About the Program
Communications executives are clear about the one thing that sets their best new hires apart from the pack: top performers know how to think about any given communications challenge before they do anything. While some communications graduate programs take a "trade school" approach—concentrating on technologies and tasks that may be obsolete by the time their students graduate— Columbia has developed the new Master's Program in Communications Practice in order to provide students with the mindset and analytical skills employers value most.
Designed for students who understand that investing in the mastery of the intellectual skills will have the longest-term benefit to their careers, the M.S. in Communications Practice focuses on developing critical thinking, collaboration, ethical judgment, reasoning, persuasion, writing, and complex problem-solving. Aptitude in these areas is essential for success in today's rapidly changing communications industry.
Communications Practice students apply what they've learned in a summer internship at a variety of New York City firms. Columbia's extensive network of contacts in the field—and the industry's familiarity with the excellence of Columbia's graduates—provides students with a wide range of high-quality placement possibilities, from public relations or brand strategy agencies to corporate communications departments or major nonprofits. Motivated interns will gain intensive real-world work experience, complete resume-building projects, and have the opportunity to network extensively with colleagues in all levels of the communications workplace.
Program Objectives
Our goal is to teach students to develop the intellectual aptitudes required for long-term success in the fast changing communications industry.
The program focuses on the acquisition of a comprehensive professional communications mindset—a network of intellectual skills that informs every communications action, from the most basic tasks to the most complex strategies. Graduates of the program will have a solid fundamental understanding of the industry as a whole, as well as experience in a specialization of their choice.
The program aims to train students to:
- Hit the ground running as a useful and functional member of a communications team.
- Apply analysis, research, critical thought, and sound judgment to support a wide variety of communications strategies.
- Embrace—and adapt quickly to—fundamental changes in technologies, strategies, objectives, and resources at any point in the business process.
- Facilitate teamwork, coordinate projects and function well as collaborators.
- Gain familiarity with and ability to recommend a broad range of communications vehicles to reach customers.
