Broadcasting School and the Real Communications Degree

Pursuing a career in broadcasting means taking a long, hard look at all of your options before you decide how to go about it. Many people choose broadcasting school as the most affordable, simplest way to get your foot in the door in the broadcasting industry, but you still might have others try and convince you to choose another, more expensive option. One of the common paths taken on the way to a broadcasting career is to attend a four-year university and get a Communications degree. But what is a Communications degree, really?

Most Communications degrees follow these tracks: Journalism, Public Relations, or Broadcasting. What this means, practically, is that if you choose a Communications degree from a four-year university over attending broadcasting school, you'll have to take several core courses that span all of these topics together, rather than focusing intensely on the topic you really want and need to learn about. Moreover, unless you find an extremely specialized program, it's likely that fifty percent or more of your broadcasting classes will be focused entirely on television broadcasting — not a great deal of help when your final goal is a career in radio.

The fact is, when it comes to a Communications degree, the closest you might get to any actual experience in a radio station is through taking a broadcasting practicum class. This is the equivalent of sitting behind the wheel of a car simulator in high school driver's ed; it's like the experience in a way, but it's not exactly the practical experience you get by actually getting behind the wheel or in front of a real soundboard, which you'll get real-time practice with in broadcasting school. Since you'll be in an actual radio station, you can have a guarantee of the most up-to-date, working equipment, and you'll be that much closer to actually being on-air, a much more valuable experience than being one of a class of twenty to twirl the knobs.

No matter where you study for a Communications degree, you'll more than likely have to complete an internship as part of getting that degree. College internships can be helpful, but they are more often the process of getting no money to accomplish various lackey tasks such as getting coffee, passing out flyers, and other gofer-style assignments. These internships are taken for college credit, which means that they'll cost you the same as taking a class — essentially, you will be paying your school a few thousand dollars for the privilege of working for someone else. This isn't to say internships can't be valuable, but when compared to the hands-on apprenticeship of a broadcasting school education, they fall far short.

In the end, you can't argue with the facts: while college graduates with Communications degrees have roughly a 10-12% job placement rate, broadcasting school graduates have a placement rate that's much, much higher. Some broadcasting school students even get jobs at the station where they're apprenticing before they've even finished broadcasting school! While you might graduate college with a degree, a school can't hire you. With an apprenticeship at an actual radio station, you'll be in an environment where you can eventually obtain a proper position, even more likely since you'll already be a familiar face and they'll know that you can handle the equipment.

If you're stuck on getting a four-year degree, your best bet is to get a well-rounded education with a degree in English or another wide focus so you'll have things to say once you get on the air. A degree like that can only make you a more interesting personality, which is key when you're selling yourself on basis of your skills and talent. Then, once you've gotten your degree, you can go to broadcasting school for the working experience you need to begin a career in the broadcasting industry!