Admission & Enrollment Policies

Requirements for Admission

Students will apply to Journalism and Mass Communication in one of five sequences or to Journalism and Mass Communication open option. Students who are not eligible for admission directly into the major or journalism open option will be placed in either Journalism and Mass Communication prejournalism or College of Arts and Sciences open option  

Prejournalism and Mass Communication

Students in prejournalism and mass communication are enrolled in JMC but must apply to one of the five sequences through a competitive application/admit process during their second semester of freshman year or their sophomore year. They must have completed or be working toward completing 30 semester hours with a GPA of at least 2.25, based on a minimum of 12 credit hours. These students should consult with advisors in JMC.

Before they can apply for admission to the sequences, 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 also complete or have in progress two journalism prerequisite classes (JOUR 1001 and either JOUR 2403 or 2601, depending on the sequence) with a GPA of at least 2.50. Students will also be expected to have been making progress toward their additional field of study

Students wishing to apply to the Journalism and Mass Communication Program must submitt an application packet by October 1 for spring admission and February 20 for fall admission. Students must apply to the specific sequence.  Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee a student admission to JMC. A student will be permitted to apply to the JMC program a maximum of three times.

Transfer Students

Students applying to transfer into the Journalism and Mass Communication Program 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 3.00, both overall and in journalism courses, before they apply. Students without 30 hours of credit should apply to the JMC's prejournalism major. See the Undergraduate Admission section of this catalog for transfer student admission standards.

Attendance Regulations

Students are expected to attend classes regularly and to comply with the attendance policies 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 Journalism and Mass Communication Program may not take any MAPS, arts and sciences core requirements, certificate or minor courses, business, additional field of study, or journalism and mass communication courses pass/fail, but any other course may be taken pass/fail. Up to 6 hours 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 associate director of JMC. 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 Journalism and Mass Communication Program 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 to graduate with both a written form and an online form by October 15 for May and August graduation and March 1 for December graduation. Graduation packets are available at the Journalism and Mass Communication Program office. These students must also meet with their JMC advisor 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 participate in the Stay Connected program through the Registrar's office when their withdrawal from the university is temporary.

Advising

Majors and pre-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, which includes the additional field of study, is required for graduation. Sixty-five of the 80 nonjournalism hours must be in arts and sciences course work, which may also include the arts and sciences core. Forty-five of the 120 credit hours must be upper-division.  

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. Students must make application for a double-degree program in both JMC 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 programs.