Graduate Degrees Increase 23%, but Bachelor Numbers Decline

Total enrollments in journalism and mass communication programs in the autumn of 1994 were less than a percentage point higher than a year earlier, providing continuing evidence that enrollments in these programs has stabilized. The size of the freshman class at journalism and mass communication programs increased in the autumn of 1994 versus a year earlier, however, indicating that some growth in enrollments can be expected in the next few years. The stability in the level of overall enrollments masks continued growth in enrollments in graduate programs in journalism and mass communication. Growth in graduate enrollments in journalism and mass communication continues to outpace growth in graduate enrollments generally at U.S. universities. These are some of the key findings of the Annual Survey of journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments, conducted at Ohio State University. Other findings are: * The number of undergraduate degrees granted by U.S. journalism and mass communication programs declined just under five percentage points in 1993-94 versus 1992-93. The number of graduate degrees, however, increased 23.1 percent. * The percentage of undergraduate journalism and mass communication students specializing in advertising and public relations declined in 1994 from a year earlier; the percentage specializing in print and broadcast journalism held steady from a year earlier. * The percentage of undergraduate and master's students who are women held constant in 1994 versus a year earlier, but the percentage of doctoral students who are women increased again. Half of the students studying for a doctoral degree in journalism and mass communication now are women. * The percentage of students studying for undergraduate degrees in journalism and mass communication who are minorities held steady in 1994 versus a year earlier; the percentage of graduate students who are minorities declined slightly. Method The School of Journalism at Ohio State University has conducted the annual survey of enrollments every year since 1968. The survey methods were revised in 1988 and have remained basically unchanged since. Schools listed in either the Journalism & Mass Communication Directory published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication or The Journalist's Road to Success, A Career and Scholarship Guide, published by The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc., are included in the population of surveyed schools. All degree-granting senior colleges and universities with courses organized under the labels of journalism and mass communication are invited to be listed in the AEJMC Directory. To be included in the Guide, the college or university must offer at least 10 courses in news-editorial journalism, which must include core courses, such as an introduction to the mass media, and press law and ethics, as well as basic skills courses, such as reporting and editing. For the first time in 1992, the two journalism programs listed in the AEJMC Directory in Puerto Rico were included in the population definition. A combination of these two directories produced 431 active programs in 1994.(1) Combination of the two directories resulted in 430 operational programs in 1993, 420 in 1992, 414 in 1991, 404 in 1990, 395 in 1989, and 394 schools in 1988. In October 1994, a questionnaire was mailed to the administrator of each of these programs. Subsequent mailings of this same questionnaire were sent to non-responding schools in December, January, and February. Non-responding schools were subsequently contacted by telephone and asked to complete the questionnaire over the telephone. The questionnaire asked the administrator to provide information on total enrollments in the autumn of 1994, enrollment by year in school, by sequence of study, by gender, and by racial or ethnic group. In addition, administrators were asked to indicate the number and type of degrees granted in the 1993-94 academic year, degrees granted by sequence of study, by gender, by racial group, and by term within the academic year. …