Communication Degrees Online

The field of communication has changed significantly in recent years to become an academic discipline in its own right. It is also increasingly recognised as a key aspect of successful business.

There are a wide variety of jobs and exciting opportunities in the public and private sectors for graduates with a communication degree. Recent BC graduates have secured positions such as Media Assistants to MPs, Public Relations Consultants, Newspaper Reporters, Events Managers as well as Communication Advisors in Regional and Central Government.

The BC degree combines the pursuit of theoretical knowledge with the opportunity to develop and apply practical skills. The structure of the BC degree requires students to take a major from one College and a minor from the other, so graduates are able to offer prospective employers a useful blend of skills and knowledge.

For example, students who elect to take Expressive Arts as a major and Communication Management as a minor will have the capacity to bring business perspectives to the creative industries. If the minor and major are reversed, the graduate will be able to transfer creative and performance skills into specific organisational contexts – eg, by bringing drama skills to a position teaching corporate managers to communicate more effectively. This sort of “outside the box” thinking is increasingly valued by corporate employers. Another example is the composite major in Communication Management/Journalism Studies, with a minor in Media Studies. Students who choose this option will be well prepared for corporate positions requiring a solid understanding of how the media work.

The Bachelor of Communication brings together programmes from the College of Business (Communication Management, Journalism Studies, Marketing Communication and Public Relations) and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Expressive Arts, International Languages, Linguistics and Media Studies), into an integrated, comprehensive and unique three-year degree. With increasing student interest in studying communication as a discipline, Massey University has built on its long-standing strengths in this area, and offers a well-balanced degree that draws together diverse perspectives on communication and media from the two Colleges.

With a comprehensive blend of business and creative disciplines, the BC prepares graduates for a variety of emerging and current occupations. As it offers a number of practical papers, it is also an ideal degree for people intending to enter professional training such as Massey’s one-year Graduate Diploma in Journalism, for which a degree is usually a prerequisite.

The Bachelor of Communication (BC) degree is made up of a common core of communication papers that provide a foundation for the rest of the degree, plus a major field of study, a minor field of study, and elective papers. The BC can be completed in three years of full-time study, or over a longer period of part-time study.

Majors in the BC are offered from the College of Business and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. You complete a major (120 credits) from one College and a minor (60 credits) from the other. This is because each offers differing but complementary perspectives on communication and media.

The remaining 60 credits (four papers) you choose as electives from any undergraduate degree programmes within the University..