History & Rankings

The School of Communication + Journalism

FIU opened its doors as South Florida’s public university in 1972. The first communication and journalism courses were offered in 1978 with the former School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) beginning operations in 1988 as part of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Chair and the Associate Chair determined early on that accreditation was key to establishing and maintaining the reputation of the School and built the curriculum around ACEJMC standards. The Provost at the time agreed to make the unit a free-standing school if it was accredited, which it was in 1991. The on-site accreditation team told FIU’s President that it had found the program in compliance with all 12 standards.

The new School grew rapidly. By 2003, the SJMC had more than 2,000 students and 24 faculty. In 2016, the School integrated with the College of Architecture and the Arts to become the College of Communication, Architecture and the Arts (CARTA) and the SJMC evolved into what is today known as the School of Communication + Journalism (SCJ). Post-integration, the School moved from a singular academic unit with four sequences in journalism, public relations and advertising (the former SJMC) into two departments, Communication and Journalism + Media.

The Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Home to the award-winning South Florida Media Network, the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media is a dynamic, digitally centered environment dedicated to providing student journalists with a broad platform for sharing their voices and bringing impactful stories to life. With partners like NBC Universal, Univision, The Miami Herald, and the E.W. Scripps Company, students are able to graduate career-ready. At the undergraduate level, the Bachelor of Science in Digital Communication and Media STEM degree offers four technically innovative majors to choose from: Digital Journalism, Digital Broadcasting, Digital & Interactive Media and Digital TV & Multimedia Production. Core to the curriculum are two media writing classes – JOU 2100 Introduction to Reporting and Writing, required of all Digital Journalism and Digital Broadcasting majors, and MMC 3123 Writing Fundamentals for Communicators, required of all four majors in the Department.