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The bachelor’s degree is the standard entry credential for public relations work, and unlike some specializations, it exists under its own name. A BA or BS in Public Relations is offered by a large number of schools, most often housed in a college of journalism and mass communications or a department of communication. Where a school does not offer the standalone title, the same training is usually available as a public relations concentration inside a communications degree – and employers treat the two similarly, because they read the coursework and the portfolio rather than the diploma text.
This page explains how these programs are structured, what to look for in the curriculum, and which requirements matter most when you are comparing schools online.
Yes. A BA or BS in Public Relations is a common standalone degree, usually offered by a journalism and mass communications school or a communication department. Where the standalone title is not offered, a public relations concentration within a communications degree covers the same ground.
Approximately 120 semester hours, typically four years full-time. The public relations major itself generally accounts for roughly 30 to 40 of those credits, with the remainder in general education and electives.
Expect a writing sequence, media relations, public relations principles, campaign planning, research and measurement, digital and social media strategy, communication law and ethics, and a capstone or campaigns course. Many programs also require a media writing or reporting course shared with the journalism major.
Most programs require or strongly expect at least one, and it is the single most useful thing you do as an undergraduate in this field. Ask specifically how the program supports online students in finding placements, since a distance program cannot rely on local employer relationships the way a campus program does.
It helps but is not required. ACEJMC accredits journalism and mass communications units, and its presence signals that the unit has been reviewed against professional standards. Plenty of solid public relations programs are not ACEJMC-accredited, so treat it as a positive signal rather than a filter. Institutional accreditation is the non-negotiable check.
For most practitioner roles, a bachelor’s plus internships and portfolio work is the standard entry credential. A master’s is more commonly pursued by career changers coming from another field, or by practitioners moving toward strategy and management responsibilities several years in.
For a full map of this program area, start here: Public Relations Program Guide
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
This is the core of the degree, and the part that most distinguishes strong programs from weak ones. A serious public relations major requires more than one writing course: typically an introductory media writing course covering news style and structure, then a public relations writing course covering releases, pitches, fact sheets, backgrounders, and statements, then advanced or specialized writing covering executive communication, long-form owned content, and speeches.
What you are being trained in is not personal voice. It is writing accurately, in someone else’s voice, to a specification, on a deadline, for an audience with no obligation to read it. That is a learnable skill and it is what entry-level hiring screens for.
Media relations coursework covers how newsrooms decide what to cover, what makes a pitch usable rather than annoying, how to build a media list that reflects who actually covers your beat, and how to handle a reporter’s question you cannot answer. Programs housed in journalism schools tend to teach this well, because students have taken reporting courses and understand the other side of the exchange.
Most programs build toward a campaigns course, often in the senior year, structured around the research-objectives-strategy-tactics-evaluation cycle. Students work in teams for a real or simulated client, conduct formative research, set measurable objectives, propose tactics, and present a plan and budget. This is the course that produces your best portfolio piece, so check whether it exists and whether online sections run it with live clients.
Research methods coursework covers surveys, focus groups, content analysis, and media audits – the tools that let you say what an audience currently believes before you try to change it. Measurement coursework covers evaluating against stated objectives rather than reporting activity counts. Communication law covers defamation, privacy, copyright and fair use, and disclosure obligations, including the rules that apply to sponsored content. Ethics coursework covers transparency about who is paying, conflicts of interest, and where advocacy shades into deception.
| Course Topic | What You Learn |
|---|---|
| Media Writing | News style, structure, accuracy, and writing to a deadline |
| Public Relations Writing | Releases, pitches, fact sheets, backgrounders, statements, and owned content |
| Principles of Public Relations | History, models of practice, publics and stakeholders, and the function’s role in an organization |
| Media Relations | Pitching, media list building, interview preparation, and working with reporters |
| Research Methods & Measurement | Surveys, focus groups, content analysis, and evaluating campaigns against objectives |
| Digital & Social Media Strategy | Channel strategy, content planning, community management, and paid-earned-shared-owned distinctions |
| Crisis Communication | Preparation, holding statements, first-hour decisions, and reputational risk |
| Communication Law & Ethics | Defamation, privacy, copyright, disclosure rules, and professional ethics |
| Campaigns Capstone | An end-to-end client campaign from research through proposed evaluation |
Public relations hiring is portfolio-driven. Employers want to see writing samples and at least one campaign or project you can talk through in detail. Two things produce that during a bachelor’s: the campaigns capstone and an internship.
For online students, the internship requires more initiative. Before enrolling, ask:
Many campuses host a chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which offers professional development and student-run agency experience. Ask whether online students can participate, since chapter activity is often campus-bound.
Transfer credit can meaningfully shorten a bachelor’s, particularly for general education and introductory courses. Rules vary by institution, so confirm:
See Affordable Online Public Relations Degrees for more on managing total program cost, and accelerated public relations programs if you are moving faster than a standard four-year plan.
Verify that the institution holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor – such as HLC or SACSCOC – through the U.S. Department of Education database.
A bachelor’s in public relations plus internships and a portfolio is the standard route into practitioner roles. A master’s in public relations is most often pursued by people entering the field from another discipline, or by practitioners with several years of experience who want strategy, management, and research depth. Going directly from a public relations bachelor’s into a public relations master’s adds less than most students expect, because the entry-level market values experience and work samples over the additional credential.
Compare degree options:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Online Public Relations Degrees: Programs & Careers (2026)
