Eduniversal has ranked San Diego State’s communication master’s program No. 6 nationally and No. 11 worldwide.
Eduniversal is an organization that annually ranks master’s programs based on their reputation, graduate students’ salaries, and student satisfaction.
“We have high expectations of our students, and our students meet those expectations,” Director of SDSU’s School of Communication William Snavely said. “Of course, it is all thanks to our prolific scholars on faculty who continue to push our really good students to do really well.”
Snavely has been with the department for six years. Snavely was attracted to SDSU mainly because of the top-notch communication program that specializes in master’s degrees. He said it’s important that SDSU’s communication program is master’s-only because students receive the full, individualized attention of distinguished faculty without having to compete with Ph. D. students.
Snavely said prioritizing master’s students is an advantage to the staff as well. He credits the program’s success to the dedication of both groups working together.
“I think what makes the professors so great is that they care,” communication senior Holly Shaffner said. “They really want what is best for students and put in effort to understand us.”
“The faculty and students make up a collaborative community which helps and supports one another,” communication graduate student and teaching assistant Ryan Maliski said. “We don’t always see research in the same way, yet we are able to come together and have conversations about what we each value in the study and what we hope to do.”
Maliski said the conferences amaze him because of the people from around the nation that come to see SDSU professors.
The program’s diverse faculty members have published research and are well-known regionally, nationally, and in many cases, internationally. Much of the excellent work is produced with the help of graduate students who work with faculty on grants as well as research projects. Graduate students also have the opportunity to be published or organize conference presentations.
Snavely says communication seminars are tough. Seminars are taught by Ph. D-qualified faculty. This prepares SDSU graduate students to succeed in Ph. D. programs once they leave.
Communication graduate student and teaching assistant Melissa Lucas takes pride in being one of these students. Lucas, who chose SDSU because of the prestigious communication master’s program, plans to move on to a Ph. D. program next year. She believes the reason that she has been accepted to many Ph. D. programs is because of her outstanding experience at SDSU and the reputation that comes along with it.
Snavely is proud to say the program’s success is consistent and the recognition it has received is well-earned.
his comes as no surprise, however, as SDSU’s communication master’s program has been ranked highly in past years.
