About Master’s Program,
The Department of Communication’s nationally ranked graduate program is distinguished by its vibrant, prolific, nationally and internationally recognized faculty as well as a flexible but theoretically and methodologically grounded graduate curriculum that reflects our strengths within and across four areas of emphasis: Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk (CommSHER); Critical/Cultural Studies; Journalism, Media and Technology; and Rhetoric. Graduate students are encouraged to take full advantage of of the range of expertise and specialization that the Department offers by designing, in consultation with their committees, programs of study that draw upon any or all of these four areas, ensuring a tailored graduate training and education experience.
The Master of Arts (MA) degree is distinguished from the Master of Science (MS) degree by virtue of language proficiency. Students who wish to earn an MA degree must be certified as possessing “standard proficiency” in a language other than English. The master’s degree is designed as a two-year program, during which time master’s students (MA or MS) must successfully complete coursework determined in consultation with and approved by their committees; master’s students may choose a thesis or nonthesis (exams or project) option to complete their degrees.
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The master’s degree offered by the Department of Communication is designed as a research degree, furnishing students with theoretical and methodological foundations for study within the discipline. Accordingly, the majority of the Department’s master’s students go on to pursue doctoral studies upon completion of the degree. The primary distinction between the two master’s degrees offered by the Department of Communication is that the Master of Arts degree requires a “standard proficiency” in an approved language. Any coursework taken to reach proficiency in a language may not be counted toward degree course credit. Beyond the language requirement, the distinction between Master of Arts and Master of Science is a matter of personal choice. Some individuals will find benefit in a master’s degree that labels them in a certain way. The general university-wide requirements for each master’s degree may be found on the University of Utah Graduate School’s website.
Candidates for the Master of Arts and the Master of Science degrees in the Department of Communication must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours, of which a minimum of 24 hours is represented by content (i.e., topical class or seminar) coursework. Students should understand that some options for degree completion may require much more than this minimum. Students have three options in completing the requirements for the Master’s degree: thesis, project, and non-thesis. The desired option is selected at the time of program of study approval.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
The Department strives to fully fund all admitted graduate students who request funding when they apply to the graduate program, which facilitates students’ success by immersing them in the Department culture and ensuring a commensurate cohort experience. Funding is offered in the form of teaching or research assistantships: full funding includes a full tuition waiver as well as an annual stipend (extra remuneration for summer teaching is not included in that base stipend), and is offered for two years for masters’ students and four years for PhD students—commensurate with the timeline design of respective programs.
Application Requirement,
- Statement of your personal and professional goals
- The statement of purpose document gives you a chance to tell us what you plan to study in our program, in what ways, and why. You will still be able to change study plans once you get here, but your statement is an opportunity to articulate a sense of academic purpose relative to our specific program and faculty. If any salient personal narrative or additional information about you and your candidacy are not addressed elsewhere in your application, please share that here to give us a broader sense of who you are. Your statement should be approximately 800 words.
- Academic writing sample no longer than 25 pages
- This can be a term paper, thesis chapter, creative writing sample, published newspaper articles, etc. The sample can be composed of multiple pieces, but must still be under the 25 page limit.
- A curriculum vita or short resume.
- Unofficial transcripts of all previous college and university coursework.
- If accepted to the program, you will need to provide official transcripts to admissions.
- The names and email addresses of three people who will write recommendations.
- They will receive and electronic prompt to go in and upload their letters of recommendation.
Application Deadline,
Dec 01, 2025
Application Fee,
Submit payment for the application fee (fee is $55.00 for domestic students, $65.00 for international students). Applications will not be considered complete until the payment is processed.
