Digital and Applied Communication (MA)

Program Availability

The Digital and Applied Communication MA at Indiana State University is a fully online, asynchronous graduate degree program. It is open to U.S. and international students who satisfy admission requirements.  

Why Earn a Master of Arts in Digital and Applied Communication at Indiana State?

You may already work with communication every day—writing, presenting, planning, or managing content. This advanced communication degree program helps you do that work with more clarity, better evidence, and measurable results.

The Digital and Applied Communication MA at Indiana State allows you to study communication as it is practiced inside professional teams and organizations, rather than as an abstract theory. Courses emphasize how communication decisions are researched, tested, and applied in real-world business situations. 

What you learn will be immediately applicable within the systems where you work, including health organizations, businesses, nonprofits, government offices, and media environments.  

You will complete this communication degree asynchronously and 100 percent online. This means you are able to plan your classes around work schedules and family responsibilities. No campus visits are required.

Learn From our Excellent Faculty

Professors in the Department of Communication will work with you directly on research projects and other applied assignments. Instruction emphasizes clear reasoning, evidence‑based decision making, and informative analysis of performance and results. 

Many of our professors have practical industry experience in media, marketing, and related fields that informs their academic backgrounds. You’ll receive direct feedback on work that you can carry into your job, your portfolio, or your next career position.

Enrich Your Learning

At Indiana State, you’ll complete projects that reflect the work advanced communication professionals do every day. This includes campaign planning, message analysis, media content creation, and research reports.

Assignments are built so that you can use your own workplace data, organizational examples, or business scenarios. You’ll work with material that matters to you and reflects your professional interests and responsibilities.

Even though the Digital and Applied Communication program is asynchronous, courses are structured for interaction. You’ll compare ideas, review others’ work, and learn how communication decisions play out across different organizations and industries.

What You'll Learn in the Digital and Applied Communication MA Program

Our Department of Communication offers one of the broadest graduate communication degrees in the state. It is designed to help you build a varied disciplinary foundation and then select focused electives that support your current role or next career direction. 

In this program, you will learn how to study communication problems, choose a strategy, and evaluate how well it performs. This process applies whether you’re planning a campaign, managing social media, producing content, or guiding and supporting organizational decisions.

The Master of Arts in Digital and Applied Communication includes study in:

• Research design and analysis for communication decisions
• Persuasion and message strategy
• Cross-cultural communication across audiences and organizations
• Health communication in public and private settings
• Social media planning and evaluation
• Professional media production
• Interpersonal and organizational communication
• Independent research or applied project work

The skills you develop in this program will carry across roles and industries, giving you flexibility as your career moves forward. 
 

Required and Elective Coursework

Our curriculum prepares you for advanced communication professions in the private and public sectors, including media and public-issues management in business, education, government, and non-profits. 

There is a minimum of 30 – 33 credits required to complete this course of study, including 15 elective credits. With advisor approval, up to nine hours of 600-level coursework from a different department may be applied to the elective coursework requirement.

View Required and Elective Courses.

You will complete this program with a culminating experience that fits your goals. Options include:

• Creative Project (COMM 690)
• Comprehensive Exam (COMM 693)
• Research Project (COMM 696)
• Master’s Thesis (COMM 699)

Career Opportunities for Digital and Applied Communication Graduates

Communication skills are needed in nearly every industry. This master's degree prepares you to work across business, healthcare, government, nonprofits, education, and media organizations.

Because the Digital and Applied Communication MA covers both strategy and production, you are not limited to a single career application. You can move between roles that involve planning, creating, and analyzing communication campaigns and content for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Common professional positions for Digital and Applied Communication MA graduates include:

• Communications Director
• Public Relations Manager
• Social Media Strategist
• Advertising or Marketing Manager
• Campaign Manager
• Technical Writer

This program also provides excellent preparation for a doctoral program, law school, or an MBA.

Accreditation

Indiana State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Admission Requirements and Application Instructions

All applicants must meet minimum GPA requirements for admission to the Digital and Applied Communication MA program. 

• Scholastic Requirements: 
  • 2.75 GPA or better on overall undergraduate work. 
  • 3.00 GPA or better on overall undergraduate work in the last two years. 
• Retention Requirements: 
  • Admitted applicants to the Digital and Applied Communication MA program must maintain a Scholastic Standing of 3.00 GPA in overall graduate coursework. 

Application Instructions

All students seeking admission to the Digital and Applied Communication MA program must apply for admission as a graduate student at Indiana State University. In addition to completing the application for admission, applicants must submit additional materials specifically required by the Digital and Applied Communication MA program.

Note: Returning Indiana State University students must apply for re-admission if they have not attended Indiana State University for more than two calendar years.

Next Steps

Once admitted, you will receive notification from the University as well as your University ID number needed to activate your University Username on the MyISU Portal. The Portal offers access to online registration, University records, and other important University services, including e-mail and University announcements.