Want an MBA with a PR concentration? You can get it @ UCM

It’s a trendsetting opportunity
It’s an exciting time in the world of education at the University of Central Missouri in its Master of Business Administration program. The official launch of a first-of-its-kind opportunity for biz pros interested in PR and Strat Comm graduate education took place in fall 2021. MBA candidates can now complement the traditional business core with an elective public relations concentration. That’s something to talk about! UCM’s PR and Strategic Communication faculty are enthused about the move; they know it’s a good business move.
PR investment is good biz
Forbes Council Member Michelle Mekky knows about the the need to invest even more in public relations in 2022. She writes, “The past year was a time of unprecedented challenge and even opportunity… telling your story in a creative way — and to the right audiences at the right time — is a crucial part of growing your business…” The UCM Public Relations and Strategic Communication program agrees with her. We know that coupling the opportunity to earn an MBA with a concentration in public relations is good business and good education.
The details are exciting
As a 33-credit program, the MBA program is designed to allow most professionals to attain their degree in 2 to 2 ½ years while working full time. UCM’s MBA program is AACSB-accredited (only the top 5% of business schools internationally achieve this designation) and affordable (among the lowest in tuition compared to other similar institutions). US News & World Reports (2020) ranked UCM’s online MBA 83rd on a list of 334 schools.
PRSA backs the coursework
An anchor course in the UCM MBA PR concentration is its Strategic Communication course. Strategic Communication meets the criteria set by the Public Relations Society of America MBA program as foundational to business education. PRSA MBA approval of the course was received in 2019 and UCM joined a list of elite schools including Dartmouth, William and Mary, and the University of Texas El Paso. Offered three times to date in UCM’s MBA program, students who completed Strategic Communication said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the course and found the content extremely helpful in all professional realms;” “I enjoyed the critical thinking and problem-solving aspects of the course;” and “I now understand how [strategic] communication applies to the whole business.”
PRNews approves of our UG moves
A testament to the kinds of PR curriculum offered at the graduate level is the list of honors earned by the PRSC faculty and their courses. PRNews recently named the UCM Public Relations and Strategic Communication undergraduate program to its prestigious 2022 Education A-list. In addition, as one of 45 programs world-wide recognized by PRSA for offering the “global standard in public relations education excellence” (CEPR), the PRSC program was recertified in 2020. The PRSC program’s 2026 recertification goal is to also see UCM’s MBA PR program receive graduate-level CEPR status.
We’re easy to contact
If you like what you are reading you can contact UCM MBA Director Dan Jensen for more information. He can be reached at mba@ucmo.edu, 1-660-543-8039, or https://www.linkedin.com/in/danhjensen/.
If you want the details about the PR concentration curriculum, contact Dr. Tricia Hansen-Horn. She can be reached at hansen-horn@ucmo.edu or https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansen-horn. Dr. Hansen-Horn serves as a co-chair of the national PRSA MBA initiative.