My son is currently a senior. He’s interested in Journalism but not exclusively. He’s a strong writer but would like a broad education rather than committing to anything that feels pre-professional. We are just compiling the list and looking for any outside advice.
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http://www.collegefactual.com/majors/communication-journalism-media/journalism/rankings/top-ranked/#
http://college.usatoday.com/2016/04/26/best-journalism-schools/
http://www.degreequery.com/top-25-colleges-for-journalism/
USC appears on all 3 lists and students there can double major in multiple areas.
I like the degreequery list, except I would substitute Michigan State College of Communication Arts for Lyndon State. not sure how Lyndon got on the list, but they do have a smallish broadcast journalism program.
Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at University of Oklahoma.
Plus the rest of this list. http://www.rtdna.org/article/survey_the_top_20_journalism_schools_2014
Here’s a pull quote:
“A respondent who named University of Oklahoma the No. 1 school explained, “The University of Oklahoma is an often-overlooked leader in journalism education. The faculty set is a balanced mix of researchers and practitioners, giving students a healthy mix of cutting-edge research and on-the-job application. The Gaylord College houses an integrated advertising agency within its halls as well as a state-of-the-art broadcasting facility. It’s a playground for future storytellers that should be commended on its rise in recent years.””
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A plug for my alma mater, Syracuse University. At the time I went, you could double major and even minor. I ended up with a double major (newspaper and political science) and a minor (history). There was a great program where, if you were there during an election year, you could go to New Hampshire to cover the primary for any outlet that would have you (you had to secure that yourself, most kids wrote for their hometown paper). The local city papers were very supportive of the j-school students and had paying internships. The student paper was and is very good, and independent of the university. Doublecheck everything, of course, but looking back I got a great education there that went beyond how to write a lede.
Second plug here for Syracuse. SU is a terrific choice for those with varied interests and want to double major, double major and minor, etc. My D is a senior and dual major in Communications and Business at Newhouse and Whitman. It is a great program for those with AP/IB/CLEP credits. It requires 151 minimum credits but is very doable in 4 years. My D picked up a 3rd major in a third school with no additional credits by carefully selecting her electives. To me it’s a bit bizarre, but she absolutely loves it, and will finish in 4 years…
Good luck!
My S1 graduated from Marshall University in Huntington, WV with a double major in sports journalism and history. He did play-by-play and color commentary for just about every sport on campus, including D-1 football, and got to travel a lot to other schools. He also served as sports editor of the college newspaper for three semesters - experience he never could have gotten anywhere else. He was hired right out of school by the CBS affiliate where he interned and is doing the same work for the same money as grads from some of the brand-name schools mentioned upthread. And all this for in-state tuition, room and board of $16,000 - $17,000 per year. OOS is just as reasonable - less than many schools’ in-state costs. Don’t be afraid to go off the beaten path and consider a school no one else has ever heard of. Your son and your wallet may thank you someday.
I’ve heard of Marshall! A good school as well. When I worked there, the local paper had a great relationship with the students and hired many as interns/obits/late cops reporters.
The University of Iowa has a very strong writing program.
The University of Iowa has one of the most highly regarded MFA programs. From what little I’ve heard, the undergraduate program isn’t similarly prestigious, but of course that doesn’t mean it’s not any good. No idea about journalism in particular.
My S is a working journalist. He went to Dartmouth and majored in French. He never wrote for any paper, not even a school paper. After a year abroad, he went to Columbia School of Journalism and graduated with a job at a daily paper.
His GF went to McGill and double-majored in something along the lines of philosophy/literature/political science. She wrote for the university newspaper. When she graduated, she moved back home in the US and freelanced for the Miami Herald. Then she got a job at a paper in New England.
S has two friends from Dartmouth who are working as journalists. One majored in English and went to Medill at Northwestern straight out of college. He’s working in Cambodia. The other majored in something like Philosophy or Political Science and took a job at a Washington think tank out of college. (He interned for them in college.) he is now working for Fortune, writing on health policy issues.
All of them are now 4 years out of college.
The moral of the story is that you don’t have to major in journalism as an undergrad to be a journalist.
Northwestern, George Washington and University of Missouri (at Columbia) are some of the colleges where my students studying journalism have had positive experiences.
The list of best journalism programs seems to change dramatically each year. I went to Indiana University (usually one of the top-ranked schools) for journalism and have had a good career. Its program has evolved greatly, just as journalism has, since I attended.
The University of Missouri has had a highly regarded journalism school for as long as I can remember (since the early 80’s at minimum).
I’ll second Comsolation’s advice. If your son is interested in writing but not committed, then he should consider majoring in whatever he is interested in (political science, history, economics, environmental science) and get his writing experience by working on school media and internships. So when considering colleges, check out their newspapers and magazines – how often do they come out? Can anyone write for them? Are they independent or controlled by school administration? Many college newspapers have a regular email that goes out with links to articles – sign up for that.
I’m seconding @fireandrain’s advice. Newspapers & other media prefer employees to have a strong background in something other than journalism. It’s far better to have a degree say in finance, political science or environmental studies and a minor in journalism. Having writing and reporting skills are fine, but having a breadth of knowledge gives one perspective.
Columbia
Syracuse
Missouri
UW-Madison
USC
NYU
Boston U
Northwestern
UT-Austin
And I’m not sure about Journalism, but the University of Iowa has an outstanding Creative Writing program.
LACs like Middlebury, Hamilton, Vassar, Kenyon and Oberlin are also revered for their humanities, though you’re far less likely to find a Journalism major at a LAC.
Second that. Also, the D.O. is a pretty good college paper to work on. When I was there the local alternative paper (New Times) as well as the Post Standard would frequently accept student contributions. Plus you can get some Broadcast training and experience there also.
And, since the weather is so lovely, you have a lot of time to be inside writing!
(loved my time at SU despite it)
I echo @prezbucky 's list… especially Columbia, Northwestern and USC, which also offer the built-in advantages of NYC, Chicago and L.A. - including incredible internship and career opportunities. BU, NYU and UTexas are also very good and offer location advantages too…
Fordham University has produced some excellent journalists and broadcasters (and TV producers and writers/editors/journalists for NYT and …)
Including the soon to retire Dodgers broadcaster Vince Scully. Also Charles Osgood.