<p>Even though I have already applied to schools, i am curious to see an actual list of the top communication programs in the country. I constantly read that unc-chapel hill, northwestern, missouri, and syracuse are the top, but i have yet to see a list compiled by some top service. If anyone could provide a list, I'd love to see it. Also what are your opinions on the top j-schools in the country?</p>
<p>Use a search engine and find the lists for the "William J. Randolph Hearst" print, broadcast and photojournalism awards progams. These are the Pulitzer Prizes of college journalism, and are only open to student at accredited journalism programs. The universities winning the most awards are widely regarded as the country's best.</p>
<p>i looked for that award program, but I couldn't seem to find it. Does anyone compile a list of the top communications programs?</p>
<p>Here's a link to the HEarst program. Unfortunately, they don't list the awards winners, but I know that each year, they produce a booklet with that info. My advice is to e-mail them and ask them to send you that booklet, which they probably will do at no charge. The schools with lots of winners are the best journalism programs in the country: <a href="http://hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/index.html</a></p>
<p>On the site, you also can see a list of accredited journalism programs. It is important to go to an accredited journalism program, so that's a good start.</p>
<p>thanks alot, great information.</p>
<p>Does anyone have a list?</p>
<p>i'm surprised that Northwestern isn't on that list. I thought Northwestern was a really good school for journalism.</p>
<p>Medill at Northwestern,
Syracuse (marv albert)
(generally, among sports journalists I know, Northwestern and Syracuse are considered the top two)
Columbia University
UC Berkeley's grad school of J. (they have undergrad comm, but no undergrad J)
University of Iowa has a really good J school too, although Im sure its not on whatever top 10 list, because, well, its Iowa</p>
<p>Also, when considering a J school, don't just consider the journalism major, because J majors are most likely to take a second major or minor, because, well, journalists need to know about something so they can write about it. Think about what kind of journalism you want to do, than go to a college that has a J school but also a fine program in whatever you want to study (for example, if you wanted to be an international correspondent, you would look and see what Gtown has...)</p>
<p>Northwestern has outperformed all others in terms of winning Hearst awards.</p>
<p>Ooops..forgot to post the link:</p>
<p>Northwestern has pretty much dominated the writing competition-1st/2nd for 16 consecutive years when no other school has ranked in the top five every year during the same period (89-04). Other categories--photography, television and radio news have large disaparity.</p>
<p>Yes, come to Northwestern and be stressed out and hate college.</p>
<p>Here's a rather lengthy list of "Top Journalism Programs" from The College Finder, After that I give some ideas on how to judge various programs:</p>
<p>U of Alabama
American
Arizona State U
U of Arizona
Ball State U
Boston U
UCLA
U of Colorado
DePauw U
Duke U
Duquesne U
Emerson
U of Florida
U of Georgia
U of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Indiana U Bloomington
Ithaca College
U of Kansas
Kent State U
U of Maryland College Park
Michigan State U
U of Minnesota, Twin Cities
U of Missouri Columbia
Uof Nebraska, Lincold
NYU
UNC Chapel Hill
Northwestern
Ohio State U
Ohio U
U of Oregon
Pepperdine U
U of South Carolina - Columbia
U of South Dakota
USC
Syracuse
U of Tennessee
Washignton and Lee
U of Washington
U of Wisconsin, Madison</p>
<p>Of the above schools, I am familiar with and recommend the following schools in particular: Syracuse U, Northwestern, Boston U, U of Missouri, USC, Ithaca, Emerson, Indiana U, U of Oregon, U of South Dakota, U of Maryland, UNC Chapel Hill</p>
<p>When looking at ANY journalism program, there are a few important questions to ask:
(1) is the curriculum emphasis on actual "real world" journalism skills? (Many "communications" programs are more theoretical than practical)
(2) What percentage of the faculty has "real world" experience, i.e., they've actually been journalists or in communications? (You want a program where a higher percentage have experience and working knowledge, not just theoretical knowledge)
(3) What opportunities are there to work in on campus media? (At some schools, getting a reporter or editor position at the student newspaper or radio station can be very competitive)
(4) How up to date is the equipment in the program? (Esp. important if you are interested in broadcast journalism) Are the facilities adequate for the number of majors? (If you never get into use the facilities because they're tied up for grad students, they won't help you)
(5) How many opportunities are there for internships? How many students actually do internships? Is it realistic to combine an internship with the level of academic effort required? How do you get internships?
(6) What size are the classes? How much writing and editing do you actually do in the classes? How good are the professors at giving you feedback about your writing and editing?
(7) What is the career placement office like? Does the journalism program have its own career placement/advising program or do you go through the school's "general" career office? Where did last year's graduates end up working immediately after graduation? Where do alumni work?</p>
<p>The last time US News and World Reports ranked journalism schools was 1996. The top ones were:</p>
<ol>
<li>U. of Missouri (Columbia)</li>
<li>Columbia University</li>
<li>Northwestern University</li>
<li>UNC (Chapel Hill)</li>
<li>Indiana University (Bloomington)</li>
<li>U. of Florida</li>
<li>Ohio University (Athens)
7.(tie) U. of Wisconsin (Madison)</li>
</ol>
<p>BUT (from an article):</p>
<p>*However, Thomas Kunkel, president and publisher of the American Journalism Review at the University of Maryland, said U.S. News botched the rankings because no two journalism/mass communications programs are alike. "They were comparing apples to oranges to kumquats," he said. For example, some of the schools offer only graduate programs, while others have undergraduate and graduate programs. And the sequences each school offers also vary.</p>
<p>[ For example, ] Scripps [ Ohio University ] offers academic sequences in public relations, advertising, news writing and editing, magazine, broadcast and online journalism.</p>
<p>Because of these discrepancies, Kunkel said, "The results were so controversial, and people were so upset, that (U.S. News) decided they weren't going to do this anymore."
*</p>
<p>yeah, i was looking at the list and I realize it is important to have accredidation as a journalism school. Less the 200 comm schools in the country can say that, so its important to start at those.</p>
<p>Medill (Northwestern) and Columbia are probably the two with the best national reputations.</p>
<p>Columbia Journalism is only a graduate program, not undergrad.</p>
<p>
[quote]
However, Thomas Kunkel, president and publisher of the American Journalism Review at the University of Maryland, said U.S. News botched the rankings because no two journalism/mass communications programs are alike. "They were comparing apples to oranges to kumquats," he said. For example, some of the schools offer only graduate programs, while others have undergraduate and graduate programs. And the sequences each school offers also vary.</p>
<p>[ For example, ] Scripps [ Ohio University ] offers academic sequences in public relations, advertising, news writing and editing, magazine, broadcast and online journalism.</p>
<p>Because of these discrepancies, Kunkel said, "The results were so controversial, and people were so upset, that (U.S. News) decided they weren't going to do this anymore.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree. That's why performance over the years (not just one year) in head-to-head competition like Hearst probably serves as a better measure. Northwestern's winning tradition in writing competition should be enough to show it's a great school for aspiring news writers. That other categories (photojournalism and broadcasting) have large disparity probably indicates many schools are about the same esp in those areas.</p>
<p>U missouri is really good. Alot of the journalism majors go on to work for companies like ESPN.</p>
<p>The Rugg's College Guide publishes top schools by discipline.</p>
<p>From the large list above, it should be noted that Washington & Lee is the only top liberal arts college that has an excellent journalism program. Anyone who is looking at these two things (journalism, liberal arts colleges) should seriously look into W&L.</p>