School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Graduation Requirements

All students working for a bachelor’s degree at Drake must complete the Drake Curriculum Areas of Inquiry or Honors curriculum. A minimum of 124 total credits are required to graduate.

In addition, all SJMC majors must meet the following degree requirements:

• Meet all requirements of the Drake Curriculum
• Complete a minimum of 120 total credit hours
• 40 upper level credits
• Declare an Area of Concentration with SJMC adviser
• Maintain a 2.0 grade point average during the first 30 credit hours
• Maintain a 2.25 grade point average at Drake after the 30th credit hour

Students should work with their advisers to ensure selection of courses best-suited to their educational and career objectives.  Please see Regulations section of the catalog for additional information.

All SJMC majors must successfully complete SJMC core and requirements for their major.

Some majors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication require other non-SJMC courses.

First-Year SJMC Major Curriculum

Entering first-year SJMC majors should enroll in JMC 030 (Mass Media in a Global Society), JMC 031 (Multimedia Lab), a First Year Seminar, and INTD 025 (Blueprint for Success). Other classes aimed at satisfying general education requirements should be taken for a total of 14 or 16 credit hours.

In the second semester of the first year, SJMC majors should meet with their SJMC adviser to choose from among the introductory SJMC classes, including:

• JMC 054 - Reporting and Writing Principles — an introductory media-writing course required for all SJMC majors
• JMC 059 - Introduction to Visual Communication — a survey of visual communication design and technology course required for all SJMC majors

The remainder of the second-semester schedule is chosen, in consultation with the student’s academic adviser, to satisfy general education requirements.

Students with Sophomore Status and Above

Students should work toward completing all Drake Curriculum requirements by the end of their junior year. All SJMC majors build to a senior capstone, and prerequisites are required for most upper-level coursework. Students are advised to complete coursework from lower level (numbered courses below 100) to upper level (above 100). Students must also take into consideration that some required classes are offered only once a year.