2009 graduation: Chul-Joo Lee, Nicole Maurantonio, Susana Ramirez, Bill Herman and Magdalena Wojcieszak

Graduate Program

Ranked as the leading program in the country by both the National Communication Association and the National Research Council, The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication (ASC) is home to world-class faculty and students. ASC combines the intimacy of a selective graduate program with the dynamism, resources and personnel of a major research institute embedded within one of the nation’s top research universities. The School is also a crossroads for numerous visiting scholars and practitioners, providing Annenberg students opportunities to interact both formally and informally with some of the most exciting intellectual talent in the world.

Our graduate program is designed to allow students, working in close consultation with their faculty advisors, to design a course of study tailored to their intellectual interests and professional aspirations. Areas of specialization include media effects; media institutions and systems; culture and communication; global and comparative communication; digital media; visual communication; political communication; and health communication.

Interdisciplinary by design, members of the ASC faculty and students come from a wide range of backgrounds, including Communication, Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, History, and Law. Students are also encouraged to supplement their Communication courses with those offered through one of Penn’s eleven other distinguished schools. The result is a vibrant intellectual experience that trains students to apply and adapt diverse theories and methods to the cutting-edge communication issues of the 21st century.

All ASC graduate students are fully funded for up to five years, including tuition and fees, health care, teaching and research fellowships, and dissertation research fellowships. All students are also provided with yearly research and travel funds, allowing them to develop their research and present it at major national and international conferences. In addition to formal classes, students are able to work with faculty on grant and center supported projects, to attend and participate in frequent colloquia and workshops, and to engage in research and learning opportunities around the globe, all designed to enhance their intellectual growth and professional training.

Annenberg alums go on to productive and fulfilling careers in academia, as well as in research-oriented private and public-sector institutions.