Strategic communications may sound like a lofty phrase, but it’s a field young communication professionals should consider when taking the next step in their careers.
Simply put, strategic communication means deploying communications tools or tactics based on a master plan to achieve an objective such as promoting a brand, urging people to perform specific actions or maybe even advocating legislation.
It’s a valid path to more prestige and higher pay in the rapidly changing communications industry, but it may require years of experience or higher education, such as Arkansas State University’s online Master of Science in Strategic Communications – General.
Many Career Choices
As you wind your way through this 30-credit program you’ll enhance your abilities to strategically influence and strengthen the mission of an organization through communication, giving you opportunities in virtually any industry.
Through the online program you will:
- Sharpen your skills for persuading and shaping human interactions.
- Learn to use various methods to deliver key messages to diverse target audiences and elicit action.
- Master an array of tools to craft communications, and track and measure their effectiveness.
- Gain a complete understanding of paid, earned, shared and owned media.
Coursework taught by experienced faculty — the same faculty who teach on campus — will give you essential skills needed to advance your career. You’ll gain an in-depth understanding of qualitative research, media management and interactive digital strategy, while learning to integrate social media initiatives into overall marketing plans.
The writing-intensive course requires you to connect theory to practice in a capstone project in which you’ll devise solutions and strategies to a real-world communication issue.
The online M.S. in Strategic Communications – General program will sharpen your critical thinking skills and help you develop the strategic planning skills needed for a number of public and private sector jobs including:
- Marketing Communications Director
- Public Relations Director
- Director of Content Management
- Senior Account Director
- Director of Marketing
The skill set developed through the program is highly marketable and opens doors to career opportunities in any number of fields.
Likely Candidates for the Online Degree Program
The online Master of Science in Strategic Communications – General program is designed for professionals with job and family responsibilities who cannot take the time to attend a two-year program on campus.
According to OEDb.com, there are several advantages to online degree programs:
- Associated expenses of an online degree program are almost always less. For example, there are no commuting costs, and sometimes the required course materials are available online at no cost.
- Students can listen to lectures and complete assignments with no need to fight traffic, leave work early or miss time with the family.
- Earning a degree can show employers or potential employers that you are ambitious and want to be informed and prepared for new challenges.
The Arkansas State Difference
The Arkansas State University Master of Science in Strategic Communications – General online program can be completed in as few as 10 months at a total tuition of $9,187.50. That works out to $306.25 per credit hour. The same pay-as-you-go tuition is offered to all U.S. residents, and all fees are included in total tuition.
Learn more about A-State’s online Master of Science in Strategic Communications – General program.
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