The Journalism Major
Requirements
Journalism students need 120 credits to graduate, broken down as follows:
- Journalism courses account for a minimum of 30 (and a maximum of 45) of those credits
- General Education courses account for another 34 to 40
- the remaining credits are in elective courses
Two other graduation requirements are that:
- 42 of your 120 credits must be courses numbered 300 and above
- your grade point average must be at least 2.00
Because a Journalism degree from URI is a liberal arts degree, students do about 75 percent of their course work in areas outside of journalism. Because we believe the best undergraduate preparation for journalism is breadth, we discourage you from taking more than 36 credits in journalism. Some students choose a second major to complement Journalism or fulfill personal interests. We encourage students to have a minor field of study, which generally requires 18 credits.
Map out your course plan using the Journalism Major's Worksheet
See a list of course goals, and general learning outcomes.
Skills Courses
Skills courses build on one another, and JOR 220 provides the foundation. In all skills courses, you must earn a grade of C or better to move on. Here is the sequence of skills courses in each area of concentration.- Print-oriented students - JOR 220, JOR 221, JOR 320, JOR 341 and/or JOR 321, JOR 420 and/or JOR 442
- Broadcast-oriented students - JOR 220, JOR 320 and JOR 230, JOR 330 and/or JOR 331, JOR 430
- Public Relations students - Journalism majors can take JOR 340 (PRS 340) and JOR 441 (PRS 441) as electives.
Senior Portfolio
Journalism majors who entered URI in Fall 2009 and subsequent semesters are required to pass JOR 411, the Senior Portfolio. The course will be taken concurrently with JOR 410, typically in the spring semester of the year you graduate. JOR 411 was designed to provide you the structured format in which you will select, review and reflect on examples of your work for a Senior Portfolio that you will present formally to the faculty.Download the Guide to the Senior Portfolio (PDF)
