Introduction

Please click here to see Communication department information.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• Communication Department courses are offered in a variety of formats, including 8 and 16 week online classes and in person classes. Not all classes are offered in all formats. Talk to a major advisor for more information. 

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Curriculum
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements 

1. Students must complete a minimum of 39 credits from COMM courses for the BA degree and 30 credits from COMM courses for the MA degree.
2. Students may double count up to 12 credit hours for both the BA and the MA. 
3. Students must complete a minimum of 15 upper-division (3000-level and above) COMM credit hours for the BA degree.
4. Students must complete a minimum of 18 COMM credit hours, 15 of which must be upper division, with CU Denver faculty for the MA degree.
5. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all undergraduate courses that apply to the major and students must earn a minimum grade of B (3.0) in all graduate courses that apply to the graduate degree. Students must achieve a minimum cumulative major and master's GPA of 3.0. Students cannot complete major or graduate course requirements as P+/P/F or S/U.
6. All credits for the MA degree must be completed with CU Denver faculty. A maximum of 12 credits of relevant graduate work may be transferred from another university with the program director's approval. 
7. Students must comply with all Graduate Education Policies and Procedures.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Students will earn the BA degree in their fourth year upon completing all the requirements for the BA degree. Students are expected to be admitted to the Graduate School in their final two semesters prior to earning the MA degree.
2. Communication BA majors may complete up to six credit hours of COMM 3939 Internship.
3. A maximum of six credit hours of independent study courses may be applied to the BA major.
4. Students may transfer in up to 21 COMM credits for the BA major.
5. In addition to required Communication courses, students are required to take seven elective courses (21 hours), which may consist of classes chosen from any combination of Communication Pathway and Inquiry and Analysis courses.
   • community service and public affairs
   • global and intercultural communication
   • health communication
   • media and cultural studies
   • strategic communication

Undergraduate Required Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following required courses:		15
COMM 1001	Presentations and Civic Life
or COMM 2050	Professional Presentations
COMM 1011	Communication and Communities
COMM 1021	Introduction to Media Studies
COMM 2020	Communication, Citizenship, and Social Justice 1
COMM 2075	Researching and Writing in Comm
Complete a minimum of seven courses (21 credit hours) in Communication (COMM) electives. At least 12 credits must be taken upper-division (3000 level or higher).		21
Complete at least one of the following exit courses: 2		3
COMM 3939	Internship
COMM 4040	Communication, Prisons, and Social Justice
COMM 4051	Advanced Strategic Communication
COMM 4430	Communication, China, and the US
COMM 4500	Health Communication
COMM 4525	Health Communication and Community
COMM 4550	Rhetorics of Medicine & Health
COMM 4558	Digital Health Narratives
COMM 4660	Queer Media Studies
COMM 4688	Senior Seminar: Transitioning from College to Career
COMM 4700	Thesis and Project Practicum
COMM 4995	Global Study Topics
Complete 2 required courses in senior year		6
COMM 5221	Research Methods: Qualitative 3
COMM 6013	Introduction to Graduate Work in Communication 4
The following graduate courses are approved to apply to the Communication BA degree. Students may double count up to 12 credit hours for both the BA and the MA.
COMM 5000	Communication and Sport
COMM 5040	Communication, Prisons, and Social Justice
COMM 5051	Advanced Strategic Communication
COMM 5081	Introduction to Digital Studies
COMM 5152	Religion & Communication
COMM 5240	Organizational Communication
COMM 5255	Negotiations and Bargaining
COMM 5270	Intercultural Communication
COMM 5500	Health Communication
COMM 5550	Rhetorics of Medicine & Health
COMM 5557	Crisis and Emergency Communication
COMM 5575	Designing Health Messages
COMM 5601	You Are What You Eat: Food as Communication
COMM 5660	Queer Media Studies
COMM 5682	Political Communication
COMM 5710	Topics in Communication
COMM 5720	Dynamics of Global Communication
COMM 5939	Internship
COMM 5995	Global Study Topics
COMM 6700	Thesis and Project Practicum 5
COMM 6711	Topics in Communication
Total Hours		45

Graduate Required Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Students must complete the following Research Methods and Introduction to Graduate Work courses the first semester they are available.		6
COMM 5221	Research Methods: Qualitative
COMM 6013	Introduction to Graduate Work in Communication
Students must take one of the following courses:		3
COMM 5939	Internship
COMM 6700	Thesis and Project Practicum
Students must take two graduate Communication seminars (6000-level or higher), in addition to the required COMM 6013 course. COMM 6700, COMM 6950, or COMM 6960 Master's Project do not count as seminars.		6
Students must complete five elective courses. 6		15
All electives must be at the 5000 or 6000 level; however, 1 course (3 credits) is permitted at the 4000 level with prior approval of the student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. A total of 3 credits may be outside the Communication department or more with prior approval of the student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
All students must pass a comprehensive examination at the end of course work.
Total Hours		30

¹

Students studying at the International College at Beijing will take COMM 2021 instead of COMM 2020.

²

Exit courses include a High Impact Practice, such as: experiential and service learning, collaborative learning, writing-intensive assignments, global education, a focus on diversity and inclusion, and/or a project-based capstone class.

³

COMM 5221 may replace COMM 2075 as a required course for the BA degree

⁴

COMM 6013 may replace an exit requirement course or an elective course for the BA degree

⁵

COMM 6700 may replace COMM 4700 as an exit requirement course for the BA degree

⁶

Courses that count as electives include:

• Any Communication courses taken at the 5000 or 6000 level that do not fulfill another program requirement.
• Communication internships (max six credit hours)
• Communication independent studies (max six credit hours)
• Courses from outside the Communication department (max three credit hours; more with the approval of the student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies).

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for the MA program, please visit our website.

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.