Future Students

Graduating student

Explore the exciting world of print and broadcast news, advertising and consumer culture and the powerful role of the world's mass media. Study the multi-faceted worlds of film, radio, television and the Internet, with its growing influence and global reach. Examine the role of the media in helping to create and sustain an informed citizenry. Review the impact the media have on society, as well as on children, minorities, the elderly and other traditionally under-represented members of the global community.

Do all of this and more in the College of Media.

Almost 900 students are investigating these topics in the College as of Spring 2008. The students are engaged in classes taught by distinguished scholars in media studies, world-renowned experts in advertising and consumer behavior and award-winning journalists — including Pulitzer Prize winners.

If you enroll in the College of Media, not only will you be in the midst of accomplished faculty and fellow students who are among the brightest and most talented at the University of Illinois, you also will interact with scores of successful alumni whose names are well known in the worlds of journalism, advertising and media studies.

  • If you're a student who will be entering the University of Illinois for the first time, you should apply through the Office of Admissions and Records (high school students, off-campus transfer students) or the Graduate College (graduate students only).
  • If you're an on-campus student wishing to transfer into the College, see more information at applying.html.

Degree programs

The College of Media includes four degree programs for undergraduates: Advertising, Broadcast Journalism, News-Editorial Journalism and Media Studies.

There are also three degree programs for graduate students: master's degrees in Advertising and Journalism and a Ph.D. in Communications.

in recent years journalism students in the College have won two national Hearst Foundation writing awards, the grand prize in the college division of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards and a National Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, as well as numerous other local, regional and national honors, internships and recognition.

Career placement

Each unit in the College has a career assistance staff member who can help with internships, employment, awards and honors.

Recent graduates have worked or interned at Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Associated Press, the Arizona Republic, Rolling Stone Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Popular Mechanics magazine, MSNBC, ABC New York, WGN TV and Radio, WCIA-TV (Champaign, Ill.), WICD-TV (Champaign, Ill.), Chicago's 103.5 KISS-FM, 93.9 WLIT-FM in Chicago, Univesal Pictures in Los Angeles, DDB Chicago, Mindshare in Chicago, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi New York, Wunderman in Chicago, Chicago's Comedy Sportz Theatre, DAV Productions, Norton Rubble Mertz in Chicago, Killian Advertising and literally hundreds more.

Distinguished faculty

Many of the College's faculty have worked at real newspapers and advertising agencies, and their students benefit from that real-world knowledge. Pulitzer Prizes and Emmy, Clio and Sundance Film Festival awards are among the many honors and reocognition the faculty have earned.

According to the results of a survey taken by students in the College in 2006, 82 percent of students agreed that they were given an opportunity to learn from top professionals and 80 percent said they were satisfied with the quality of academic advice given to them.

  • See the complete list of Faculty.

Accomplished alumni

To be a College of Media student is to walk in the footsteps of thousands of accomplished alumni. Our graduates achieve important and satisfying careers as reporters, editors and producers at newspapers, television and radio stations and networks. They work at leading advertising agencies, magazines, public service organizations, institutions of higher education and media companies. Some have gone on to successful careers as screenwriters, producers, directors and film critics.

Among the companies in which College of Media alumni hold or have held high-ranking positions are The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, CBS, ABC, CNN, Wunderman, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, McDonald's, Anheuser Busch and Sports Illustrated, and several have won Pulitzer Prizes and other prestigious awards.

Graduates of the College of Media have won Pulitzer Prizes; Emmy, Peabody and Clio awards; and a host of other professional and academic awards and risen to positions of prominence and influence in virtually every media-related field. They offer proof of our philosophy that we strive to prepare our students not just for their first jobs but for their last.

Scholarships

The College of Media offers a number of scholarships for undergraduate students enrolled in the College, funds that are applied toward tuition and fees and made available through the generous support of alumni and friends of the College. A Collegewide committee determines scholarship recipients.