Degrees

Thank you for your interest in the University of Minnesota Communication Studies Graduate Program. The department has a national reputation for excellence in Critical Media Studies, Interpersonal Communication, and Rhetoric. Our graduate students are highly motivated scholars at the cutting edge of communication research with an equally strong commitment to becoming skilled instructors. 

The Department of Communication Studies offers one degree program, the five year PhD, in addition to the graduate minor.  Students may enter the five year PhD program with a bachelors degree or a masters degree. This degree has opportunities for specialization in interpersonal communication, rhetorical studies, and critical media studies. Although most students emphasize one of these areas, we view communication studies as an integrated and coherent discipline. In our graduate program, you take courses in each of the three subdisciplines en route to gaining mastery over one of them.

Through formal coursework, independent study, directed research projects, and participation in team research supervised by faculty, you will have many opportunities for training and experience in research. Every student we admit is provided with full financial support and gains valuable teaching experience with the support of a faculty mentor. The main objective of the graduate program is to prepare you to become a researcher and a teacher in universities and colleges. We invite talented students with a baccalaureate degree, as well as those who have already earned their MA, to apply for admission.