Admission and Enrollment Policies
Requirements for Admission +
Students who intend to apply to the school complete their freshman year of undergraduate work (a minimum of 30 semester hours) typically in the College of Arts Sciences as prejournalism and mass communication majors. Students may be eligible to apply to the school during the second semester of their freshman year for admission as sophomores to one of the five sequences. See Undergraduate Admission in the General Information section for admission standards for transfer students.
Prejournalism and Mass Communication +
Prejournalism and mass communication students are enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences until they are eligible to transfer into the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which normally occurs at the end of the freshman or sophomore year. They must have completed or be working toward completing 30 semester hours with a GPA of at least 2.250, based on a minimum of 12 credit hours. These students should consult with advisors in the school.
Before they can apply for admission to the school, prejournalism and mass communication majors must make satisfactory progress in courses that meet the core areas of study requirements in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students must complete or have in progress two journalism classes (JOUR 1001 and either JOUR 2403 or 2601) with a GPA of at least 2.500 before applying.
Students wishing to apply to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication must fill out an intrauniversity transfer (IUT) form and a letter of application by October 1 for spring admission or February 20 for fall admission. Students must indicate the sequence in which they wish to enroll. Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee a student admission to the school.
Transfer Students +
Students applying to transfer into the School of Journalism and Mass Communication from another institution must have 30 semester hours of college credit and must have completed the equivalent of the two introductory courses in journalism with a GPA of at least 3.000, both overall and in journalism courses, before they apply. Students without 30 hours of credit should apply to the College of Arts and Sciences’ prejournalism major. See Undergraduate Admission in the General Information section for transfer student admission standards.
Attendance Regulations +
Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to comply with the attendance regulations specified by their instructors at the beginning of each semester. A student who does not attend any of the first week’s sessions of a class during a term may be dropped from the class.
Credit Policies +
Pass/Fail +
In addition to the university’s general policies, majors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication may not take any MAPS, arts and sciences core requirements, certificate or minor courses, business, or journalism and mass communication courses pass/fail, but any other course may be taken pass/fail. Up to 16 hours of nonjournalism courses may be taken pass/fail, except for transfer students, for whom the limit is one hour in every eight attempted at the University of Colorado. Only 6 hours of pass/fail may be taken in any one semester.
Transfer Credits +
Credit in subjects transferred from other institutions to the University of Colorado is limited to the amount of credit given for similar work at the University of Colorado. Transfer credits in journalism and mass communication courses are limited to 12 semester credits from four-year institutions and 6 semester credits from two-year institutions. All transfer credit is subject to approval of the dean of the school. For additional information on transfer of credit policies, please see the Transfer of College-Level Credit section.
Residence Requirement +
A candidate for a degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication must earn the last 30 hours in residence at the University of Colorado. This may include courses taken on the Boulder, Denver, or Colorado Springs campus.
Senior Requirement +
Seniors must file a diploma card with the school by October 15 for May and August graduation and March 1 for December graduation. Diploma cards are available at the office of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. These students must also meet with the assistant dean or the coordinator of student services the semester prior to graduation to complete the graduation check-out form.
Withdrawal +
Students may withdraw at any time prior to the start of the final examination period. Students are encouraged to consider the Time Out Program when their withdrawal from the university is temporary.
Advising +
Majors are encouraged to consult an advisor each registration period. Advising is available from faculty and staff throughout the academic year, and major advising sheets are provided for each sequence. However, students are ultimately responsible for fulfilling all degree requirements.
Requirements for Graduation +
A total of 120 credit hours with a minimum of 28 hours in journalism and 80 nonjournalism hours is required for graduation. Sixty-five of the 80 nonjournalism hours must be in arts and sciences course work, which will include all the arts and sciences core except the upper-division written core. Forty of the 120 credit hours must be upper-division. Within the 80 credit hours of nonjournalism course work, 12 credit hours must be upper-division hours concentrated in a single area of study.
Double-Degree Programs +
Students may complete requirements in two fields and receive two degrees from the university. Such double-degree programs are available combining journalism and mass communication with business, music, or disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences. The double degree between Journalism and Mass Communication and Arts and Sciences requires 145 hours. All other double degrees require 150 hours. Students must make application for a double-degree program in both the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Leeds School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, or the College of Music. Any other combined program must be arranged by consulting both schools or colleges.
