This major aims to educate students concerning the role of advertising and public relations in business and in the social and economic orders. The sequence of courses is about evenly divided between professional courses in advertising and public relations practice and critical evaluative courses dealing with the system of mass communications in the United States, the relationship of advertising and public relations to that system, and ethical problems and issues in the advertising business and in public relations practice. Students must select at least 90 credits in non-communications courses, including at least 65 credits in the liberal arts and sciences.

ADVERTISING OPTION: This option seeks to acquaint students with advertising in a variety of contexts and from a number of different viewpoints. It attempts to explain why businesses and others use advertising as a form of communication: how advertising affects the mass media; how advertising is used by consumers in making buying decisions; how advertising is controlled and regulated; and what effects advertising has on the economy. People who work in advertising include artists, statisticians, writers, psychologists, salespeople, researchers, designers, managers, accountants, planners, analysts, and others. Studying advertising will not train the student in any one of the specialized skill areas, but will give the students an overall understanding of how these skills are brought together and used to help solve advertising communication problems.

PUBLIC RELATIONS OPTION: This option seeks to acquaint students with the role and function of public relations in building cooperative and mutually beneficial relations between organizations and their constituent publics. This option helps prepare students for careers in public relations in organizations, institutions, and companies where they will contribute to the planning, development, and execution of the information and communication activities of such organizations.

For the B.A. degree in Advertising-Public Relations, a minimum of 131 credits is required.

Scheduling Recommendation by Semester Standing given like (Sem:1-2)

GENERAL EDUCATION: 46 credits
(10 of these 46 credits are included in the REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR)
(See description of General Education in front of Bulletin.)

ELECTIVES: 25 credits

COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATIONS BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE REQUIREMENTS: 24 credits
(See description of Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements in front of Bulletin.)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR: 46 credits[1]
(This includes 10 credits of General Education courses: 6 credits of GS courses; 4 credits of GQ courses.)

COMMON REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR (ALL OPTIONS): 25 credits

PRESCRIBED COURSES (16 credits)
COMM 404(3), ECON 002 GS(3), PSY 002 GS(3), SOC 001 GS(3), STAT 200 GQ(4) (Sem: 1-4)

SUPPORTING COURSES AND RELATED AREAS (9 credits)
Select 9 credits of COMM courses (other than COMM 100 GS or 120) (Sem: 5-8)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OPTION: 21 credits

ADVERTISING OPTION: 21 credits

PRESCRIBED COURSES (12 credits)
COMM 320(3) (Sem: 3-6)
COMM 421W(3), 422(3) (Sem: 5-6)
COMM 424(3) (Sem: 7-8)

ADDITIONAL COURSES (9 credits)
Select 9 credits from COMM 405(3), 407(3), 410(3), 411(3), 413W(3), 417(3) (Sem: 5-8)

PUBLIC RELATIONS OPTION: 21 credits

PRESCRIBED COURSES (12 credits)
COMM 260W(3) (Sem: 3-4)
COMM 370(3) (Sem: 5-6)
COMM 471(3) (Sem: 5-8)
COMM 473(3) (Sem: 7-8)

ADDITIONAL COURSES (9 credits)
Select 9 credits from COMM 401(3), 403(3), 405(3), 409(3), or 413W(3) (Sem: 5-8)

[1] A student enrolled in this major must receive a grade of C or better, as specified in Senate Policy 82-44.

The Pennsylvania State University ©1998

The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.

Last Revised by the Department: Spring Semester 1995

Blue Sheet Item #: 23-01-030

Review Date: 6/3/99 (General Education Update)