Required Credit Hours/Tuition and Fees
- 33 credit hours
- Visit the Paying for College website for detailed tuition information
Curriculum
Students must complete at least 33 semester hours for this degree. A foreign language is not required. With approval of the student’s advisory committee, up to three hours of graduate-level coursework from outside the applied communication studies curriculum, up to three hours of independent study credits, and up to three hours of 400-level courses, may be applied toward the minimum of 33 hours.
All students admitted to the program are required to enroll in the program core, which consists of two courses (six hours total):
- ACS 500 Seminar in Communication Theory
- ACS 501 Communication Research Methods and Tools
The core courses must be completed with a minimum grade of B the first time they are offered after the student is admitted. Students who fail to meet this stipulation will be restricted from enrolling in any other 500-level courses until the program core requirement is met. Students are also required to declare an area of specialization and complete three required courses in their respective specialization.
Responsibility for the development of the remainder of the student’s program of study rests with the student and student’s advisory committee. The Department of Applied Communication Studies offers a variety of courses designed to complement the student’s academic and professional interests. This graduate program also offers opportunities for both research and practice of applied communication principles and strategies.
Students may choose either a thesis or a non-thesis plan of study. Students who select the thesis plan (thesis or applied project) must declare their intentions by the time they have completed 18 semester hours of graduate work. They will complete a minimum total of 27 hours of coursework. They will confirm their ability to conduct research in applied communication studies by submitting a thesis or applied project for six semester hours of credit in ACS 598 or ACS 599. The oral defense then provides a supplemental assessment of the student’s performance on the written portion of the thesis, or the final product of the project.
Students who select the non-thesis plan will complete a minimum total of 33 hours of coursework. Students will confirm their ability to conduct research in applied communication studies through the research projects and papers they complete during their coursework.
