Master's in Advertising Program

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brochure

Graduate Brochure

The flexibility of UT Austin’s M.A. program allows you to create a graduate degree focused on your interests and goals with a diversity of study through the advertising courses and supporting course work. Most students complete this program in 21 months or less. Our M.A. program is a full-time, in-person, Monday through Friday curriculum.

Admissions

Details about the application procedure are available in the Graduate Brochure.  Our applicant evaluation process is holistic and will consider all components of your application materials. The code for The University of Texas at Austin is 6882. International applicants must submit the required, official TOEFL or IELTS score. View more information on TOEFL scores.

The admissions deadline for M.A. applicants for Fall 2024 was December 1, 2023.

We admit new students for the fall semester only. Please refer to the Graduate Brochure for detailed information on admission procedures. The Apply Texas electronic application is the standard method for applying for admission. 

Fall 2024 M.A. admission decisions will be released before March 15, 2024.

Prerequisite Courses for M.A. Program

Many of our applicants have never taken a course in advertising and enter with degrees from other fields. That is not a problem. You can apply to the program even if you have absolutely no background in advertising. However, you must complete the following two prerequisites prior to your first semester in the program. Courses do not need to be completed prior to the application process.

  • A basic marketing course
  • A basic statistics course

Almost any statistics course can be used to satisfy this prerequisite; from sociology statistics to business statistics. Any basic marketing course can satisfy the marketing prerequisite. If you have taken a statistics or marketing course during your undergraduate program, we can waive that prerequisite for you during your advising session at the start of your first semester. 

Test Scores

M.A. in Advertising 

GPA: The Graduate School recommends a minimum of a 3.0 (in upper-division coursework).

TOEFL: Applicants whose first language is not English must submit scores from the TOEFL exam. Minimum scores and exemption requirements are found on the International Students webpage of the Graduate School.

Additional Program Requirements for Admission:

  • Letters of Reference - contact information will be submitted online as part of your application for three references.
  • Statement of Purpose - a short essay defining and discussing goals, intended research areas, and previous training/education/experience.
  • Official Resume - once your application is uploaded and acknowledged by the Graduate and International Admissions, upload your resume.

Diversity of Study Options 

Although many of our students will create their own area of emphasis using our advertising courses and supporting course work, some will desire even more depth of study in one area or another. To meet their needs and to better bridge the gap between academia and industry, we offer three programs as current enhancement programs to our M.A. degree:

  • Texas Strategy: designed to allow all students to observe, interpret, and integrate consumer intelligence.
  • Texas Immersive: where students will learn to become Experience Designers
  • Texas Creative: for future digital copywriters and art directors.
  • Texas Public Relations: Texas Public Relations Program provides students with a blend of practical skills and theoretical rigor essential for a diverse range of career opportunities in the field of public relations.

See the Graduate Brochure for more detailed information.  For specific course descriptions, please refer to our advertising graduate courses.

Applications to each track will be emailed to admitted students during the Spring semester of each year.

 

Portfolio Programs

University Portfolio Programs are opportunities for students to obtain credentials in a cross-disciplinary academic area of inquiry while they are completing the requirements for a master's degree in their chosen discipline. A portfolio program usually consists of four thematically-related graduate courses and a research presentation (for a master's portfolio program, practical experience related to the portfolio program may replace the presentation). Portfolio Program courses fulfill the minor course requirement in the Advertising Degree Plan. 

Below are a few of the Portfolio Programs offered: 

African and African American Studies
Communication, Information and Cultural Policy
Cultural Studies
Mexican American Studies
Nonprofit Studies

View all current Portfolio Programs, program descriptions and application procedures.


Dual-Degree Options

In addition, the Moody College of Communication offers several dual-degree options with the following programs:


Graduate School Select Admission Program 

The purpose of the Select Admissions Program is to encourage current undergraduate students with top academic records to remain at the university for a Texas Advertising graduate degree. Each year, one or two exceptionally outstanding undergraduates are nominated for the program. For more information please contact the Graduate Coordinator.

Advising

Dr. Gary Wilcox is the M.A. Advisor and he approves the students' course selections each semester as well as all formal documents during each student's program of study. Every student is required to consult the Graduate Advisor prior to registration each semester so that advising bars may be cleared. An online advising site is available to facilitate the process.

Graduate Internships

Please visit the Graduate Internships page to learn more about the graduate internship requirement.