Why Choose JMS for Graduate School
Why should you choose JMS?
There are many great graduate programs in Mass Communication and so it can be hard to understand the differences among them. When you are considering graduate programs to apply to, our School of Journalism and Media Studies offers the following:
- Our program offers one-on-one attention between professor and student in their learning journey and path, with a low student-to-faculty ratio.
- Our faculty are internationally and nationally known for their research in the areas of public relations, journalism, media studies, and advertising.
- Students in our graduate program work alongside faculty on innovative and cutting-edge research programs such as eye-tracking research with digital technologies; research initiatives into the intersectionality in media representations in digital and social media today; and the impact of AI on various media industries.
- Our School of Journalism and Media Studies also offers tuition waivers to a limited number of admitted students in our program. We also have several scholarships graduate students can apply to across the university.
- Students in our program also have the opportunity to apply for graduate teaching assistant positions giving them hands-on teaching experience for those pursuing the path of collegiate teaching.
Perhaps the great demonstration of the impact of our program can be seen in our alumni. They work for a variety of organizations in San Diego and across the country including Hive Media, Porter Novelli, among others. And some students have pursued higher education to become professors at institutions such as Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, North Carolina State University, among others. We also have alumni that have gone on to create their own media start-ups and are successful media entrepreneurs. Read on to learn more about a few of the different paths our alumni have taken.
Our Graduate Alumni: The Impact of the SDSU Grad Program
Jayla Lee, (2012 graduate), Lecturer at San Diego State University, wanted to pursue the path of being a college professor. She took the theoretical, research, and critical thinking skills with her to embark on a teaching career that has allowed her to teach classes at SDSU and several community colleges in the San Diego Area.
Austin Smith (2021 graduate), Communications Specialist at Solar Turbines, came to San Diego State to pursue a graduate degree to harness new research skills that led to a career that would allow him to use his applied media and critical thinking skills in a corporate setting.
“Right after I graduated In 2012, I co-founded an e-commerce company with some friends and I was in charge of the communication and marketing. There I applied much of what I had learned during the program. In 2016, I left the company to become a professional portrait and wedding photographer with a studio about two miles from the campus. Right before the pandemic in November 2019, I started (and since then completed in 2022) a personal photography project that got some attention from the media after pitching the project around to many different outlets.” -Antoinne Didienne (2011 graduate), Award-Winning Photographer
“My experience in the Master's in Mass Communication and Media Studies program was challenging, humbling and relationship-focused. As a journalism undergraduate major, I wasn't used to doing intensive academic research or math (hello, statistics!) but thanks to the program's small classroom sizes and the approachable professors, I was able to thrive in the program and learn a lot about my capabilities along the way. The professors were always available for advice and help with assignments - even meeting me at a coffee shop off campus or their home with our work groups - to give personalized feedback and expertise. The program helped me to be more research-savvy in my storytelling as a freelance journalist while understanding how to dissect new research. It also helped me with my long format writing especially when it comes to citing sources.” - Elena Gomez (2017 graduate), Associate Director of Media Relations, University of San Diego
