The Best PR Schools in the U.S.

January 19, 2009

©Andres Rodriguez | Dreamstime.comWhile business schools, law schools and medical schools are ranked by many organizations every year, there are not as many resources for students who want to study public relations.  But thanks to PR Week, we now know which five PR schools are the best. On March 5, PR Week will announce a winner of the PR Education Program of the Year 2009. Let’s take a look at the nominees:

• Georgetown University Masters of Professional Studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communications
• James Madison University
• New York University, MS Degree In Public Relations & Corporate Communication
• University of Alabama PR Program, Spring 2008
• University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication, Public Relations Studies Program

Good luck to all on March 5, but I do hope that my alma mater, the University of Southern California, wins!

As a graduate from a PR program, I would ask the following questions when researching a PR program:

  • How much does it focus on communications theory and how much time do you spend on learning the actual PR skills?
  • Has the school updated its syllabus recently to reflect the new realities of doing PR? Will you learn about social media, search engine optimization, social networking and blogger outreach?
  • Who will you be learning from? When was the last time the school’s professors have worked on a real-life PR project?
  • What connections will you be able to make at school?
  • Does the school have a chapter of PRSSA and a student-run PR firm?
  • Will you have an opportunity to do an internship in PR while in school?

I am sure you can think of more. This is just to get you started thinking about the types of questions you want to find answers to.

Good luck!

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  • http://www.cyberfootprint.eu Honza

    How did it turn out? Did USC win the contest?

  • http://www.czechpr.com Vojtech Horna

    It is New York University, MS Degree In Public Relations & Corporate Communication. More details here: http://tinyurl.com/b2prgh

  • Heather

    University of Oregon has an excellent accredited Journalism Program that focuses on PR.

  • http://www.czechpr.com vojtech

    Test

  • Jbrook Flores91

    I'm planning to go to USC to major in public relations. My focus is on either entertainment or fashion, is Annenberg the right school for me?

  • Portiamensah333

    am planing to pursue public relation which school should i choose. please help me.thank you!

  • http://twitter.com/vojtech vojtech

    I would recommend USC for this focus. Because of its location, it has a great ties to the entertainment and fashion industries.

  • http://twitter.com/vojtech vojtech

    I would obviously recommend USC, but there are other really good schools for PR as noted in the article above. Also consider whether to study PR as a BA or MA. I wouldn’t recommend studying PR as both BA & MA. 

  • AshleyM

    I’m interested in Sports PR.  I am finishing up my BS in Communication Studies at Northern AZ Univ.  I am interested in USC but it seems expensive!  Is the price worth the outcome? 

  • Sarahsuhm

    Hello I live in Michigan and wondered if any of the schools here were worth pursuing my BA in public relations at. I know USC is a great public relations school, but would like to stay a bit closer to home. 

  • Someone who knows!

    Florida State University has one of the most dedicated and comprehensive public relations programs in America. I would highly recommend FSU to anyone who is seriously considering PR as a career. It is very prestigious and insanely competitive to get in. Typically, one must have a 3.7 GPA to even be considered for admission. They only admit 35 students every year, but the quality of instruction is superior. If you graduate from FSU PR, you are guaranteed an awesome job… and the internships are amazing as well (NYC, ATL, Boston, London, Miami). Good luck!

  • http://www.czechpr.com vojtech

    Thank you for sharing! Would be great to know whether you are speaking from personal experience or as someone who works for the school. Thanks

  • Someone who knows!

    No worries! To answer your question, I just Graduated from Florida State University. I hope that helps.