The Best PR Schools in the U.S.
While business schools, law schools and medical schools are ranked by many organizations every year, there are not as many resources for students who want to study public relations. But thanks to PR Week, we now know which five PR schools are the best. On March 5, PR Week will announce a winner of the PR Education Program of the Year 2009. Let’s take a look at the nominees:
• Georgetown University Masters of Professional Studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communications
• James Madison University
• New York University, MS Degree In Public Relations & Corporate Communication
• University of Alabama PR Program, Spring 2008
• University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication, Public Relations Studies Program
Good luck to all on March 5, but I do hope that my alma mater, the University of Southern California, wins!
As a graduate from a PR program, I would ask the following questions when researching a PR program:
- How much does it focus on communications theory and how much time do you spend on learning the actual PR skills?
- Has the school updated its syllabus recently to reflect the new realities of doing PR? Will you learn about social media, search engine optimization, social networking and blogger outreach?
- Who will you be learning from? When was the last time the school’s professors have worked on a real-life PR project?
- What connections will you be able to make at school?
- Does the school have a chapter of PRSSA and a student-run PR firm?
- Will you have an opportunity to do an internship in PR while in school?
I am sure you can think of more. This is just to get you started thinking about the types of questions you want to find answers to.
Good luck!
