To earn a BA in Mass Communications students must complete 120 credits which break down as follows:

• 57 College Core credits comprised of various fields including: humanities, social sciences, science, language and history.
• 27 elective credits (non-mass communication related) for any second major or minor concentration.
• 36 Mass Communication credits (9 Core credits, 18 Concentration Area credits, 9 Outside Concentration Area credits).

3 Mandatory Courses for all Mass Communication Majors
MCO 200 Intro to Mass Communication
MCO 300 Media Law & Ethics
MCO 496 Seminar in Mass Communication

Minor Concentration

Students wishing to complete a minor in MCO must complete MCO 200 and 12 additional MCO credits.

The Department of Mass Communication offers a writing minor in collboration with the English Department and the Speech Communications Department.

Requirements: Four courses drawn from at least two of the three disciplines: English, mass communication, speech and dramatic arts. The list of courses follows:

MCO 275 Journalism
MCO 476 Feature Writing
FPA 215 Play Writing I
FPA 216 Play Writing II
ENG 356 Business and Professional Writing
ENG 357 Legal Writing
ENG 358 Advanced Writing: Strategies and Skills
ENG 359 Technical Writing
ENG 450 Script Writing
ENG 451 Creative Writing: Poetry
ENG 452 Creative Writing: Fiction

Advertising Concentration Courses
4 Required:
MCO 210 Intro to Advertising
MCO 305 Advertising Strategies
MCO 335 The Creative Process in Advertising
MCO 403 Advertising Campaigns

Select 2 Electives:
MCO 313 Adv. Media Planning & Buying
MCO 321 Trends in Advertising
MCO 322 Adv Acct Planning & Research
MCO 418 Interactive Advertising

Journalism Concentration Courses
4 Required:
MCO 275 Journalism
MCO 377 News Reporting and Writing
MCO 389 Online Journalism
MCO 478 Copy Editing

Select 2 Electives:
MCO 330 Broadcast Journalism
MCO 387 Magazine Concepts
MCO 388 Sports Journalism
MCO 476 Feature Writing

Public Relations Concentration Courses
4 Required:
MCO 213 Public Relations
MCO 311 Organizational Communication
MCO 370 Writing for PR
MCO 413 Publicity Campaigns

Select 2 Electives:
MCO 317 Public Opinion Dynamics
MCO 410 Public Relations Case Studies
MCO 478 Copy Editing
MCO 487 Specialty Publications.

Television and Video
4 Required::
MCO 225 Broadcasting
MCO 327 Television Studio Production
MCO 350 Writing for TV & Video
MCO 428 Video Production

Select 2 Electives:
MCO 386 Photo Communication
MCO 390 Computer Animation for Video
MCO 447 Advanced Television Production
MCO 448 Advanced Video Production

Outside Concentration
Mass Communication elective courses from outside the student's area of concentration include:
MCO 312 Communication Graphics
MCO 314 Multimedia Communication
MCO 315 History of Mass Communication
MCO 317 Public Opinion Dynamics
MCO 326 Race, Gender in Mass Communication
MCO 397 Research Methods in Mass Communication
MCO 399 International Communication
MCO 491-493 Independent Study
MCO 494-5 Special Topics in Mass Communication
MCO 498 Internship in Mass Communication

Students from junior colleges may transfer 12 credits. Students from four-year colleges may transfer 15 credits.

To earn a major in mass communication students must take 36 credits (12 classes) of mass communication courses. Mass Communication students are capped at 36 credits. Additional mass communication credits may only be taken with the permission of the department chair and will require students to take more than 120 credits to graduate.

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