1999 Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments
By
Lee B. Becker, Gerald M. Kosicki, Wilson Lowrey, Joelle Prince, and Aswim Punathambekar
Abstract
Undergraduate enrollments in journalism and mass communication programs in the United
States increased slightly in the autumn of 1999 in comparison with a year earlier. At the beginning of the
1999-2000 academic year, an estimated 150,250 students were studying journalism across the country,
up 0.7% from a year earlier.
The small growth in undergraduate enrollments followed three years of very dramatic growth in
enrollments. In 1998, enrollments were 5.8% higher than a year earlier. The data suggest a softening of
enrollments, consistent with the national projections for the next several years.
The number of students studying for a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication
programs across the country dropped a dramatic 9.7% in the autumn of 1999 compared with a year
earlier. Enrollments in journalism and mass communication master’s programs had declined a year
earlier by 1.7%.
The number of students studying for a doctorate in journalism and mass communication
programs in the autumn of 1999 also declined from a year earlier. The number, an estimated 1,123, is
the smallest recorded since 1995.
The enrollment patterns continue to make journalism and mass communication education an
increasingly undergraduate curriculum; the ratio of graduate to undergraduate students in journalism
education is the lowest it has been since 1990.
Becker, L. B., Kosicki, G. M., Lowrey, W., and Prine, J. (2000). 1999 Annual survey of journalism and mass communication enrollments. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, (3).
The copyrighted full text of the 1999 Enrollment Report is available here.
The PDF version of the supplementary charts is available here.