The Department of Communication Studies at the IU School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis offers an accelerated Communication Studies BA/Applied Communication MA program. It is a five-year program that allows you the opportunity to obtain an advanced degree with only one additional year of study—three years of undergraduate coursework, a fourth year of combined undergraduate and graduate coursework, and a fifth year of exclusively graduate coursework.
This program allows you to complete both degrees in less time and at a lower cost. The Dual BA/MA is available to Communication Studies majors and is by invitation of Communication Studies faculty only.
To be eligible to apply, students should have completed at least 60 credit hours overall and 12 hours in the major, including the 9-hour core (G100, G201, and G310). They should have a minimum GPA of 3.3 overall and a 3.5 in their major coursework.
During their junior year, students should submit a pre-application to the Department of Communication Studies. This includes:
Students accepted into the BA/MA program will have their undergraduate program of study changed from Communication Studies BA to Communication Studies BA/Applied Communication MA.
During the senior year (not before), students should submit the online graduate application for the Applied Communication MA/Communication Studies BA program. This application can be found on the Graduate Office’s web site: https://graduate.indianapolis.iu.edu/admissions/apply.html.
This is the application that is used to formally admit students to the Applied Communication MA part of the BA/MA program.
Students accepted into the Communication BA/MA program will be able to take up to 12 hours of graduate courses in COMM during their senior year. During the senior year, students will be required to take COMM-C 500 (Advanced Communication Theory), COMM-C 504 (Pro-Seminar in Graduate Communication Studies), and at least one of the 2 methods courses (501, 502, 530, 531, or 680) and may enroll in up to 6 additional hours of 500-level COMM classes. These courses will count toward the student’s BA. One of the graduate-level courses will substitute for the BA Capstone requirement. Students may elect to take classes during the summer between the 4th and 5th year or to write the ALP/Thesis in the summer after the 5th year. These courses will count toward the student’s BA. (NOTE: All courses counting to the BA major must be completed with a grade of C or higher).
Students who maintain at least a B average in all the graduate courses taken during their senior year and meet all other program requirements will be allowed to continue in the MA program in Year 5. In year 5, students will complete the remaining hours of coursework required for the MA in Applied Communication as well as their ALP (Applied Learning Project) or Thesis.
To help you guide your four-year college journey, consult your degree map for a snapshot of classes you will be taking to finish your degree.
Contact Dr. Kim White-Mills, Graduate Director, MA in Applied Communication or Terri Crews, Graduate Program Team.
