UF College of Journalism and Communications: Majors, Hands-On Media Experience and Admission

The University of Florida‘s College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) runs its own newsroom, broadcast stations and student agency, giving undergraduates professional media experience from their first years. This guide covers its majors, the hands-on “immersion” experiences, its accreditation, how students get into the college, and what international students should know.

Undergraduate majors

UFCJC offers four undergraduate majors, each in its own department (UFCJC, Undergraduate Programs):

Advertising
Journalism
Media Production, Management, and Technology (MPMT), with specializations in digital film and TV production, management and strategy, and media and society
Public Relations

The college also offers four fully online bachelor’s degrees through UF Online, as well as master’s and doctoral programs.

Hands-on experience: the immersion program

Much of UFCJC’s reputation comes from its professional facilities, which students join for credit, usually one credit per term. The college says these experiences are open to “all students from any major and any skill level” (UFCJC, Immersion). They include:

The Agency, a Gen Z-focused strategic communications firm where students create campaigns for real clients as strategists, creatives, developers, researchers, producers and media coordinators.
The Innovation News Center, a 14,000-square-foot newsroom for news, weather and sports, reporting and broadcasting in English and Spanish.
The college’s media properties, including seven broadcast stations (such as WUFT and WRUF), the Meteorologist in Training program and the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network.
Sports media: writing for online and broadcast outlets, producing UF sports events and play-by-play announcing.
Research and public-interest centers: the Atlas Lab for AI-driven digital media analysis, the Center for Public Interest Communications, the STEM Translational Communications Center and the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project.

New York and study abroad

In January 2022 UFCJC announced CJCxNYC, an immersion program in New York City combining a summer internship program, student competitions and work with The Agency, starting with public relations and advertising and planned to expand to journalism and media production. Natalie Asorey, an in-residence faculty member in the Public Relations Department, led the college’s New York presence, and SourceCode Communications was an early supporter (UFCJC, January 25, 2022). The college also runs short faculty-led programs abroad, such as the Cannes Lions experience in France (scheduled for June 11–28, 2027), Budapest and Prague in May 2027, a UK sport and culture program and an exchange with Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart (UFCJC, Study Abroad). Check the college’s site for which U.S. “study away” programs are running in a given year.

Accreditation

UFCJC’s undergraduate programs are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). In May 2025 the college announced a six-year reaccreditation, approved unanimously, running until the next review in the 2030–31 academic year. ACEJMC evaluates units on mission and governance, curriculum and instruction, assessment of learning, a culturally proficient workplace, faculty, student services, resources and facilities, and professional and public service. “This is an assurance of quality,” said dean Hub Brown (UFCJC, May 14, 2025; ACEJMC 2025 final report).

How to get in

First-year students are admitted through UF’s central Office of Admissions.
Transfer students: UFCJC is a limited-access college and admits transfers on a space-available basis. Applicants need a 2.0 GPA on all attempted work and either an A.A. from a Florida state or community college or, for out-of-state students, 60 hours of acceptable credit plus UF’s general education requirements. Required courses are ENC 1102, AMH 2020, POS 2041 (advertising and PR applicants may substitute PSY 2012), STA 2023 and ECO 2013. Applicants with 90 or more credits are not considered for on-campus admission (UFCJC, Undergraduate Admissions).

What international students should know

English ability matters more than in most majors. Journalism and PR coursework is writing-intensive and graded on publishable work. Advertising, PR and MPMT also reward visual, data and strategy skills alongside writing, so compare the course lists before choosing a major.
Student media count as on-campus experience. Immersion experiences are for-credit coursework, which makes them easy to fit into an F-1 schedule. Off-campus internships, including in New York, require Curricular Practical Training authorized by UF’s International Center before you start.
Post-graduation work: communication majors are generally not STEM-designated, so most graduates get 12 months of OPT without the 24-month STEM extension (USCIS). Confirm your program’s CIP code with UF.
UF at a glance: UF ranks No. 34 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News ranking. See Forward Pathway’s University of Florida page for admissions data, costs and international enrollment.

References

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