Program Overview

Public Relations Program

The Public Relations program at the University of Akron is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to build and maintain beneficial relationships between organizations and their stakeholders and customers. The program focuses on creating and shaping messages between an organization and its public, and provides students with real-world experiences through service-learning, exposure to people, organizations, and scenarios that foster creativity, and the development of critical thinking skills.

Program Description

The Public Relations degree path provides students with a comprehensive education in the principles and practices of public relations. The program includes coursework in areas such as media relations, social media, health, and internal/employee public relations. Students have the opportunity to combine electives to form a specialty area, such as social media, media relations, health, or internal/employee public relations.

Specializations

Students in the Public Relations program can choose to specialize in areas such as:

• Media relations: taking courses in media law and introduction to media industries
• Social media: developing media productions skills and taking principles of social media elective coursework, and even earning a Professional Social Media Certificate
• Internal side of public relations: taking an organizational communication course or studying training methods with faculty who are experts in each of these areas

Experiential Opportunities

The program provides students with hands-on experience in award-winning student television and radio programs, and the opportunity to write for the student newspaper. Students can also gain experience through internships, which provide valuable skills and networking opportunities.

Internship Program

The internship program allows students to fulfill either 3 or 6 credit hours while gaining hands-on experience in a real workplace. Students can choose to intern in nearly any department at any type of organization where communication and creativity are recognized.

Public Relations Courses

The core public relations courses create opportunities for students to collaborate in teams, work with clients, and design PR campaigns. The program also includes an active Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter, which provides students with increased exposure to the profession, extensive educational resources, and valuable contacts through networking opportunities.

Faculty

The faculty members in the Public Relations program prepare students to become public relations professionals through innovative courses that teach written and verbal communication skills for the successful practice of strategic public relations.

Career Prospects

Public relations professionals are needed in virtually every industry, and the demand for more public relations professionals has been growing at an exciting rate. Graduates of the program have gone on to work in a variety of fields, including:

• Nonprofit sector
• Private sector for sports organizations
• Health organizations
• Government agencies
• Military
• Entertainment organizations
• Educational institutions
• Private corporations

Salary Expectations

Public Relations salaries can be lucrative, but are dependent on factors such as the size and type of organization, the experience level of the professional, and the region in which the person is working. According to the Salary Survey:

• The national median salary for public relations professionals is around $110,000 per year
• Corporate PR professionals can expect a median salary of $148,000 per year
• PR professionals at nonprofits can expect a median salary of $100,000 per year
• Starting salaries, such as that of an account executive, earn a median salary of $57,000 per year
• Experienced PR professionals, such as Chief Communications Officers, earn the highest average annual salary, around $340,000
• Professionals working in the Midwest make a median salary of $105,000 per year
• Professionals working in New York City make a median salary of $113,000 per year

Where Recent Graduates Are Working

Recent graduates of the Public Relations program are working at organizations such as:

• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
• Better Business Bureau
• University of Mount Union
• Caesars Entertainment Corp.
• MurphyEpson
• Squirrels LLC