Publishing, M.A.

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The Master of Arts in publishing offers students an innovative approach to graduate education. The degree incorporates coursework from English, mass communication, business, art and multidisciplinary programs. The program prepares students to enter a professional career market where publishing skills are paramount. Such skills range from understanding media law and ethics, manuscript acquisition, book or journal design, graphic design, distribution, and marketing, among others. Students gain practical, hands-on experiences through coursework, internships and an interdisciplinary capstone project.

Program Requirements

Required courses

All students are required to complete the following 12 hours:

ENG 578 - Internship in Publishing Credit(s): 1-3
MCM 515 - Media Law and Ethics Credit(s): 3
IDS 570 - Professional Internship Credit(s): 3
IDS 571

Elective Courses

Students take 24 hours from the following courses. Students can only use a maximum 12 hours per any discipline as listed below. All approved elective course are three hours.

Art:

ART 546 - History of Design Credit(s): 3
ART 570 - Advertising Design II Credit(s): 3
ART 571 - Typography Credit(s): 3

Business:

ACC 511 - Accounting For Management Credit(s): 3
BCM 520 - Managerial Communication Credit(s): 3
ECO 520 - Managerial Economics Credit(s): 3
GBU 550 - Executive Leadership Credit(s): 3
MGT 571 - Operations Management Credit(s): 3
MKT 513 - Marketing Management Credit(s): 3
PBA 535 - Leadership and Organizational Change in Public Administration Credit(s): 3

English:

ENG 571
ENG 572
ENG 576
ENG 579
ENG 584
ENG 586

Mass communication:

MCM 550 - Seminar in Advertising Credit(s): 3
MCM 555 - Seminar in Public Relations Credit(s): 3

Admission Requirements

In order to be admitted to the M.A. in publishing program, students must fall into one of the two categories below:

Category One: A student may be granted clear admittance to the program if she/he has an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. Preferably, applicants will have an undergraduate degree in a related field and should have clear career and/or educational goals that can be achieved through the program (outlined in the applicant’s statement of purpose).

Category Two: If a student does not meet the criterion in category one, she/he may still be admitted if she/he has an overall undergraduate GPA of 2.6 and a 2.8 for the last 60 hours of coursework. Students with these GPAs will be required to take the GRE exam and achieve a score of 155 or higher on both the verbal and quantitative sections and achieve a minimum level of 3.0 on the analytical writing section of the exam.

At the discretion of the division director, students who do not have the acceptable GPA or GRE scores may be admitted to the program on probationary status for one semester only and must fulfill specific GPA and/or course requirements before the start of the next semester.

Application due dates for the M.A. in publishing are Aug. 1 for the fall semester and Dec. 1 for the spring semester.

Program notes

All requirements for the M.A. in publishing must be completed within six years of first graduate enrollment.
To remain in good standing, students must have a 3.0 GPA (B average) on all graduate work.
No Ds and no more than two Cs may be counted toward graduate degree requirements.
No more than two graduate classes may be repeated. (Only the second grade counts toward the GPA.) The GPA may not be improved by retaking a course at another university.
Students wishing to transfer graduate credit earned at another university must have written approval from the division director.