In our flexible Portland-based master’s program, you’ll learn the latest in the rapidly evolving strategic communication field from some of the world’s most successful communicators. Build the skills to rise above the noise—and to the next level in your career.
Strategic Communication Graduate Study at SOJC Portland
Today’s strategic communicators must master a broad skill set encompassing creativity, critical thinking, strategic analysis, and practical application. Our 48-credit curriculum covers research, planning, management, finance, social media, and more to help you become a communication leader. Most of our students are mid-career professionals in public relations, advertising, marketing, corporate communication, or related fields. If you want to use communication to better your company, your community, or your world, we want to meet you.
Apply Now
Applications are currently being accepted on a space-available basis. Apply now to reserve your spot in the 2022 cohort!
Questions? Reach out to us at sojcmasters@uoregon.edu
Virtual Classes, Accelerated Pathway, and other Flexible Options
It’s more convenient than ever to take your communication career to the next level! We now offer multiple options to help you build the skills to lead in this fast-changing field, on your turf and on your terms.
Want to learn more about our Portland-based Strategic Communication Master’s program? Register for an upcoming info session.
What You Can Do with a Master’s in Strategic Communication
In today’s content-cluttered landscape, strategic communication is crucial to the success of businesses, government, and nonprofits alike. Our program helps you build the skills you need to lead in this rapidly evolving field. Graduates have landed jobs at major companies like Intel, Oracle, and Spotify. Check out what three of our graduates are up to now:
After taking an immersive media course in the Oregon Reality Lab, Enton Lok, MA ’20, learned about virtual reality’s power to inspire compassion and spur people to action. For his strategic communication master’s capstone project, Lok developed a VR campaign to recruit volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest. The innovative approach helped him land a job as a full-time strategist for Portland advertising agency Twenty Four 7.
We live in the experiential age, where the most up-to-date organizations are using emerging technology like virtual reality, augmented reality, and 360 video to capture the attention of media-saturated audiences. In our new Immersive Media Track, you’ll attend virtual or in-person classes in our Oregon Reality (OR) Lab to discover the potential and pitfalls of immersive and experiential communication strategies and how to use them—ethically and effectively—to engage your target audiences.
Danny Pimentel joined SOJC Portland in fall 2020 to inspire the next generation of strategic communicators with his passion for using immersive media to make positive change.
“I plan to keep creating impactful XR content that can be used by organizations dedicated to wildlife conservation to further their missions…. In creating the content and experimentally testing it in the OR Lab, I hope to create theoretical and practical insights into the psychological mechanisms through which media platforms contribute to pro-environmental attitude and behavior change.”
In the Strategic Communication Master’s program, Danny teaches a wide array of classes, from marketing to quantitative research, that help students make real-world impacts.
Award-Winning Student Work
Our students are setting the bar across the nation with their work. For two years running, Strategic Communication Master’s students won the prestigious, national Arthur W. Page Society’s Jack Koten Page Principles Case Study Grand Prize in corporate communications. Another UO student team came in second place in the 2021 competition.
2021
Grand Prize
Masks are the new boarding pass: Delta Air Lines implements strict mask mandate, by Carrie Wanous, Maddie Tew, and Karina Peterson
2021
2nd Place
NBA Players’ Strike: How the NBA responded to an unprecedented work stoppage following the Jacob Blake shooting, by Andy Jobanek, Isaac Bisilki, and Steven Lozano
2020
Grand Prize
Dick’s Sporting Goods enters the gun debate: Revising the playbook, by Alyson Morris, Hanna Neuschwander, and Rui Zhao
Network with World-Class Communication Leaders
Our Strategic Communication Leadership Network brings together some of the top communication leaders in the world—executives from companies such as Microsoft, Nike, and Edelman Public Relations—to network with students, discuss the state of the industry, and guide our program’s offerings. This unique group helps us prepare our graduates for successful careers.
Your Investment
The numbers below represent estimated tuition for a typical student in our two-year Strategic Communication Master’s program. For a customized estimate, use the UO graduate costs calculator. These amounts are subject to change at the school’s discretion.
The Strategic Communication Master’s program is eligible for federal financial aid and the G.I. Bill.
Classes are held evenings and weekends in the iconic White Stag Block of Old Town Portland. In addition to our library, classrooms, meeting spaces, and studios, SOJC Portland is also home to state-of-the-art multimedia equipment—available for student rental—and the Oregon Reality immersive experience lab.