Master's in Communication Studies

Master's in Communication Studies

• Awarded the 2016 Outstanding Master’s Degree Program Award from the National Communication Association
• Combination of fields of interpersonal, organizational, and health communication provides a unique academic focus
• Among the top programs in the nation for research productivity
• Since 2009, more than 17 students have gone on to doctoral programs after finishing at TCU

The mission of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication is “to educate students to think, act and communicate effectively, ethically, critically and creatively in a global environment enriching their personal and professional lives.”

We believe ethical, truthful, appropriate communication is central to human identity and applicable to a variety of careers and experiences.

In our four departments – Communication Studies; Film, Television and Digital Media; Journalism; and Strategic Communication – we apply communication theory, principles, and history to current professional and analytical skills so our students graduate as flexible, critical-thinking, problem-solving communication practitioners.

Our classes are active and personal, emphasizing engaged learning. Our faculty connect their scholarly training and research to the courses they teach our students. That means a course in family communication will be taught by a professor who has published journal articles about how families work through conflict, or a course in media law will be taught by a professor who wrote a book about the law and ethics of social media use. Too, our faculty are accessible, involved mentors to our students.

Our departments offer a broad array of learning experiences for students to complement and reinforce key skills gained in classes. Those opportunities include reporting and editing news for our student media platforms, producing and hosting programs for our radio station, analyzing and targeting advertising and public relations messages for community clients served by our student agency, working in the control room as part of a crew telecasting a live sporting event, traveling on a forensics and debate team to tournament competition, or studying around the world or in Washington, D.C. These experiences not only foster learning, they help our students network with their fellow students in our college, which cements the personal and professional relationships our graduates tell us are rooted in their days in our college.

Given our location in the Fort Worth and Dallas metropolitan area, our student's further network and develop their professional skills by interning at local non-profit organizations, in television newsrooms, for national sports franchises, in advertising and public relations agencies, and for video and film production companies.

Add together our academically challenging classes, expert faculty, out-of-class learning experiences, networking, and internships, and what do you produce? The Schieffer College graduate: a highly prepared, nimble, creative, thoughtful professional.