The graduate program of Illinois State University 's School of Communication provides a distinctive academic experience that educates students in convergent disciplinary knowledge, diverse theoretical frameworks and research methods appropriate to the advanced study of communication.
Given that communication takes place in various contexts, the graduate program is responsive to students seeking further scholarly rigor and professional development. This program prepares graduates for careers in academia as well as business and non-profit organizations. In addition, our program seeks to instill in students a passion for intellectual and theoretical discovery that transcends career objectives and course expectations.
We fulfill our mission for the graduate program by achieving the following goals:
Educating students by offering a variety of graduate seminars and other opportunities to explore the latest disciplinary and interdisciplinary developments in theory and research
Providing an advisement system that supports curricula tailored to meet personal and professional objectives
Encouraging students to make applications of theory and research via professional internships, teaching, research, and service learning
Guiding students in the process of conducting original research and/or to producing creative works that may result in presentations, publications, conference papers, and/or exhibitions
Career Options
Graduates of our nationally recognized program pursue careers in college teaching, training & development, human & employee relations, public relations, media management, media relations, and community relations. Many of our graduates go on to complete Ph.D. degrees in communication.
Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the program, a student must have either a minimum GPA of 3.00 over the last 60 hours of his or her undergraduate degree, or a combined score of 1,000 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE. International students are additionally required to obtain a minimum TOEFL score of 250 (computer-based testing), 100 (Internet-based testing), or 600 (paper-based). All applicants must submit a letter of application that describes their backgrounds, interests, and career objectives, and arrange to have 3 letters of recommendation forwarded to the School. To ensure full consideration for admission in fall, application materials should be received no later than February 15. The Graduate School 's on-line admission application is available at: www.admissions.ilstu.edu/apply.
Graduate assistantships are available to qualified individuals. Graduate assistants are trained to teach an introductory course in communication and/or to perform other services for the School of Communication . The assistantship carries a full tuition waiver and a monthly stipend of $878. The School will have graduate assistantships open for the fall semester. The assistantship application is available at: www.jobs.ilstu.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=51757 . Tuition waivers are also available to qualified students. The graduate tuition waiver application is available at the School of Communication web site.
For More Information
Please visit the School's Web site: http://www.communication.ilstu.edu/dept/ academics/masterscomm.htm for information regarding our faculty, graduate seminars, and degree options. To talk to a program representative, please call: 309-438-5898. Send all correspondence to:
Dr. Mark E. Comadena
Director of Graduate Studies
School of Communication
Illinois State University
Normal , IL 61790-4480
