Annual Surveys of Journalism and Mass Communication

2008 Enrollment Report: Slow Rate of Growth May Signal
Weakening of Demand

Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad and Devora Olin

Abstract

Enrollments in U.S. journalism and mass communication programs increased in the autumn of 2008 compared with a year earlier. Enrollments at the freshman and sophomore levels, however, declined, suggesting that enrollment growth rates in the next few years will slow. The percentage of students enrolled in print journalism, broadcast journalism, or journalism generally was lower in the autumn of 2008 than a year earlier, but the change was not dramatic. Students classified as members of racial or ethnic minority groups made up a larger percentage of enrolled students than at any time in the past for which such data are available. Almost four in ten of the nation’s journalism and mass communications programs reported having some kind of hiring freeze in place in the 2008-2009 academic year. Despite the financial crises, talk of mergers of programs and outright elimination of programs has not surfaced at large numbers of universities.

Becker, L. B., Vlad, T., Olin, D. (2008). 2008 Enrollment Report: Slow Rate of Growth May Signal Weakening of Demand. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 64 (3), 232-257.

The copyrighted full text of the 2008 Enrollment Report is available here, courtesy of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

The PDF version of the supplementary charts is available here.

The PDF version of the supplementary tables is available here .