Requirements

General requirements for the Master of Journalism are the same as those listed in the Master’s degree requirements  section of this catalog. The MJ candidate whose undergraduate degree is not in journalism or who has deficiencies in writing may be required to take up to 6 hours of undergraduate courses in journalism as recommended by graduate faculty evaluators.

The MJ candidate must complete a minimum of 36 semester hours. The MJ degree has no foreign language requirement, and the 6-hour thesis is optional. Students should take 12 hours of core courses within their first year of the program.

If the MJ students decides to write a master’s thesis, the 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. Students must complete the comprehensive exam to graduate.