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The graduate application opens Sept. 1. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications received before Dec. 1 are given priority for both admission and funding. The final application deadline is June 1.
Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
They must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of a student's first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
All applicants must submit:
Students should see the program website for application deadlines and admission terms. Applicants must meet all deadlines and application requirements to be considered.
The Cronkite School’s graduate committee reviews complete and on-time applications. Recommendations for admission are made to Graduate Admission Services, where the final admission decisions are made.
The Cronkite master’s degree in investigative journalism is a 36-credit hour program that can be completed in 12, 15 or 20 months, depending on a student’s choice of experience. Based at the school’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, the coursework for the program is divided into four areas:
This master’s program includes courses taught by top professors in other disciplines specifically for master’s students studying investigative reporting. Under this design, students learn a wide array of different types of scientific inquiry and research methodologies from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities and professional disciplines such as law, business and engineering.
Courses in this area are one credit each, and are redesigned each year to leverage cutting edge tactics and technology. Interdisciplinary offerings in the 2019-2020 academic year include:
All of the previous coursework and field experiences lead up to the students’ capstone semester in the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism newsroom. Students apply all of their prior learning in this unique professional reporting environment, working with and learning from the Howard Center faculty and staff and producing investigative stories of national and international import while learning how to effectively collaborate and problem-solve together. Investigative journalism produced by the Howard Center is distributed for digital and print publication and TV and radio broadcast through Cronkite School relationships with news organizations such as The Washington Post, USA Today, NBC News, PBS NewsHour and the Center for Public Integrity.
Howard Center students have the option of participating in the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. Led by Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist Jacquee Petchel, about 30 students from more than a dozen universities enroll first in a spring semester seminar exploring that year’s topic. In the summer program, the News21 fellows gather in the main newsroom in Phoenix for 10 weeks and travel the country reporting, investigating and producing in-depth, multimedia journalism on the topic. Past projects have included data-driven investigations on voter fraud and voting rights, water quality in the U.S., post-9/11 veterans, marijuana laws and guns in America.
The News21 investigations have earned numerous top national awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy journalism award, the student Edward R. Murrow award and honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Online News Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and Society of Professional Journalists, and more.
“After 30 years of clinical medicine, which also included administrative work, I wanted to make a change before change was no longer an option. Navigating the non-traditional student path, Cronkite welcomed me and I received an exceptional multimedia journalism education. With that experience, I was able to get an incredible job covering national rural health issues. I feel like I still make a difference for patients and their families. In fact, a physician colleague saw one of my stories and emailed me saying, ‘I think you might be making more of a difference with your pen than you ever did with a stethoscope — and you were pretty good with that.’”
Dr. Kay Miller Temple
Formerly: Physician
Now: Reporter covering health care in rural communities
Cronkite School alumna
All applicants to the Master of Arts in Investigative Journalism program are considered for fellowships, assistantships and scholarships, with priority given to candidates who complete the application by Dec. 1.
Roy W. Howard Fellowships cover program tuition, fees and health insurance premiums, as well as graduate student stipends.
Roy W. Howard Scholarships cover partial tuition for the program.
“Having some specialty that others didn't gave me a huge leg up in the job market, and I found it more useful than I'd ever dreamed. The opportunity to move into investigative reporting in general, and data journalism in particular, has let me report on subjects like elderly guardians, housing scams, child welfare and even farm subsidies. I'd never have been able to make that much of a difference where I was.”
Sarah Cohen
Formerly: Government economist
Now: Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist
Cronkite School Knight Chair in Data Journalism