Journalism & Communication Graduate School

Graduate School
1

<p>hi folks</p>

<p>a friend of mine was accepted to the University of Florida Journalism & Communication Graduate School PhD program WITHOUT funding. the specific department my friend got accepted to is Public Relations.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.jou.ufl.edu/academic/pr/default.asp[/url]”>http://www.jou.ufl.edu/academic/pr/default.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>my friend is trying to decide whether its worth the financial investment to go. anyone have a sense of how this program ranks, and if it would be worth all that money?</p>

2

<p>I’ve heard really great things about that particular program at Florida. How much will it set your friend back in terms of cash?</p>

3

<p>my friend says the expenses (tuition, living etc.) should run roughly 35 000/yr.</p>

<p>my friend is an international student from Asia where the US currency conversion is not particularly favorable - so 35 000 USD/yr is roughly two years of gross salary of the average university graduate - in other words - a big investment. </p>

<p>is this worth it?</p>

4

<p>Is it worth is:</p>

<p>For the Experience?: Maybe</p>

<p>For the Money he/she will make afterwards?: Probably not.</p>

5

<p>my friend says she’s going to apply for a local national scholarship that would cover 200 USD for each credit she takes, reducing her expected expense to about 13 600/year.</p>

<p>at that level, i think i’m going to “encourage” her to do it, since my feeling is that international students basically have to be ready to pay for studies in the US even at the PhD level, and that the money they should be willing to pay is roughly 10 000/year.</p>

<p>is this reasonable?</p>

6

<p>If she could get that type of reduction in her overall expenses, I would encourage her to do it. There is no doubt in my mind that going to a good J-Program like Florida is a wise investment in your future. The point your friend needs to consider is how much she is willing to pay, and how she will be able to reinburse her costs once she finishes her masters. If she can keep her debt bellow 30-40K I’m sure she will be alright. I get concerned when people on here write stuff like “I didnt get any funding to go to Columbia for a sociology masters, but I will just pay the fee. I’m sure it will pay for itself anyways!” That is deeply flawed reasoning, in my mind.</p>