University of Northern Iowa (UNI) offers an online Master of Arts in Communication and Media through its College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences. This program uses Zoom and other online technologies to enable working professionals to complete their degree with minimal disruption to their professional and personal obligations. Students can take one, two, or three courses per term, and can complete the program within two years of study or less, depending on whether they pursue a part-time or full-time course of study.
This program has both a 30 credit-hour thesis track and a 33 credit-hour non-thesis track. In addition, this program features optional, stackable graduate certificates that students can complete as part of their elective coursework. The graduate certificates, which are each 12-15 credits, are in the following areas: Communication Education and Training; Performance, Rhetoric, and Advocacy; Strategic Communication, Visual Communication and Digital Media; and Organizational Communication and Inclusive Leadership.
Students of both the thesis and non-thesis tracks take 9 credits of core coursework that introduces them to graduate research and writing, communication research methodologies, and communication and media theories. From there, students of the thesis track take 15 credits of electives, while students of the non-thesis track complete 24 electives. Electives cover a wide variety of topics, and students can work towards one or more graduate certificates, whose course requirements are described below. As several of these graduate certificates have overlapping course requirements, students could earn two graduate certificates through their elective choices, without taking extra classes beyond the MA program.
The Certificate in Communication Education and Training requires courses in communication education, rhetoric, and strategic communication, while the Certificate in Communication, Community, and Public Advocacy features courses that cover performance, rhetoric, and social change; communication practices in the creation and maintenance of communities; advocacy campaigns; cultural performance; gender issues in communication; and public advocacy practice. The Certificate in Conflict Resolution is flexible and interdisciplinary, with courses in communication for conflict management, human relationships and identity, family relationships, violence in relationships, social and gender psychology; it also allows students to select course options from UNI’s Departments of Social Work, Social Science, Political Science, History, Geography, and Sociology.
The Certificate in Organizational Communication and Training requires courses that cover organizational communication principles, organizational cultures and communication, communication assessment, communication for training and education, and advanced communication research methods. The Certificate in Organizational Communication and Inclusive Leadership has courses on leading workplace inclusion, crisis communication, organizational culture, and specialized communication concepts and approaches. The Certificate in Performance, Rhetoric, and Advocacy includes seminars in performance studies, visual and digital media, and rhetoric.
The Certificate in Public Relations in Entertainment features courses on public relations campaigns, public relations principles, the foundations of theatre, and analyzing literary and artistic texts. The Certificate in Strategic Communication requires seminars on communication education, strategic communication, and visual and digital media. Finally, the Certificate in Visual Communication and Digital Media combines seminars on performance studies, rhetoric, and visual and digital media.
The culminating experience in this program is either a master’s thesis or a comprehensive examination. The master’s thesis is a work of original scholarship that investigates a communication issue, while the comprehensive examination requires students to take and pass a written exam that covers the foundational and advanced skills they gained in the program.
University of Northern Iowa is regionally accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Online Master of Arts in Communication and Media
Overview
Department: Department of Communication and Media
Specializations/Concentrations: Optional Graduate Certificate in Organizational Communication & Inclusive Leadership
Websites: Department
and Program
Program Format
Structure: Online program with no required campus visits
Instruction Methods: Students have the option to complete courses online or attend live campus-based classes using Zoom
Campus Visits Required: No
Program Length: Program can be completed in less than 2 years - students can take one to three courses per semester
Start Dates: Fall and Spring admission
Curriculum and Graduation Requirements
Credits Required: 30 or 33 credits (10-11 courses)
Thesis Required: No
Capstone Options: Thesis or comprehensive exam plus additional course (non-thesis option)
Example Courses: Communication and Media Theory; Communication Research Methodology; Mass Communication Theory; Inclusive Leadership in the Workplace; Organizational Cultures and Communication; Crisis Communication
Admission Requirements
Application Requirements: Bachelor's degree; academic or professional writing sample; three letters of recommendation
GPA Requirements: Minimum GPA 2.75 (students with a GPA lower than 2.75 may be considered for admission)
Testing Requirements: GRE not required
Tuition Costs
Estimated Tuition*: ~16,740 + fees to ~$18,414 + fees
Cost per Credit Hour: $558 per credit hour
State Authorizations: Program accepts students from all 50 states
