The Communication Studies Department offers major and minor graduate programs in Communication Studies. Communication Studies majors may select work in:

• Communication Training & Development
• Interpersonal Communication
• Instructional Communication
• Organizational Communication
• Rhetorical Studies.

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GENERAL ADMISSION INFORMATION & GRADUATE CATALOGS
The Graduate College
Texas State University-San Marcos
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666-4616
www.gradcollege.txstate.edu

Applying for Graduate School
All applicants should begin the process with the Graduate College.

Admission to the Communication Studies graduate program is selective. A Department Admissions Committee considers applications using the following criteria:

1. Applicants must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.2 over the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework.
2. Applicants must complete an essay (500-700 total words) that clearly addresses each of the following questions:
   (a) Which area(s) of communication studies are you most interested in pursuing, and why? (b) Why did you select the M.A. in Communication Studies at Texas State? (c) How does your academic background prepare you for graduate study in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State? (d) What are your plans after completing the M.A. degree and how do you plan to apply your degree?
   The essay should be submitted directly to: Dr. Philip Salem, Graduate Director, Department of Communication Studies, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX 78666. The essay will be evaluated on the applicant's ability to: demonstrate correct composition, grammar and writing style; provide a complete and well-developed response; and explain and justify her/his answers.
3. Complete each of the above by June 15 for Fall Semester, October 15 for Spring Semester, April 15 for Summer Session I, or June 1 for Summer Session II. Deadlines for international students are two weeks earlier. We hve a very competitive program, and the sooner you get your material to us the better you will be. We recently admitted some people after a deadline, but we had few seats in our classes.
4. Applicants with fewer than 18 undergraduate credit hours in communication studies, or who have not had junior-level courses in quantitative research methods and rhetorical criticism are eligible to be admitted, but the Department may require a student to enroll in background hours before beginning work toward the M.A. degree.

Send any additional application materials directly to the Graduate Director, Department of Communication Studies. An applicant may want to take the Graduate Record Examination. The Department does not require the GRE for admission to our program, and the Admissions Committee seldom considers the exam scores. However, an applicant’s scores may be useful additional support for admission if some other factors are not as strong and if the applicant desires to apply to other programs after their MA. Similarly, the Department does not require letters of recommendation as part of an application to our program, but an applicant may want to include some as additional material.

Note: If an applicant has an interest in a Graduate Teaching Assistantship, the Department requires you to send letters of recommendation to Dr. Steven A. Beebe, Chair, Department of Communication Studies. Texas State University-San Marcos, 601 University Drive., San Marcos, TX 78666.

Send the essay directly to the Director of Graduate Studies:
US Mail:  
    Department of Communication Studies
    Texas State University-San Marcos
    601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666
EMail:
    You  may send the essay as pdf or Word (.doc) attachment to CommGraduate@txstate.edu

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GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS

Many of our full-time graduate students work as instructional assistants in our basic communication course. These students serve as lab instructors and are resonsible for facilitating activities, administering exams, and grading  major assignments.

Application for Teaching Assistantship On-Line Form

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GRADUATE CERTIFICATION IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION & TRAINING
The Department of Communication Studies at Texas State offers a Certificate in Corporate Communication & Training to provide graduate-level instruction in organizational communication, communication training and development, and communication principles and strategies for contemporary organizations. This is a 9-hour certificate program that may be taken as a freestanding certificate or as part of a Master's or Doctoral program.