Scholarships for Utah high school grads + Utah residents: Apply by Oct. 11‡

Master of Arts in Professional Communication with a Strategic Communication Emphasis Online

Hone your persuasive messaging skills with advanced communication expertise in brand management, public relations and more.

Apply by: 1/1/25
Start class: 1/8/25
Apply Now

Program Overview

Explore what an online strategic communication degree could do for you

Total Tuition: $13,788
Program Duration: As few as 12 months
Credit Hours: 36

The online Master of Arts in Professional Communication with a Strategic Communication Emphasis at SUU is ideal for working professionals. Optimize your skillset for in-demand leadership roles and learn how to create effective strategic communication campaigns for brands, products and individuals through experiential curriculum that uses hands-on case studies to teach you theoretical developments and experimental approaches.

Customize SUU’s strategic communication master’s degree to your career goals. In this student-centered program, you will be encouraged to select project and research topics, elective courses and optional internship opportunities related to your desired industry. Plus, with multiple start dates per year and no entrance exams required, you can begin the application process today.

In the online master’s in strategic communication, you will:

  • Deepen your skills in communication and analytical thinking
  • Develop your leadership abilities and ethical awareness
  • Research knowledge needed to create seamless and effective strategic communication campaigns that affect various audiences of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations
In the online master’s in strategic communication, you will:+
  • Deepen your skills in communication and analytical thinking
  • Develop your leadership abilities and ethical awareness
  • Research knowledge needed to create seamless and effective strategic communication campaigns that affect various audiences of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations

This online master’s in strategic communication prepares you for roles such as:

  • Market Research Analyst
  • Writer or Author
  • Public Relations Manager/Consultant
  • Brand Manager
  • Speechwriter
  • Social Media Manager
  • Political Campaign Manager
  • Publicist
This online master’s in strategic communication prepares you for roles such as:+
  • Market Research Analyst
  • Writer or Author
  • Public Relations Manager/Consultant
  • Brand Manager
  • Speechwriter
  • Social Media Manager
  • Political Campaign Manager
  • Publicist

Accreditation

AACSB logo

The Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).

Also available online:

SUU offers a variety of online degree programs. Check out all of our online arts and communication programs.

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Need more information?

Call 833-994-0043

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Total Tuition: $13,788
Program Duration: As few as 12 months
Credit Hours: 36
Apply Now

Need more information?

Call 833-994-0043

Call 833-994-0043

Tuition

Earn your degree affordably with low-cost tuition

SUU offers students the opportunity to earn their online degree with our affordable, pay-as-you-go tuition, which includes all fees.

Tuition Breakdown

Per Credit Hour: $383
Total Tuition: $13,788*
View additional tuition information+

Program Per Credit Hour Per Course Per Program
M.A. in Professional Communication – Strategic Communication $383 $1,149 $13,788

Financial Aid

View financial aid information+

Tuition Breakdown

Per Credit Hour: $383
Total Tuition: $13,788

Calendar

Key deadlines to know when applying

The M.A. in Professional Communication – Strategic Communication Emphasis is delivered in an online format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year. Choose the start date that's best for you.

Now Enrolling

Next Apply Date: 1/1/25
Next Class Start Date: 1/8/25

View full calendar  + 

TermStart DateApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlineRegistration DeadlineTuition DeadlineLast Class Day
Spring I1/8/251/1/251/1/251/3/251/8/252/23/25
Spring II2/24/252/17/252/17/252/19/252/24/254/20/25
Summer I5/12/255/5/255/5/255/7/255/12/256/29/25
Summer II6/30/256/23/256/23/256/25/256/30/258/17/25
Fall I8/27/258/20/258/20/258/22/258/27/2510/14/25

Now Enrolling

Next Apply Date: 1/1/25
Next Class Start Date: 1/8/25

Need more information about our online programs?

Ready to take on the next steps toward earning your degree?

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Admissions

Get started by checking these admission requirements

At SUU, we’ve streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for the online master’s degree in strategic communications program, including what additional materials you need and where you should send them.

Admission Requirements

  • Official transcript
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution*
  • No GRE required

*Applicants with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a cumulative undergraduate or graduate GPA of 2.70 or in the last 60 credit hours (whichever is higher) are qualified for the program. Applicants with a GPA below 2.70 are encouraged to apply and will be considered for admission on a case-by-basis considering factors such as relevant work experience.

View all admission requirements+

Transcript

Please submit official transcript from the college/university in which a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree from an accredited institution was obtained.

  • Transcript Assist - We can help you obtain your transcript at no cost! Simply give us permission by filling out the Transcript Assist form in your application. Once your application is submitted, we’ll request your transcript and notify you when it arrives. Please note that we only request the transcript for your highest earned degree. We can obtain transcripts from institutions that are part of the Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse networks, which includes most schools. Check their websites to see if your college is a member. If your institution is not affiliated, you’ll need to submit your transcript to SUU yourself.
  • Applicants who have graduated from SUU do not need to submit a transcript
  • International transcripts must include a transcript evaluation from a third-party service such as The Evaluation Company (TEC) or WES showing that the degree is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree

Official transcripts, test scores and other documents should be sent to:

Email address: [email protected]

Mailing address:

Admissions Office
Southern Utah University
PO Box 8008
Cedar City, Utah 84720

Courses

Discover the courses in our strategic communication master’s program

The Master of Arts in Professional Communication with a Strategic Communication Emphasis online curriculum is comprised of 36 credit hours, including 15 credit hours of core courses, 9 credit hours of emphasis courses, 9 credit hours of elective courses and a 3 credit capstone course.

Expand All

Students will complete all five core courses listed below for a total of 15 credit hours.

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students learn to successfully navigate graduate education, engage in research and professional activities, and prepare portfolios and resumes/CVs. Targeted to student needs at various stages in the program. **MAPC students must take this course first if it is offered on their start date. If it is not offered at that time, students must take this course at its next offering.**
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Using communication theory in real life. Introduction, research, and written articulation of both basic and advanced concepts of theories examining the role of applied and professional communication in human, organizational, social media, strategic, and mass media contexts.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students learn the fundamentals of various qualitative and rhetorical research methods, with their associated theoretical bases and specific applications. These methods include: 1) generic, metaphor, narrative, and Burkean criticism; 2) ethnography and participant observation; 3) semi-structured interviewing; and 4) grounded theory. Students have the opportunity to conduct and write up their own qualitative/rhetorical studies from the start (formulating research questions) to finish (interpreting the findings and drawing appropriate conclusions).
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students will use relevant statistics to summarize data and explain certain human behaviors. Focus is on matching appropriate statistical tests to a given situation and providing relevant interpretations rather than on calculating the numbers. Using the IBM SPSS statistics program, students will apply their knowledge to modern-day research and practical problems related to communication professions.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students will strengthen and enhance writing and presentation skills with careful attention to advanced language use required in various professional communication contexts. Students will create training sessions, press releases, digital resumes, website, social media, and marketing materials to help organizations manage their public face as well as learn how to establish and maintain their personal professional image in various contexts.

Students must take COMM 6210 and COMM 6260, but will choose between COMM 6230 and COMM 6250.

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Discusses advanced issues in advertising and public relations and how practitioners respond to and manage issues and events, with emphasis on recent research and theoretical developments, case studies, and experimental approaches.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The course focuses on how to build, measure, and manage brand equity--the commercial value that comes from consumer perception of a brand. It covers topics in the utilities of branding, steps/process of building brands, methods of measuring brand equity, and ways to leverage brand equity.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the strategic use of major social media platforms. Topics include blogging, search engine optimization, content creation, storytelling, corporate messaging, and uses and development of visual content. Students will complete an integrated social media plan with objectives, strategies, and tactics with key performance indicators and measurement.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The course provides an overview of the organizations involved in the sports communication field. Topics include sports media, sports governance, strategic sports communication, academic sports communication, sports compliance, sports journalism, team/league media relations, college sports information, TV/radio productions, marketing, and advertising.

Students will choose three elective courses from the list below to satisfy the required 9 credit hours of elective coursework.

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
The study of interpersonal communication through technology-mediated contexts. This course will explore the adoption, usage, and management of new technologies people use to communicate and interact with each other, as well as examine how the different types of mediated communication technologies affect the communication process.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Examines influential texts (e.g., YouTube, TV, Film, Advertisements, Music, and Gaming) that students consume daily. Focuses on the ways these discourses create identity and collective understanding. Explores message forms and their implications for critical thinking and consumption.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Students will explore an image's narrative on multiple levels (ironic, indexical, and symbolic meaning) and understand how our image comprehension and construction are inextricably linked to the visual languages of advertising and photojournalism. Using eye-tracking and VR technology, students will also learn how to measure attention to entire visual messages and intra-stimulus attention allocation to specific messages.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Communication and Digital Culture interrogates the so-called “digital age” by paying analytical attention to the intersection of technology, culture, economics, and politics. We will trace both the social and technological history that has led to the current moment, from the beginning of the idea of ‘the digital’ to contemporary cultural practices surrounding social media. We will seek to define “digital” and “culture” individually and in combination. Our time will be spent critiquing various cultural texts, audiences, institutions, and technical systems as well as learning how to engage in the production of digital texts as practitioners. Course readings draw from a broad range of literature situated within media studies, philosophy of technology, visual communication, and critical-cultural studies.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
Current issues in Communication Discussion of contemporary communication topics varying by semester. Repeatable with different topics up to 6 credits toward the master's degree. Course rotates topics between Organizational Communication, Political & Corporate Speechwriting, Health Communication, Public Image and & Maintenance Strategies and Digital Activism.

Students will elect to complete either a thesis, a project or an internship during their selected capstone course for 3 credit hours.

Note: Students must meet with their capstone chair and discuss their proposed topic one semester in advance before adding a capstone course.  Students will submit a capstone prospectus document in the session immediately preceding the semester in which they plan to complete their capstone.  For more information regarding the capstone courses, please click here.

Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A capstone experience demonstrating the ability to complete a professional thesis in consultation with a graduate committee. Students conceive, research, and produce a thesis in a relevant area of communication.
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
A capstone experience demonstrating the ability to complete a professional internship or project working in consultation with a graduate committee. Students conceive, research, and produce an internship or project in a relevant area of communication.

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