Requirements

General requirements for the Master of Arts with a major in journalism are the same as those listed in the Master’s Degree Requirements section of this catalog. The MA candidate whose undergraduate degree is not in journalism may be required to take up to 6 hours of undergraduate courses in journalism as recommended by faculty evaluators.

The MA candidate in journalism must complete a minimum of 36 semester hours, including 6 hours of thesis courses. Students should take 12 hours of core courses within their first year of the program. The MA requires foreign language competency.

The MA student should search for and request a professor early in the program to serve as thesis chair. The student should complete 12 hours of core courses before being enrolled in master’s thesis hours. The thesis chair will help the student select a committee. Until successfully defending the thesis, the student must continue to be enrolled in thesis hours.

The student must also register for the comprehensive exam. In order to register for the comprehensive exam, the student must have taken and passed 12 hours of core courses with at least a grade of B. The student must complete all thesis hours and pass the comprehensive exam to graduate.