Declaring the Communication Major

Before declaring the Communication major, students must first be accepted into the College of Arts & Sciences at Penn. While the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) formally confers the B.A. in Communication, Annenberg School faculty design the major’s curriculum, teach the Communication courses, and admit students to the major. Graduation with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication requires a total of 34 course units, including 14 courses in the major.

How to Declare

Prerequisite Coursework

In order to declare the major, students must have completed or be enrolled in the following courses:

• Two of the four Communication Core courses:
  • COMM 1220 Communication and Culture​
  • COMM 1240 Media and Communication Industries
  • COMM 1260 Media Consumption and Effects
  • COMM 1280 Data Science for Communication
• At least one additional Communication course (COMM 1000-4999)
  • COMM 3091 Communication Internship Seminar may not be taken to fulfill this requirement.

When to Declare

Students may declare the major when they have completed or are enrolled in the third of these prerequisite courses.

We strongly encourage students to declare the major no later than the second semester of their sophomore year, in order to allow time to easily complete all the major’s requirements by the end of their senior year. Students may, however, may apply as late as their senior year.

Declaration Process

Students who have completed and/or are enrolled in their prerequisite coursework can declare the major by submitting the declare/update field of study form in Path@Penn.