A minimum GPA of 3.00 is required for students to remain in good standing.
A minimum of 46 course credits and 24 thesis credits are required. Coursework must include 16 credits in required core courses, and at least 30 other graduate credits. Of these credits, at least 18 credits must come from SJMC courses and at least 12 credits from outside the SJMC. All courses included on the Ph.D. Degree Program Form must be graduate level (5xxx or 8xxx, or 4xxx with the approval of both adviser and director of graduate studies) and taken A-F.
Joint- or Dual-degree Coursework:
JD/ Mass Communications PhD
 
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· College of Liberal Arts

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