Communications: Journalism/Mass Communication, A.A.

The Communications Department of Palo Alto College offers classes that empower all students, both Communications majors and non-majors, with a greater understanding of the Information Age in which they live and with the necessary skills to thrive in this increasingly global and digital environment.

Palo Alto College offers three Communications sub-areas or “tracks” for Communications majors: Journalism/ Mass Communication; Advertising/Public Relations; and Radio & Television Broadcasting/Broadcast Journalism.

Besides learning about the historical underpinnings of the mass media and learning how to critically analyze its content, students are offered courses with a strong hands-on learning emphasis through the creation of their own media content — professional-quality websites, broadcast-ready digital television productions, and well-crafted articles and layouts for Palo Alto’s student-produced newsletter, The Pulse.  All Communications majors will build a portfolio of work to present to their transfer institutions and potential employers.

Those students planning to pursue a baccalaureate degree in Communications should base all course selections on the degree plan from the institution to which they plan to transfer. Students who intend to major in Communications and have not yet decided on the senior college that they will transfer to should follow Palo Alto College’s degree plan for Communications majors.

This program is a THECB-approved Field of Study.

Related Degrees and Certificates

Communications: Advertising/Public Relations, A.A. 

Communications: Radio & TV Broadcasting/Broadcast Journalism, A.A. 

Digital Art, A.A.