2005 Enrollment Report: Enrollment Growth Continues, but at Reduced Rate

Abstract

Journalism and mass communication enrollments increased in the fall of 2005, but the 2005–2006 academic year was the second in a row in which rate of growth was modest. Growth in the size of the freshman class and the expectation of growth in enrollments generally suggest that enrollments in the field will continue to increase in coming years. The data also suggest that the field of journalism and mass communication is not keeping up with general trends in growth in graduate enrollments. An examination of faculty retirement projections suggests little disruption in the next ten years, but more may lie beyond that period. Journalism and mass communication draws on two separate suppliers of faculty—the communication occupations and doctoral programs. Evidence is that this pattern will continue in the future.