Earlier this year students in the 3+1 Journalism program heard a rumor that Quinnipiac University decided to end the journalism graduate program. This comes after School of Communications Dean Nadine Barnett Cosby joined the university in 2024 and reimagined all programs within the School of Communications last year.

“At this time, no decision has been made regarding the future of the graduate journalism program,” John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations, wrote in a statement to The Chronicle. “Any potential changes to academic programs undergo a thorough and deliberate review process through the appropriate university governance channels. Should a decision be made about the program, the program ‘teach out’ plan would allow all students enrolled in the program to complete their degree. The university would also make a formal announcement of any such change.”

However, The Chronicle can confirm plans to end the journalism graduate program have been put in motion. The master’s in sport journalism along with all other communications graduate programs will continue and there are no plans to sunset the Bachelor’s of Journalism. 

The final decision was made about a week ago when 3+1 and 4+1 senior students and their advisors were notified the program would not continue before the registration period begins. A formal announcement is yet to be made.

“It kind of made my stomach drop when I saw the email,” senior in 3+1 journalism undergraduate program Amanda Dronzek said. 

Those students will be expected to move to the Master’s in sports journalism and media program or another program within the School of Communications.

“Last year we made some major changes to the undergraduate journalism curriculum and the masters in sports journalism curriculum,” Ben Bogardus, professor and chair of the journalism department said.

He hopes to use the new curriculum to shape the department into a unique opportunity for students, “something to set all of our programs apart from the competitors and also to prepare students for when they go out into the world of journalism,” Bogardus said.

As all programs were reassessed, the journalism graduate program fell short.

“We had some great things in the undergraduate programs, some great things in the sports journalism program, but the masters in journalism just felt stuck in place,” Bogardus said.

This change marks a significant shift for the department moving forward.

“While we hate to see it go and it has a long history that we are very proud of, it’s not really where we see the future of our department going, given society, given the resources that we have and given the interest frankly of our students,” Bogardus said.

Enrollment in the program has been struggling. For several years, fewer than 10 students have enrolled in the master’s program.

“It really makes it hard to have a different and unique program that students can really get something out of because if we can’t fill a class, we can’t offer that class,” Bogardus said.

With the low enrollment rates in recent years the decision to end the program was inevitable. “Less than five students are impacted by it at this point,” Bogardus said. “The students currently in the program will graduate as normal.”

Some students have expressed concern over the graduate program ending and what this means for the future of journalism at Quinnipiac.

“This isn’t an indication of any lack of interest in journalism among the university, or society or the School of Communications. This is really a decision that’s based on low enrollment currently,” Bogardus said.

“We decided to concentrate on the undergraduate degree and Master’s in sports, both of which are doing great enrollment wise,” he added.

The undergraduate program and Master’s in sports journalism and media program are designed to give students the skills to succeed in the industry today. They have a focus on visual journalism, social media and content creation which have become the forefront of reporting in today’s digital age.

“We are really excited to offer more classes in (media), and that is something we can do now because we don’t have to worry about filling and creating classes for the graduate level,” Bogardus said.

Students have also expressed concern for print journalism within the curriculum with the new focus on digital media. Bogardus assures that print journalism still has a place at Quinnipiac. Students interested can work with advisors to take elective courses that fit that niche.

“When I initially came here I wanted to do sports journalism for a Master’s and then I found out it was very broadcast heavy so I chose to do journalism Master’s because it was more writing ,” Dronzek said. “(But) they’re redoing the curriculum which is making it more even, so it’s writing a a little bit of broadcast,” Dronzek said.

This eased Dronzek’s worries, however those without any sports background may disagree.

“I was actually okay in the end with changing this, but I think that was just my experience,” Dronzek said. “I think for other people it might have been more shocking because they were like ‘I don’t know what else to do.’”

Bogardus believes removing the Master’s in journalism program will help increase the quality of the undergraduate program by allowing the university to refocus its resources.

“We can put more effort into creating new and distinct classes and work with the new curriculum that we developed,” Bogardus said.

Courses from the graduate program will also be integrated into other graduate programs within the School of Communications, along with the new offerings from the journalism department. The hope is to create comprehensive programs available for journalism 3+1 students.

“So, while the program is going away, we are finding ways to sprinkle the skills that a journalist graduate student would get in other programs here,” Bogardus said.

This change reflects a declining interest in the program in the current climate. However, Bogardus said they are not opposed to bringing the program back given increased interest in coming years.

“If in the future there comes a need or a desire for it, we’d be all for bringing it back. This isn’t a decision that any of us like to make,” Bogardus said.

Barnett Cosby was not available for comment prior to publication.