Enrollment, Retention & Placement
Rankings
#1
Journalism School in Kansas (College Factual 2023)
#4
Most Popular Journalism School in U.S. (College Factual 2023)
#13
Best Journalism School for Bachelor's Degree (College Factual 2023)
KU School of Journalism and Mass Communications Enrollment
| Year | Digital Marketing Communications/Strategic Communication | Multimedia Journalism/News & Information | Media Arts & Production | Sports Media & Society | Total Enrollment* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2024 | 519 | 199 | 106 | 174 | 973 | |
| Fall 2023 | 452 | 249 | 90 | 39 | 817 | |
| Fall 2022 | 404 | 239 | 13 | n/a | 656 | |
| Fall 2021 | 470 | 229 | n/a | n/a | 696 | |
| Fall 2020 | 534 | 220 | n/a | n/a | 753 | |
| Fall 2019 | 556 | 231 | n/a | n/a | 781 | |
| Fall 2018 | 552 | 270 | n/a | n/a | 815 | |
| Fall 2017 | 566 | 278 | n/a | n/a | 837 | |
| Fall 2016 | 560 | 269 | n/a | n/a | 826 | |
| Fall 2015 | 584 | 304 | n/a | n/a | 888 | |
| Fall 2014 | 537 | 328 | n/a | n/a | 865 | |
| Fall 2013 | 510 | 344 | n/a | n/a | 853 | |
| Fall 2012 | 446 | 318 | n/a | n/a | 764 | |
| Fall 2011 | 501 | 342 | n/a | n/a | 843 | |
| Fall 2010 | 499 | 364 | n/a | n/a | 863 |
| Year | Female | Male | Domestic Minority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2024 | 71.7% | 28.3% | 23.2% |
| Fall 2023 | 71.8% | 28.2% | 21.9% |
| Fall 2022 | 73.02% | 26.98% | 19.05% |
| Fall 2021 | 72.99% | 27.01% | 17.67% |
| Fall 2020 | 75.30% | 24.70% | 15.94% |
| Fall 2019 | 75.03% | 24.97% | 16.77% |
| Fall 2018 | 72.76% | 27.24% | 16.80% |
| Fall 2017 | 73.95% | 26.05% | 18.52% |
| Fall 2016 | 70.57% | 29.43% | 17.31% |
| Fall 2015 | 70.61% | 29.39% | 18.36% |
| Fall 2014 | 69.60% | 30.40% | 16.18% |
| Fall 2013 | 71.63% | 28.37% | 12.78% |
| Fall 2012 | 71.33% | 28.67% | 12.27% |
| Fall 2011 | 69.87% | 30.13% | 11.39% |
| Fall 2010 | 70.57% | 29.43% | 10.43% |
School of Journalism Retention Rates
| Year of Admission | after 1 semester | after 1 year | after 2 years | after 3 years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2010 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 93.33% | 74.67% | 69.33% | 63.89% |
| retained at KU | 98.67% | 96.00% | 85.33% | 84.72% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4.00% | |
| Fall 2011 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 92.68% | 74.39% | 63.41% | 58.54% |
| retained at KU | 93.90% | 82.93% | 79.27% | 75.61% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2.44% | |
| Fall 2012 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 94.39% | 81.31% | 71.03% | 62.62% |
| retained at KU | 97.20% | 88.79% | 85.98% | 78.50% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.74% | |
| Fall 2013 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 94.84% | 79.35% | 66.45% | 62.58% |
| retained at KU | 96.13% | 90.97% | 89.68% | 86.45% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.23% | |
| Fall 2014 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 97.22% | 85.19% | 75.93% | 63.89% |
| retained at KU | 100% | 95.37% | 94.44% | 86.11% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 6.48% | |
| Fall 2015 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 94.84% | 86.26% | 77.10% | 67.94% |
| retained at KU | 97.71% | 91.60% | 92.37% | 83.97% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4.58% | |
| Fall 2016 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 92.71% | 77.08% | 66.67% | 60.42% |
| retained at KU | 95.83% | 88.54% | 86.46% | 82.29% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.04% | |
| Fall 2017 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 93.90% | 83.02% | 73.58% | 64.12% |
| retained at KU | 98.11% | 93.40% | 91.51% | 83.96% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 5.66% | |
| Fall 2018 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 88.79% | 76.64% | 68.22% | 57.01% |
| retained at KU | 98.13% | 93.46% | 87.85% | 82.24% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2.80% | |
| Fall 2019 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 93.27% | 88.46% | 74.04% | 61.54% |
| retained at KU | 98.08% | 94.23% | 85.58% | 75.00% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 9.62% | |
| Fall 2020 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 89.53% | 74.42% | 61.63% | 56.98% |
| retained at KU | 95.35% | 93.02% | 88.37% | 81.40% | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2.33% | |
| Fall 2021 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 90.74% | 82.41% | 66.67% | n/a |
| retained at KU | 95.37% | 89.81% | 83.33% | n/a | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.70% | |
| Fall 2022 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 93.84% | 80.82% | 73.97% | n/a |
| retained at KU | 96.58% | 93.15% | 89.73% | n/a | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Fall 2023 freshmen admits | retained in journalism | 94.97% | 78.21% | n/a | n/a |
| retained at KU | 100.00% | 93.85% | n/a | n/a | |
| graduated (in journalism) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
KU Overall Retention Rates
| Year | After one semester | After one year | After two years | After three years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 93.50% | 79.90% | 72.50% | 68.10% |
| 2011 | 92.30% | 79.20% | 72.10% | 67.60% |
| 2012 | 92.40% | 79.90% | 72.90% | 68.30% |
| 2013 | 93.00% | 80.40% | 73.30% | 68.90% |
| 2014 | 92.00% | 80.00% | 71.40% | 66.10% |
| 2015 | 93.40% | 80.90% | 72.70% | 68.00% |
| 2016 | 93.60% | 83.00% | 75.20% | 69.10% |
| 2017 | 93.50% | 83.90% | 75.70% | 69.90% |
| 2018 | 94.60% | 86.20% | 76.90% | 71.2% |
| 2019 | 94.50% | 85.70% | 78.3% | 71.1% |
| 2020 | 91.90% | 84.8% | 76.4% | 69.9% |
| 2021 | 93.2% | 84.7% | 76.2% | 70.4% |
| 2022 | 93.7% | 85.1% | 77.0% | |
| 2023 | 94.4% | 86.5% |
Retention rates are based on freshman cohorts that are directly admitted to journalism. Students who are retained at KU but not in journalism have changed majors to something outside journalism. Information on KU retention rates can be found at KU Analytics, Institutional Research, & Effectiveness.
School of Journalism Graduation Rates*
| Year | 2.5 years | 3 years | 3.5 years | 4 years | 4.5 years | 5 years | 5.5 years | 6 years | 6.5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | n/a | 0.00% | 2.33% | 63.42% | 12.84% | 12.45% | 2.72% | 0.39% | 5.45% |
| 2011 | n/a | 1.20% | 1.99% | 70.12% | 11.16% | 22.71% | 1.20% | 0.80% | 1.99% |
| 2012 | n/a | 0.78% | 2.33% | 73.93% | 8.17% | 7.78% | 0.39% | 1.56% | 5.06% |
| 2013 | n/a | 1.93% | 1.45% | 64.73% | 17.39% | 7.73% | 0.48% | 0.48% | 5.80% |
| 2014 | 0.53% | 0.53% | 9.63% | 72.73% | 4.28% | 8.02% | 0.53% | 0.53% | 3.21% |
| 2015 | 0.00% | 2.51% | 7.54% | 69.35% | 9.05% | 8.54% | 1.01% | 1.51% | 0.50% |
| 2016 | 0.00% | 3.24% | 8.33% | 68.98% | 9.72% | 6.48% | 2.31% | 0.93% | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 0.45% | 4.07% | 5.88% | 74.21% | 5.88% | 7.24% | 0.90% | 0.00% | 1.36% |
| 2018 | 0.00% | 3.20% | 10.96% | 68.95% | 6.85% | 7.31% | 0.46% | 0.46% | 1.83% |
| 2019 | 0.00% | 2.28% | 8.68% | 72.60% | 8.22% | 4.11% | 1.83% | 0.91% | 1.37% |
| 2020 | 0.49% | 1.96% | 11.76% | 65.20% | 11.27% | 4.41% | 0.49% | 0.98% | 3.43% |
| 2021 | 0.00% | 1.93% | 10.14% | 75.36% | 5.31% | 5.31% | 0.48% | 0.97% | 0.48% |
| 2022 | 0.00% | 5.39% | 9.80% | 61.27% | 12.75% | 5.39% | 3.43% | 0.00% | 1.96% |
| 2023 | 0.00% | 1.91% | 8.92% | 68.15% | 12.74% | 4.46% | 0.00% | 1.91% | 1.91% |
* Indicates percentage of students from each graduating class in journalism that graduated in the noted time frame. Only students whose initial college term was at KU are included. The School of Journalism did not have substantial freshman admit cohorts until fall 2010. Graduation rates are traditionally based on freshman cohorts.
School of Journalism Graduate Employment Data
| School of Journalism Graduate Employment Data | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed full-time* | 79.8% | 81.2% | 81.8% | 82.4% | 69.7% | 75.9% | 78.0% | 75.2% | 73.4% | 74.8% | 83.5% |
| Employed part-time | 9.2% | 9.4% | 10.5% | 7.5% | 14.4% | 7.8% | 6.8% | 17.9% | 14.1% | 7.2% | 9.9% |
| Internship | 9.2% | 4.7% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 5.6% | 6.4% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 3.6% | 2.5% |
| Graduate school | 0.9% | 2.4% | 4.2% | 4.8% | 7.5% | 7.8% | 7.7% | 6.8% | 10.9% | 11.7% | 2.5% |
| Unemployed | n/a | 2.4% | 6.3% | 8.8% | 10.6% | 2.1% | 3.0% | 1.0% | 6.5% | 2.7% | 3.7% |
| Employed in news/info or strat comm career | 73% | 72.9% | 88.8% | n/a | 71.6% | 89.8% | 85.7% | 91% | 94.5% | 91.4% | 86.9% |
*Full-time employment reflects only those seeking full-time employment immediately following graduation.
| Number of Internships Completed while at KU | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four or more | 6.4% | 8.2% | 9.1% | 11.6% | 9.7% | 14.2% | 10.1% | 15.7% | N/A | 10.7% | 7.5% |
| Three | 18.3% | 15.3% | 22.7% | 17.5% | 11.8% | 17.3% | 16.8% | 14.7% | N/A | 13.6% | 8.9% |
| Two | 38.5% | 31.8% | 22.7% | 28.2% | 22.8% | 27.6% | 23.5% | 27.5% | N/A | 26.2% | 28.4% |
| One | 29.4% | 31.8% | 27.3% | 28.2% | 20% | 29.9% | 32.8% | 23.5% | N/A | 33.9% | 28.4% |
| None | 7.3% | 12.9% | 18.2% | 14.5% | 35.9% | 11% | 16.8% | 18.5% | N/A | 15.5% | 26.9% |
For inquiries about this data, please contact jadvising@ku.edu.
*The unique number of students in the school is shown in the column "total enrollment." A student can be enrolled in multiple academic plans. Because of this, the plan rows may not total the total enrollment row.