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Concentration Overviews
For more information about each of these concentrations, you can view the checksheets at the bottom of the page.
Advertising: This concentration prepares students for careers in advertising by
emphasizing the role of creativity and market awareness in all media. Recent
graduates have careers in retail and corporate advertising, marketing, brand
management, account management, media sales, media planning, special event
planning and new media communications. Students take courses in persuasion theory
and mass communication and learn how to prepare strategies for target audiences
through advertising campaigns, new/social media marketing and media planning.
Applied Journalism:
This concentration prepares students for careers in print, broadcast and
online journalism. Students take multiple writing and reporting classes to
bolster their journalism skills. They also choose an outside area of study to
hone specialized knowledge and to build their professional portfolios (in areas
such as sports management, business, photography, etc). Students also actively
participate with RMU Sentry Media, the student?run news website; RMU Radio,
and/or RMU-TV housed in the Academic Media Center.
Communication Studies:
This area is designed as a generalist concentration, allowing the
student to tailor their specific interests within the framework of a
communication degree. It is especially suited for transfer students by allowing
the maximum credits to be transferred into our program.
Corporate Communication:
Students who study corporate communication will have a foot in both the
communication and business worlds by taking classes that cover each area. Upon
graduation, students will enter into the corporate section having learned
internal and external methods of professional communication, which can be
applied to positions such as corporate trainers, crisis management
coordinators, document designers, speech writers and media liaisons.
Public Relations:
This concentration prepares students for careers focused on the
identification, cultivation, management maintenance and evaluation of
professional relationships using various communication strategies under ideal
and crisis settings. Public Relations
practitioners work in corporate, non-profit, educational, government and
agency settings with diverse opportunities in traditional or social media.
Students take courses focusing on the foundational, ethical and legal
environments of PR; strategy and messaging developments; and the creation and
execution of campaigns. Students also participate in the Public Relations Society
known as PRSSA.
Theatre:
Theatre concentration students embrace music and theatre as a worthy
lifetime entertainment and performance option by experiencing popular and
classic works that capture their conscious and inspire them. This concentration
prepares students for careers in theatre performance or production through
applied opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Theatre
concentration students still have a degree in Communication, which allows for
greater flexibility in for future careers. Students also participate in
Colonial Theatre productions.
National Conferences
Students participate in national Regional Conferences including:
Public Relations Student Society of America Conference
College Media Association National Conference
- Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
- National Communication Association
- Pennsylvania Communication Association
- Laurel Highlands Communications Conference
- Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival
Internships
The following is a partial list of organizations where Communication majors intern: 93.7 The Fan; ABC Radio Pittsburgh; America?s Promise; B94 Radio; Beyond Spots and Dots; Clear Channel Communications; Disney World; ESPN Radio; Froggy 98.3; Infinity Broadcasting; KDKA; Keymarket Communications; Krome Communications; Labwerks; Lee Shore Agency; Leukemia Society; Moser Casting; New Perspective Communications Agency, palestra.net; Pittsburgh Musical Theater; Pennsylvania Newspaper Association; Pittsburgh Penguins; Pittsburgh Pirates; Pittsburgh Quarterly; Pittsburgh Steelers; Production Masters; Sterlinghouse Publishers; Talent Group; WPGH-Fox 53; WQED Pittsburgh; WTOV; and WPXI-TV.
Employers
The following is a partial list of organizations that have hired our graduates: Algor; America?s Promise; Diabolic Studios; Food Circus Corp.; FW Dodge Publications/McGraw Hill; Gateway Star Publications; GlaxoSmithKline; Granny?s Attic Communications; KDKA-TV; Markowitz Communications; Norwegian Cruise Lines; Observer Publishing; PaineWebber; Pittsburgh Public Schools; Rome Monument; SEIX Investment Advisors; United Jewish Federation; U.S. Steel; Western Pennsylvania Humane Society; WHTM-TV; WQED-TV; WTOV-TV; WJAC-TV; and WPXI-TV.
Tuition
Tuition information can be found at Tuition Fees & Schedules.
Admission Criteria
The following are required for admission:
- Robert Morris University application for admission - Apply Now!
- Official transcripts from high school and any post-secondary institutions attended
Salary Information
| Position Title | Position Salary |
Advertising | about $43,000 |
| Public Relations Coordinator | about $47,000 |
| Customer Service Manager | about $48,000 |
| Video Production Specialist | about $44,000 |
| Journalist/Reporter Print/Online | about $32,000 |
| Journalist/Reporter Broadcast | about $32,000 |
| Web Content Manager | about $50,000 |
| Videographer/Camera Operator | about $30,000 |
| Media Sales | about $42,000 |
| Market Research | about $42,000 |
| Community Outreach Specialist | about $38,000 |
| The information in this chart is based off of 2006 nation mean salaries | |