Public Relations
Public Relations
Degree Options
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in public relations.
Description of Program
Public relations professionals work to establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between an organization/client and its constituents. They work in a variety of settings: corporate, small business, government, and political campaigns, nonprofit organizations, agencies and PR counseling firms. Drake PR students exercise the research, planning and communication skills they are developing as they work with “real world” clients in each of their PR classes.
Approximately 130 students are enrolled in the Public Relations major. Average class size is 20 students.
Accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake is among 113 accredited programs nationwide. To win accreditation, schools meet 9 standards, which address such issues as class size, diversity within the faculty and curriculum. Accreditation reviews occur every six years. Drake's program has been continuously accredited, most recently in 2004.
Requirements for Major
Thirty-five journalism credits with 3 journalism elective hours (optional) and 6 non-journalism courses are required to complete the Public Relations major.
Suggested progression of classes:
All classes are 3 credit hours except when indicated ( )
| Public Relations | ||||
| First-Sophomore Years | Junior-Senior Years | |||
| JMC30 | Communications in Society | JMC 123 | PR Writing | |
| JMC 31(1) | Multimedia Lab | JMC 131 | PR Collateral Materials | |
| JMC40(1) | Pre-professional Workshop | JMC136 | PR Research | |
| JMC54 | News and Reporting Principles | JMC143 | Publicity | |
| JMC59 | Intro to Visual Communication | JMC 146 | PR Campaign Strategies | |
| JMC 66 | Media Responsibility Over Time | JMC | Elective (0-3) | |
| JMC 104 | Communication Law and Ethics | ECON 2 | Microeconomics | |
| JMC135 | PR Principles | PSY001(4) | Introduction to Psychology | |
| POLS 1 | American Political Systems | MKTG 101 | Marketing Principles | |
| SCSS 1 | Survey of Sociology | MGMT 110 | Mgmt Process and Behavior | |
Students must also:
- Meet all requirements of the Drake Curriculum.
- Complete a minimum of 124 total credit hours.
- Complete 86 credit hours outside of the SJMC course list; 65 of those hours must be in Arts and Sciences.
- Declare an Area of Concentration with their journalism adviser.
- Maintain a 2.0 GPA the first 30 hours at Drake and a 2.25 after the 30th hour.
Students should see Graduation Requirements and Regulations sections of the catalog for additional information.
June, July, August: The Office of Admission is open for individual campus visits and tours Monday-Friday.
August 1 - application opens for Fall 2014 admission
August 5-9- Iowa Private College Week
August 21 - First Year Student move-in day
August 26 - First day of fall semester
