Communication – Master of Arts

Admission Requirements

1. Satisfactory undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5. Applicants must meet the Graduate School's requirement of a minimum 2.5 overall undergraduate GPA for general admission to graduate study at MSU (for criteria, refer to "Admission to Graduate Study").
2. Sufficient academic preparation in the communication field. Applicants should have completed an undergraduate major or minor in Communication. If an applicant is judged to have insufficient academic preparation in the communication field, such as completing fewer than nine credit hours in oral communication and/or media-related communication. Additional courses may be required to qualify for unconditional admission.
3. Satisfactory GRE score or alternative qualification. Applicants must satisfy one of the following requirements:
   1. GPA/GRE Index - A minimum INDEX score of 781 according to this formula: Undergraduate cumulative GPA x (GRE verbal score + GRE quantitative score), with a minimum GRE verbal score of 146.
   2. Completed M.A. degree - Documentation of a completed Master of Arts degree from a regionally accredited school will exempt the applicant from having to take the GRE and satisfy the GPA x GRE index.
   3. Alternatively, applicants who do not meet requirements 1 and 2 may request conditional admission and circumvent taking the GRE by completing their first nine graduate credit hours in Communication at MSU with a GPA of 3.5 and no grade lower than a B. Students who fail to achieve a 3.5 after completing nine credit hours at MSU in Communication must take the GRE and meet the minimum GRE/GPA index score before taking additional credit hours in COMM.
4. TOEFL - Students who speak English as a foreign language must submit a minimum TOEFL score of 525 to be considered for admission to the program.

Program Competencies

Students must demonstrate:

1. Competence discussing and applying qualitative research methods.
2. Competence discussing and applying communication theory.
3. The ability to competently engage in graduate-level writing.
4. The ability to competently engage in bibliographic research.
5. Competence integrating, synthesizing and applying course concepts.

Assessment

Students are required to complete a directed study project as part of COMM 670 in the spring semester of the year they intend to graduate. This will culminate in the students submitting the results of their studies in the form of research manuscripts and also presenting their results to the graduate faculty. The paper and presentation will be used to determine a student's grade in the course and as artifacts for assessment purposes. A rubric will be used to measure student success. All students graduating in a calendar year will be enrolled in COMM 670 for the spring semester. Successful completion of COMM 670 required the student to receive an A or B.

Program Requirements

Communication Core

COMM 600	Research Methods in Communication	3
COMM 605	Communication Theory	3
COMM 610	Introduction to Graduate Study, Research and Writing	3
COMM 670	Directed Research	1-3
Total Credit Hours:		12

Choose one of the following:

COMM 626	Crisis Communication	3
COMM 662	Media Criticism	3
COMM 667	Organizational Communication	3
COMM 684	Health Communication	3
Total Credit Hours:		3

Communication Electives

Choose 15 hours from the following:

COMM 611	Advanced Public Speaking	3
COMM 621	Special Topics in Communication	3
COMM 626	Crisis Communication	3
COMM 630	Communication Teaching and Training	3
COMM 647	Internship	1-3
COMM 662	Media Criticism	3
COMM 664	Public Opinion and News Media	3
COMM 667	Organizational Communication	3
COMM 682	American Popular Culture and Communication Technology	3
COMM 683	Advanced Small Group Communication	3
COMM 684	Health Communication	3
Total Credit Hours:		15