Our Mission
The School of Media & Strategic Communications (SMSC) at OSU has a proud tradition of preparing students for successful careers and for providing them with a well-rounded foundation of skills and appreciation for the importance of mass communication in American society. We are proud of what we have accomplished and of what we will accomplish in the future.
The mission of SMSC is:
- To provide thorough, broadly-based professional education for the mass media professions
- To encourage liberal and cultural background in the arts, literature, languages, and social, biological and physical sciences
- To promote scholarly research and professional performance
- To provide media leadership and assistance in extension and public service through high school and college educators and professional communication associations
- To emphasize high standards of ethics and responsibility in mass communication
Accreditation
The SMSC at OSU has been continuously accredited through the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) since 1928. Accreditation provides a solid foundation of assurance that the program is properly administered, that the curriculum is relevant and valuable and that faculty have significant professional experience upon which to base their instruction. Further, accreditation also assures students, parents, faculty and alumni that degrees awarded from the SMSC are of the highest value to the recipient and the public.
SMSC Graduation/Retention Data
Number of Students:
| Program | Spring 2019 | Spring 2020 | Spring 2021 | Spring 2022 | Spring 2023 | Spring 2024 | Spring 2025* | Spring 2026* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multimedia Journalism (MMJ) | 91 | 82 | 89 | 70 | 73 | 62 | 72 | 53 |
| Sports Media (SPM) | 126 | 124 | 115 | 120 | 130 | 138 | 192 | 195 |
| Strategic Communication (SC) | 250 | 227 | 219 | 179 | 190 | 184 | 194 | 186 |
Total Number of Students: | 467 | 433 | 423 | 369 | 393 | 384 | 458 | 434 |
*2024-25 - We began counting freshmen departmental majors rather than pre-majors These numbers represent a significant increase.
Graduation Data (su/fa/sp):
| Program | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multimedia Journalism (MMJ) | 16 | 24 | 30 | 18 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 15 |
| Sports Media (SPM) | 38 | 37 | 41 | 34 | 35 | 38 | 28 | 38 |
| Strategic Communication (SC) | 102 | 80 | 78 | 58 | 73 | 56 | 70 | 64 |
| Total Graduates: | 156 | 141 | 149 | 110 | 132 | 117 | 116 | 117 |
Retention Rates:
(Students declare major as sophomores.)
Students declare major as sophomores
Freshmen were not able to declare media majors until Fall 2024. Prior to that, they were considered pre-mass comm or undecided, and they were not tracked for retention in these majors.
| MAJOR | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMJ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 57.89 |
| SPM | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 54.74 |
| SC | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 53.13 |
% Sophomores Returned to SMSC
| MAJOR | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMJ | 56.7 | 41.9 | 60 | 57.6 | 52.8 | 76.47 | 57.89 | 59.09 |
| SPM | 76.1 | 68.3 | 68 | 75.9 | 69.1 | 81.58 | 64 | 75.47 |
| SC | 84.4 | 78.7 | 81.9 | 86.7 | 75 | 80 | 86.84 | 85.42 |
% Juniors Returned/Graduated
| MAJOR | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMJ | 76.3 | 72.2 | 79.3 | 57.9 | 78.8 | 90.91 | 87.5 | 91.66 |
| SPM | 78.2 | 87.8 | 83.7 | 76 | 86.6 | 89.65 | 76.67 | 86.43 |
| SC | 89.7 | 88.1 | 92.3 | 90.4 | 84.9 | 95.55 | 95.92 | 88.46 |
% Seniors Graduated/Returned
| MAJOR | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMJ | 87.5 | 88.4 | 95 | 100 | 92 | 90 | 92.85 | 82.35 |
| SPM | 89.8 | 90 | 94.3 | 100 | 90 | 100 | 100 | 83.33 |
| SC | 94.3 | 95.6 | 93 | 95.7 | 95.1 | 96.66 | 95.93 | 93.44 |