Best Journalism Schools: Student Newsrooms, Accreditation, and Fit

What Makes a College One of the Best Journalism Schools?

Journalism is learned by reporting, so the best journalism schools are the ones that put students in front of real audiences early. Accreditation is one signal. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications defines accreditation as “a collegial process based on self- and peer assessment” and accredits approximately 120 programs, primarily in the United States (ACEJMC). But several of the best-known programs are not on its list, so accreditation alone does not identify the strongest schools. Five things matter more.

• Professional newsrooms. Missouri, Arizona State, Florida, and Maryland run newsrooms that publish or broadcast to the public, staffed by students.
• Required professional experience. Ohio University requires a 200-hour internship, Washington and Lee requires summer internships, Medill requires a Journalism Residency, and Northeastern builds in six-month paid co-ops.
• Breadth outside journalism. Indiana requires a second concentration and NYU requires a second major, so reporters graduate knowing a subject as well as a craft.
• Clear rules for entering the major. Georgia, Minnesota, Penn State, and Kansas set credit or GPA requirements before students can enter or stay in the major.
• Accreditation status. ACEJMC accreditation shows a program has passed peer review, and the current list is public.

Which Colleges Have the Best Journalism Schools?

The table below lists the best colleges for journalism with the degree each one offers, named the way the university names it, one concrete feature taken from its own pages, and whether the program appears on ACEJMC’s current list of accredited programs. The last four rows are elite universities that do not offer a journalism major, because families ask about them most often. Each linked school name leads to our analysis of its acceptance rate or admissions.

Which Journalism Schools Run Their Own Professional Newsrooms?

The strongest public journalism schools operate newsrooms that serve real audiences. Missouri students staff six professional newsrooms, including NBC affiliate KOMU-TV, KBIA-FM, and the Columbia Missourian (Missouri School of Journalism). Arizona State’s Cronkite News is the news division of Arizona PBS, and its 30-minute weekday newscast reaches 1.9 million homes (ASU Cronkite School). Florida’s 14,000-square-foot Innovation News Center produces more than six hours of broadcast content a day, including for PBS affiliate WUFT-TV (University of Florida).

Maryland’s advanced students report for Capital News Service, which has run since 1990 with bureaus in College Park, Annapolis, and Washington (University of Maryland Catalog). Washington and Lee students have produced the Rockbridge Report newscast since 1985, Oregon students report for DuckTV and produce Flux and OR Magazine, and every Temple journalism major takes Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a reporting course on the city itself.

Which Public Universities Have the Best Journalism Programs?

Public flagships offer some of the best journalism programs in the country, usually through a dedicated school with its own entry rules. UT Austin’s Bachelor of Journalism requires 42 of its 120 hours in journalism, and the first two reporting courses require a B- or better. UNC requires at least 39 credits in media and journalism, with MEJO 137 before upper-level courses. Georgia students apply to the major after at least 24 credit hours, Minnesota students apply after an introductory course with 14 graded credits, and Penn State requires a 2.00 GPA and third-semester standing.

Indiana requires every Bachelor of Arts in Journalism student to complete a second concentration outside journalism, and Ohio University requires an internship of at least 200 contact hours with one employer (Ohio University Scripps College). Illinois has taught journalism since 1902, but ACEJMC reports that the department would allow its accreditation to lapse at the end of the 2025-26 academic year (ACEJMC). Several of these schools admit most applicants: Arizona State admitted 90 percent of first-year applicants in fall 2024, Kansas about 93 percent, Oregon 88 percent, and Temple about 81 percent (NCES College Navigator and university data). That makes them strong options for students whose grades do not match the most selective colleges.

Which Private Universities Are Best for Journalism?

Northwestern’s Medill awards a Bachelor of Science in Journalism of 45 units that includes a required Journalism Residency or Professional Experience, and one residency option is a quarter abroad. Syracuse’s Newhouse School requires 45 credits inside Newhouse out of 122 total, and USC Annenberg’s 46-unit major takes at least four semesters. NYU requires every journalism major to complete a second major (NYU Carter Journalism Institute), and Boston University requires 48 units in its College of Communication plus a professional course such as Newsroom or its Statehouse Program.

Location matters for private schools in media cities. Emerson students intern at The Boston Globe, WBUR, and three Boston television stations, and Northeastern alternates semesters of study with six-month periods of full-time, paid work. Marquette requires a Student Media Practicum and an Investigative Reporting course, and Washington and Lee requires summer internships. Our guide to high school internships explains how students can start building that experience before college.

Do Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford Have Journalism Majors?

No. Yale says plainly that it “does not offer a journalism major” and instead runs the Yale Journalism Initiative, built around an English department course, English 4460 (Yale Journalism Initiative). Harvard says its “academic programs are not pre-professional” and offers journalism courses but no concentration (Harvard College). Princeton offers a Minor in Journalism that requires at least five courses with a B or above (Princeton Program in Journalism), and Stanford offers a BA in Communication, with a coterminal master’s option in journalism for its own undergraduates. Columbia’s Journalism School is a graduate school, and journalism does not appear among the majors on Columbia’s undergraduate admissions site, although the Journalism School offers some undergraduate-level courses.

Students at these universities learn journalism at the student paper. The Yale Daily News, founded in 1878, calls itself the nation’s oldest college daily newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, founded in 1873, calls itself the oldest continuously published daily college newspaper, and The Stanford Daily began in 1892 as the Daily Palo Alto (Stanford Journalism). For a student who wants a liberal arts education first and a journalism career second, that path works well; for a student who wants professional newsroom training as part of the degree, a journalism school is the better fit.

Does ACEJMC Accreditation Matter When Choosing a Journalism School?

It is useful, but it is not a ranking. ACEJMC describes accreditation as “systematic, rigorous program review and accountability” (ACEJMC), and its list “lists only the degrees and concentrations in the unit that were submitted for accreditation review” (ACEJMC Accredited Programs). Some of the best journalism schools are not accredited. Northwestern’s Medill, NYU, Boston University, Emerson, Northeastern, and Marquette are not on the current list, and Illinois let its accreditation lapse after 2025-26. Accreditation is a reasonable floor; newsroom access, required internships, and the strength of the student media matter more.

What Can You Do With a Journalism Degree?

News analysts, reporters, and journalists earned a median of $62,200 in May 2025, and the occupation, which had 47,100 jobs in 2025, is projected to decline 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Journalism graduates also work in communications, publishing, research, policy, and law, because the major trains students to report, verify, and write on deadline. Journalism belongs to a larger field: NCES counted 86,043 bachelor’s degrees in communication, journalism, and related programs in 2021-22, of which 8,844 were in journalism itself (NCES).

How Do You Judge a Journalism Program Beyond the Rankings?

• Find the newsroom. Ask whether students publish or broadcast to a real audience, and starting in which year.
• Read the internship rule. A required internship, residency, or co-op guarantees professional experience before graduation.
• Check entry to the major. Some schools admit students directly and others require credits, a course, or a GPA before students can enter.
• Look at the second field. A required second major or concentration helps a reporter cover a beat with real knowledge.
• Check the ACEJMC list. Accreditation status is public, so it takes a minute to check before applying.

What Do Admissions Officers Look for in a Journalism Applicant?

At many universities students enter the journalism major after a year or more of college, so the application is often read like any humanities or social science applicant’s. What stands out is published work and evidence that a student has reported, not only written.

• Published clips. Work for the school newspaper, yearbook, radio, or video channel, ideally with an editorial role by junior or senior year.
• Recognition. Journalism and writing categories in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards give readers an outside measure of quality.
• Coursework. AP English Language, AP U.S. Government, and AP Statistics, because data reporting now runs through most newsrooms.
• Initiative. A reported project on the local community, such as a school board investigation or a local history series, shows the instincts schools look for.

Oriel Admissions builds this record with students who start in 9th or 10th grade: steady work for one student outlet, one reported project with a real audience, and a portfolio of three to five strong clips by the fall of senior year. Our guide to intended major strategy explains how a declared major affects admission.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Best Journalism Schools

Sources: ACEJMC Fact Sheet, ACEJMC Accredited Programs, ACEJMC: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 318.30, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists, Missouri School of Journalism, ASU Cronkite News, University of Florida Innovation News Center, Yale Journalism Initiative, Harvard College: Concentrating in Journalism, Princeton Program in Journalism, Stanford: 125 Years of Journalism, NCES College Navigator

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