About the Graduate Program
Our graduate program offers an excellent mix of a rich history, an exciting present, and a promising future. We continue to embody the Purdue tradition of excellence in the high caliber faculty we attract to our program, our highly engaged intellectual climate, the mix of diversity and richness offered in our programs of study, and our outstanding community of graduate students. The legacy of our graduate program is reflected in our extensive network of accomplished alumni who continue to make exemplary contributions to society and to the study of communication as a discipline
Graduate students can earn either a thesis or non-thesis based Master's degree, and a dissertation-based Ph.D. degree in health, interpersonal, or organizational communication, media, technology and society, public affairs/issue management, or rhetorical studies. There is also a joint Ph.D. program in Communication and Philosophy and a Dual title PhD Degree in Communication/Gerontonlogy. In recent program ratings gathered by the National Communication Association, our health, interpersonal, and organizational communication areas all were rated among the Top 10 in the United States. In addition, our public relations area was rated as one of 16 "Premier Programs for Graduate Study in Public Relations" based on nominations from PR faculty across the country (Source: B. L. Baxter, "Graduate Study in Public Relations, Profiles of the Country's Best College Programs, " 2002).
One of our major strengths is the intellectual depth and diversity offered by our programs of study. The flexibility of our graduate program allows students to individually tailor their coursework to fit their educational and professional goals. Each degree program involves a required structure to ensure coherence, preparation in methods, and consistency in expectations of students. But all Purdue graduate students, with advice from a faculty committee they have selected personally, tailor their course work to accomplish their degree objectives. And with interdisciplinary work strongly encouraged, our students learn with scholars from multiple areas of our department as well as from other related disciplines across the university.
Our Faculty
- Includes 3 of the 100 most prolific scholars in the field of Communication (Source: Communication Monographs, June 1999)
- Includes editors of leading scholarly journals such as Communication Yearbook, Human Communication Research, and Management Communication Quarterly
- Are recipients of dozens of major awards for their scholarship and teaching
- Are recipients of research grants from federal agencies (e.g., NIH, NIDA, NSF, USDHHS)
Our Department
- Is housed in one of the newest buildings on campus, the $28.5M Steven C. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education
- Operates a state-of-the-art integrative lab with computers and multimedia equipment, as well as an interaction research lab and electronic media center
Our Graduate Students
- Come from all over the United States and the world
- Develop individually-tailored programs of study with courses in Communication and nationally-ranked supporting departments (e.g., Management, Psychology)
- Receive hands-on research training through collaborative projects with faculty
- Develop impressive teaching credentials closely related to their programs of study, research interests, and career goals
Our Recent Graduates
- Hold faculty positions at prestigious public (e.g., U of Colorado, U of Maryland) and private (e.g., Boston College, Wabash College) universities
- Work for major business (e.g., Accenture, Kimberly Clark, Procter and Gamble), government (e.g., North Carolina Department of Resources, Indiana Department of Work Force Development), and non-profit organizations (e.g., March of Dimes)
