BA-AH JBS

Communication Department
Bachelor of Arts (HEGIS 0602)

Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (Accredited)

Buckham B119
(716) 878-6008

This major allows students who enjoy writing the flexibility to tailor a program based on reporting and presentation of news, and other journalistic writing through print, broadcast and online media, including social media. It meets the needs of students preparing for a career in which research and interviewing abilities, accurate and objective reporting, legal and ethical insight, and competence in editing are central to professional practice. Compare this major with communication studies, media production, and public communication.

Buffalo State was the first SUNY school to become affiliated with the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and has the largest program in the system.  Only a handful of undergraduate programs in New York State are accredited.

Career Opportunities

Students prepare for careers as reporters, anchors, commentators, and news directors for radio, television, and internet-based media, and as reporters, editors, and columnists on newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media.

The profile of a successful journalism graduate is a person with a strong writing proficiency and a compelling use of language, good speaking and listening skills, keen ethical insight and legal awareness, and competence in presentation of information in a particular format (written, visual, and/or digital).

Academic Standards

Only grades of C or higher may be applied toward requirements for any communication degree; courses with lower grades must be repeated. Consistent with standards of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the number of communication courses that students may take is capped, encouraging a broad-based liberal arts education. The department encourages students to take minors or second majors, and requires evidence of an academic concentration or area of expertise outside the Communication Department.

Admission Requirements

Incoming freshmen and transfer students can declare the major. A 2.6 GPA in the major is needed to register for required upper division courses (300 and 400 levels).

See the Communication department​ for application forms and additional information, including a list of equivalent core courses at community colleges. Transfer students from two-year schools may apply only core courses toward this major for a maximum of 12 credits. Students generally require four semesters of study after completing communication core courses.

Program Requirements