The Communication discipline routinely prepares students to enter any number of diverse professions from event planner to sales, college recruiter to business management, training and development specialist to a career in politics.

Program Overview

As an Undergraduate Communication Major you must complete WIU's General Education requirements, as well as the following:

- 42 credit hours of required and elective Communication courses, choosing 2 sequences from among the following 4 areas of study:

  • Rhetoric
  • Persuasion
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Organizational communication

- An approved minor, available from over 35 different departments.

Possible Careers
  • Management
  • Training & Development
  • Law
  • Public Relations
  • Human Resources
  • Political Campaign Manager
  • Sales
  • Advertising
  • Human Services
  • Education
Why Choose Communication at Western Illinois University?

The communication major offered at Western Illinois University prepares you for a variety of career opportunities as well as preparing you for graduate work. The skills you can develop with a communication major, such as critical reading, thinking, writing and expression, appeal to employers. Recent surveys of employers and organizations report that these are the skill sets that they are seeking when they hire new employees.

The Department of Communication at Western Illinois University offers incoming students a variety of advantages over other institutions, including:

  • A well-qualified faculty who have an impressive mix of both academic and applied experience in their areas of expertise;
  • Small class sizes that maximize student learning and networking opportunities;
  • Dedicated department activities such as Career Preparation Day, an annual event just for Communication majors and minors to learn how to more effectively market their degrees in a competitive economy;
  • The Thompson Lectureship Series, where a top national scholar in the field of Communication is brought in every year to present a timely public lecture and to teach selected undergraduate classes