<p>Hi Parents,
A friend is looking for a list of journalism schools for her daughter who is currently enrolling as a freshman at community college.
The daughter is a bit shy, so I said a liberal art college may be a good fit for her.
Any recommendation for good liberal art colleges with good journalism program?
Thanks.</p>
<p>What part of the country? Public or private?</p>
<p>If she’s going to undergrad, she doesn’t need to go to a school with a journalism major. It might be a nice perk, but having spoken to some journalists they say that all you need is an undergraduate major that makes you write - a lot - and exposes you to a lot of different writing styles and ideas. Journalists don’t get hired for their major, but for their ability to write and their samples, which you can make in any program.</p>
<p>She could easily major in English or history or even psychology or sociology and go to a graduate journalism program - which would enable her to not rule out the perfect schools for her without journalism majors.</p>
<p>Juilett, with respect, you make some good points, but in this economy grad school may not be an option she can pursue. And if she genuinely prefers journalism writing to English-type writing–for example, writing about events rather than books, or people other than authors, or wants to learn about the business aspects of journalism–print media vs. broadcast, web careers, etc–she needs a journalism or communications major.</p>
<p>In addition, many smaller market media may look negatively at a psych major suddenly announcing an interest in journalism.</p>
<p>cc1979’s suggestion of a LAC seems excellent to me.</p>
<p>Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State; University of Missouri</p>
<p>She is international. Since She will be paying out of state anyway, I think small private colleges will give the best educational option for her.<br>
Thanks</p>
<p>In English courses, you do not solely write papers about books. And it wouldn’t be sudden - first of all, a lot of journalists major in fields other than journalism (most do, actually) and second of all, your interest will be demonstrated by other activities such as writing for the campus newspaper or doing a journalistic internship over a few summers.</p>
<p>I’m just saying what I have heard from journalists during such a symposium on campus when I was in college, which was NOT to major in journalism, actually. Also, I think it’s a bad idea to rule out colleges that can be a good fit simply because they don’t have the journalism major when you can get into the field with a different major, and most people do. It’s a different story if you want to be an engineer and there’s no engineering major or you want to be a nurse and there’s no nursing major. But there’s more than one path to journalism and from already established journalists a journalism major may not even be the best one.</p>
<p>In any case, here’s a list of reputed schools with a journalism or related major (broadcast journalism, mass communications, or organizational communication). The starred ones are LACs.</p>
<p>Adelphi University (NY)
Adrian College (MI)*
Allegheny College ¶*
American University (DC)
Arcadia University ¶
Auburn University (AL)
Baylor University (TX)
Bennington College (VT)*
Berea College (KY)*
Biola University (CA)
Boston University (MA)
CSU Fresno, Fullerton, Long Beach, Northridge, Sacramento (CA)
Calvin College (MI)*
Champlain College (VT)*
CUNY: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter (NY)*
Claremont McKenna College (CA)*
College of New Rochelle (NY)*
College of the Ozarks (MO)*
Columbia College (SC)*
DePauw University (IN)
Duquesne University ¶*
Elon University (NC)*
Emerson College (MA)*
Emory & Henry College (VA)*
Emory University (GA)
George Washington University (DC)
Gettysburg College ¶*
Goucher College (MD)*
High Point University (NC)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)*
Hofstra University (NY)
Ithaca College (NY)*
La Salle University ¶
Lehigh University ¶
Loyola University Chicago (IL)
Marquette University (WI)
MIT (MA)
Northwestern University (IL)
Ohio Wesleyan University (OH)
Pepperdine University (CA)*
Pomona College (CA)*
Qunnipiac University (CT)*
SUNY: Farmingdale, New Paltz, Oswego, Purchase, Brockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Oneonta, Plattsburgh (NY)
Syracuse University (NY)
Tulane University (LA)
University of Miami (FL)
Utica College (NY)*
Valparaiso University (IN)*
Washington University in St. Louis (MO)</p>
<p>Don’t know about LACs, but having gone through the search four years ago for our older daughter, the top 10 j schools, as recounted by the admissions officers we talked to, are, in alphabetical order: Maryland, Miami, Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio U., Penn State, Southern Cal, Syracuse and Texas. There are many other good ones, and lists vary, but this was the consensus we pulled together.</p>
<p>Juilett, your comprehensive list of schools is excellent. CC, if you have a region in mind, specific suggestions within that list can be made. </p>
<p>Juilett, do you have a source for your assertion that most journalists did not major in journalism? The current publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that “Most employers prefer individuals with a bachelor’s degree in journalism or mass communications and experience gained at school newspapers or broadcasting stations or through internships with news organizations.” </p>
<p>A quick Google search found a study that over 90% of television journalists had journalism degrees (higher than I thought) and a 1991 article praising nonjournalism degree preparation noting that 27% of journalists did not have journalism degrees. </p>
<p>Consider as well the likelihood that many of those nonjournalism majors have degrees from extremely selective schools or personal connections which facilitated their hiring. Others were able to turn degrees or experience into related journalism jobs–IT majors writing about technology, etc–but most of those did not set out in college to be journalists.</p>
<p>Remember, too, that with the substantial financial problems besetting the media, their on the job training capability (and willingness to do so) has greatly diminished. I managed a corporate PR function and, over the past 10 years, that industry seemed to take a sharp turn towards good writers with specific training over less experienced writers with possibly greater writing talent. </p>
<p>That said, I agree that a talented writer, especially one who finds some way to compile some journalism experience, still has a chance, but those chances (including the chances of finding that experience as a non-journalism student) appear to be substantially less than you believe.</p>
<p>Yes, English majors can write about things other books or authors, but how many write news stories on a vast array of topics? Or receive training in interviewing subjects and witnesses? Or learn to write in the somewhat blander, concise style and more basic vocabulary of journalists? </p>
<p>At elite institutions–Goldman Sachs, The New York Times–I think the chosen few may be those with a prestigious undergrad degree in a nonprofessional field followed by a prestigious professional school degree. For this particular community college freshman, and most students, though, I think the the undergrad professional degree–journalism, business, etc --is now the wiser choice.</p>
<p>Thank for the list. This is a good start</p>
<p>Why didn’t the University of Missouri make your list? It is one of the top, if not THE top Journalism school in the country.</p>
<p>^
I also wondered wondered why Missou was not on the list. NYU isn’t either.</p>
<p>That said, neither of those schools is a liberal arts school and it looks as if the OP was looking for a an environment for a shy student, so not sure that either would be a good fit.</p>
<p>dadtimesthree’s list in post #8 is the generally accepted list of schools with dedicated journalism schools or majors. I did extensive research with my son, and we came up with the same list. There are different opinions about whether to major in journalism, and I’m not going to debate that here. But someone who wants a strong journalism program with a good career network and a track record of placing students in jobs after college (yes, even in today’s climate) would do well to aim for one of these schools, which do happen to be larger. If you want a good undergraduate journalism school, size and location need to matter a bit less.</p>
<p>The alternative would be to choose a strong liberal arts college and work for the school newspaper for online journalism experience, the radio or TV station for broadcast, etc. Avoid any journalism program or school that focuses only on print journalism, because they’re living in the 20th century.</p>
<p>Edit: My S was an entering freshman, not a transfer student.</p>