Overview

Ph.D. students work closely with the school’s publishing faculty members, creating original research examining real-world issues. Students take up to 46 hours, including a core of theory and research methods courses; 12 hours in a concentration in an academic unit outside of the J-School; a comprehensive exam, and then complete an acceptable dissertation.

Features

The Journalism and Mass Communications Ph.D. program at University of Kansas requires a total of 46 course credit hours (7 three-hour core journalism courses and a one four-hour statistics class with a lab), a one-hour pro-seminar (JMC 901) each fall semester, a 12-hour concentration outside the journalism school plus dissertation hours, which are variable.

Programme Structure

Curriculum:

The Ph.D. student takes a 19-hour core of interdisciplinary study of scholarly theory and methodology in mass communications and a second discipline.

The program requires 9 hours of enrichment in ethics and legal issues, grants development and administration, and university-level faculty development.

The student then applies those principles to a specialized area in another discipline, such as Communications Studies, Public Administration, Political Science, Health Policy and Management, units in the School of Education or others for 9 hours of coursework.

The student works with an advisor in that discipline to plan that part of the program.

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 36 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-08-24 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-08-01 00:00:00
Starting 2027-06-01 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-03-01 00:00:00

Language

English

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Credits

46 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Lawrence, United States

Disciplines

Journalism View 9 other PhDs in Journalism in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

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Other requirements

General requirements

Master’s degree or equivalent with at least a 3.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

Graduate application: Apply at the Graduate Admissions website.

Application fee (nonrefundable): degree-seeking, domestic: $65; degree-seeking, international: $85

Resume or CV.

An official transcript from the undergraduate degree-granting institution AND all previous graduate credit, including the master's degree, sent electronically to the Graduate Application Processing Center. A hard copy is acceptable if the institution cannot send electronic transcripts.

A copy of the master’s thesis and other examples of research and scholarship, preferably by PDF.

Candidates will be required to answer a survey in their application related to their research focus area.

Appropriate references from three persons, including the master’s advisor, if possible.

International students are required to submit TOEFL scores.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

20108 USD / year

≈ 20108 USD / year
Out-of-State

20108 USD / year

≈ 20108 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

8548 USD / year

≈ 8548 USD / year

Living costs

Lawrence

United States

900 - 1400 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find PhD's scholarship opportunities for Journalism and Mass Communications.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

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