Getting a strategic communications degree could help you launch a career as a professional who speaks on behalf of an organization.
This intriguing field of study could help you learn more about how to use media, persuade others, and cultivate strong brands. If you decide to get an online degree in strategic communications, whether it’s a bachelors, masters, or PhD in Strategic Communication online, you could develop employable skills that are relevant to industries like public relations, advertising, and social media management.
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You may become a professional who knows how to help organizations accomplish their goals.
Online Strategic Communications Degrees
Strategic communication is a field in which communication is used for specific purposes. A strategic communications professional understands an organization’s purpose and goals and crafts a messaging strategy to match.
For success in this field, then, it’s necessary to understand what makes organizations tick. You can learn how to use data analytics to learn more about a business—both its current state and its possible future growth. In addition, your schooling should give you insights into communication and media strategies. You can learn how to build relationships, persuade listeners, and create customer loyalty.
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To tie your studies together, you’ll learn how to use communication skills to help groups accomplish their goals. Strategic communications can be useful for professionals who work in many different fields. Examples include:
- Advertising
- Brand management
- Copywriting
- Customer service
- Event planning
- Human resources
- Journalism
- Marketing
- Public relations
To help you get ready for one of those industries, you might be able to choose a degree specialization. You’d spend extra time studying a specific area of strategic communications, such as data analytics, organizational leadership, or public relations.
Communications degrees can lead to a wide range of entry-level job opportunities. They can also prepare you for career growth, including management roles.
Common Online BS in Strategic Communications Concentrations
When you choose a strategic communication major, you may also get to pick a concentration for your degree. Your concentration will focus on a specific area of the communications field. To earn the degree concentration, you’ll complete a set of courses focusing on that area.
Some common concentration areas include:
- Advertising. As you study advertising communication, you might learn about copywriting, visual design, and account management.
- Corporate Branding. This specialization can help equip you to develop branding that reflects a company’s culture and engenders loyalty among consumers.
- Public Relations. You can learn to be an effective public relations professional who helps organizations connect with the public that they serve.
- Social Media. This concentration can help prepare you to work as a social media manager who coordinates a brand’s online presence and builds a community of loyal followers.
- Strategic Communication Analytics. You can learn to collect and analyze data that will help you develop business goals or understand your customers.
Each school can offer a different set of concentrations, so it’s helpful to look around and see what’s available at the universities you’re considering.
Strategic Communications Careers and Salaries
Strategic communications are all about delivering purposeful messages, but that can take many different forms. Some people with this degree go for jobs in public relations.
Whether specialists or managers, they may represent organizations or individuals. Specialized jobs that fall within the realm of public relations include social media manager and brand manager. Others choose to work in marketing or advertising. They use their communications skills to encourage sales of products or services. As with public relations, there are both entry-level jobs and management roles.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are the median wages of some potential roles related to the study of strategic communications.
| Careers | Annual Median Salaries |
| Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers | $133,380 |
| Human Resources Managers | $126,230 |
| Public Relations and Fundraising Managers | $119,860 |
| Project Management Specialists | $94,500 |
| Writers and Authors | $69,510 |
| Public Relations Specialists | $62,800 |
| Human Resources Specialists | $62,290 |
| Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners | $49,470 |
| News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists | $48,370 |
| Customer Service Representatives | $36,920 |
Human resources specialists and managers are useful in nearly all organizations. They direct their communication skills toward facilitating the relationship between employers and employees.
Customer service is another line of work that can benefit from strategic communication skills. Event planners, writers, journalists, and project managers also need to be effective communicators, so this degree program could be a good starting point.
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The career paths that are best for you may depend on what concentration or electives you choose for your strategic communications degree online.
Strategic Communications Bachelor’s Curriculum
You’ll earn about 120 credit hours as you work toward a degree in strategic communications. The course list for your major might include classes like the ones listed here:
- Business Presentations: You can practice giving professional presentations that engage listeners while also communicating important business information.
- Communications Leadership: Strategic communications graduates often end up with management positions, for which the training provided in this course could be quite useful.
- Cross-Cultural Communication: A course on intercultural dynamics will help prepare you to communicate effectively and respectfully with various audiences.
- Digital Culture: This course may focus on the influence of social media and the ways it has transformed relationships and communication strategies.
- Law and Ethics for Media: It’s important to learn about the rights and responsibilities involved in being a communications professional.
- Principles of Persuasion: Your college curriculum might equip you with evidence-based practices for influencing people’s attitudes and behaviors.
- Production Techniques: You might learn how to design visual media, record interviews, or edit video clips in a class on production.
- Research in Communications: In a research course, you might learn quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering information about business and communications.
- Theories of Communication: This class will take a theoretical look at how messages are delivered and received in individual and group settings.
- Written Communication: You can learn not only to write clearly but also to use your written words for influence and persuasion.
In addition, you might do a major capstone project or complete an internship during your college program.
Admissions Requirements
Once you decide to earn a degree in strategic communications, it will be time to look for accredited schools and send in your applications.
The admissions materials may include:
- Application form and fee
- Essays about your accomplishments or your goals
- Reference letters from people who know you well
- Transcripts from your high school and any colleges you’ve gone to
Some schools may request ACT or SAT scores, but a growing number of colleges are test-optional or don’t consider test scores at all.
Accreditation
Whether you choose to earn your strategic communication degree bachelors online or on a traditional college campus, it’s strategic to select a regionally accredited school for your studies.
To become regionally accredited, colleges must go through an application and evaluation process. This is to prove that they are reputable institutions that offer quality academics and prioritize students’ needs. Regionally accredited coursework often transfers to other colleges and helps students get into grad programs.
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Also, having a degree from an accredited school can look good to employers and may help you secure a desirable job.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Some people shy away from the idea of going back to school because they worry about the cost, but you don’t have to let money concerns keep you from achieving your dreams. Instead, you can take a look at your options for financial assistance.
One of the first things you can do is fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You can learn whether you’re eligible to receive grants or loans from the federal government. Your state might offer similar funding.
There could be scholarships for you to apply to as well. Some might come directly from your college or from outside organizations. There’s usually a selection process for these awards, so you may want to apply for multiple to increase your chances. There’s also a chance that you could get workplace funding. Some employers offer tuition benefits as a job perk.
What Is a Strategic Communications Major?
A strategic communications major is a bachelor’s degree program for students who want to speak on behalf of organizations. The program is designed to develop clear communicators who manage brands, develop media platforms, and represent their organizations well.
In a strategic communications program, you can learn about communication theories, interpersonal dynamics, and business leadership. The courses may cover specific aspects of this field, such as public relations and advertising. Additionally, there may be classes in communications research and analytics strategies.
The degree program can help equip graduates to work in marketing, advertising, public relations, human resources, brand management, or customer service.
What Can You Do with a Strategic Communications Degree?
Some people who major in strategic communications get jobs in customer service. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for customer service representatives is $36,920.
Event planning is a good fit for some graduates. Meeting, convention, and event planners can make between $30,170 and $96,230 every year. Others get jobs in public relations. The median salary for specialists in that field is $62,800. Public relations managers often earn between $66,000 and $208,000.
Another potential line of work is advertising and marketing. The median wage for managers in those fields is $133,380.
Some graduates of bachelors programs continue their education in graduate communications certificate online or on-campus programs.
How Long Does It Take to Get a Strategic Communication Bachelors Degree Online?
In general, a bachelor’s degree is a 4 year program for full-time students. Online studies can often be completed faster than that, though.
Colleges that cater to online students may use accelerated class formats so that students can move through the material more quickly. In such programs, the classes last about 8 weeks apiece, and they’re held year-round.
Transfer credits can be an asset for those who hope to finish school quickly. Depending on your situation, you may have enough previous college experience to shave a year or more off of your studies.
Is a Strategic Communications Degree Worth It?
Yes, a strategic communications degree is worth it for many students. This degree program can help equip you with versatile skills that are useful in a variety of industries. Some strategic communications roles are growing at a noteworthy rate.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that public relations jobs are increasing at an 8% rate over the next ten years. There’s a 10% growth rate expected for marketing managers, and jobs for meeting, convention, and event planners are increasing at a rate of 18%.
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Even if you go into a different field, you could rely on the interpersonal skills and persuasion strategies learned in your communications program.
Universities Offering Online Bachelor of Strategic Communication Degree Programs
Methodology: The following school list is in alphabetical order. To be included, a college or university must be regionally accredited and offer degree programs online or in a hybrid format.
Boise State University offers a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Strategic Communications. Graduates often pursue careers as brand strategists, communications managers, technical writers, social media coordinators, and media planners. After completing general education requirements, students must complete at least 30 credits of major-specific courses. These courses meet entirely online and are 7 weeks long.
Boise State University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Liberty University offers a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Communication. Classes are housed conveniently online in an accelerated, 8 week format. On average, the 120 required credit hours can be completed in 3.5 years of full-time attendance. Up to 90 qualifying credits from outside institutions may be transferred in toward the degree.
Liberty University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Maryville University offers a fully online program for a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration in Strategic Communication. The program requires the completion of 128 credit hours. The curriculum combines concepts essential to communication, such as campaign strategy, communication technology platforms, ethics, law, and cultural competency.
Maryville University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Pennsylvania State University offers a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications. The curriculum is designed to equip students with problem solving, visual communication, written communication, research, and creative skills. The program utilizes a 100% online learning format.
Pennsylvania State University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The University of Rhode Island offers a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communication. This program is intended for adult learners wanting to finish a partially completed baccalaureate degree to pursue careers in fields like advertising, marketing, and web design. All classes can be attended online. The program admits incoming students three times a year.
The University of Rhode Island is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
Getting Your Bachelor of Strategic Communication Degree Online
Do you believe that words and media can be used to serve a purpose—and that you’re the person to make it happen? If so, you may be a fitting candidate for a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications.
This valuable degree program can train you how to be an expert communicator and an asset to organizations. Online classes can provide effective education in a flexible format. This could be especially beneficial for working professionals and students with busy schedules.
Now is the time to find the strategic communications degree that’s right for you. The sooner you start exploring accredited schools, the sooner you may begin your educational journey in this growing field.
