Most of today’s employers are looking for a particular set of skills in job candidates, and certain college degrees are better oriented toward helping you develop them than others.

You’ve probably heard of “soft skills,” but what are they? Verbal and written communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving are the among the most important skills, and with their broad applicability, it’s easy to see why employers would desire them. A higher education degree in communication helps you sharpen these vital abilities.

As beneficial as soft skills are, having highly focused knowledge in a specific discipline can also help you land and excel in your desired professional role. The University of Texas Permian Basin’s online Bachelor of Arts in Communication empowers you to build both types of expertise simultaneously.

 One Communications Degree Offers Countless Course Path and Career Options

Our online BA in communication program is built on a foundation of general education courses in which you’ll acquire knowledge that will serve you well in your career and beyond. From there, you’ll move on to core communication courses that help you develop public speaking and interpersonal communication skills and gain an understanding of modern media, communication theories, and the origins of rhetorical thought. Taken alongside these core courses, our communication electives enable you to:

  • Explore the dark side of communication.
  • Become more effective at argument and persuasion.
  • Learn media writing.

Choose Your Own Communication Track

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of our program, career-wise, is the inclusion of specialty tracks that allow you to gear your studies toward your areas of interest and acquire added expertise that will help you in related professional roles. Which communication track should you choose? That depends largely upon what you want to do with your life. Let’s examine each track in our BA in communication program and its potential professional benefits.

Strategic Messaging

If you have your eye on a career in advertising, marketing, publication relations, the nonprofit sector, or a similar field, this track may align most closely with your goals. Our Strategic Messaging track helps you understand how to communicate and promote an organization’s products, services, and/or cause to the public. You’ll master crisis communication, corporate messaging and branding, and government and investor relations during this program.

Professional Communication

If you plan to pursue a career in human resources or aspire to a managerial/supervisorial position, being able to communicate clearly and effectively with others in a professional setting is crucial. Our Professional Communication track explores small group communication, interpersonal communication, conflict negotiation, and other topics that will help you hone communication capabilities essential to your success in such roles.

Sports Media

If a career in the dynamic world of sports marketing, public relations, or social media marketing is calling you, we recommend our Sports Media track. This track trains you to fashion the public image of professional sports teams and leagues, with instruction in media writing and a review of sports media production. It should be noted that this track does not cover the technical side of media production.

Communication Studies

If you want to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of communication that will be invaluable to you in practically any career, our Communication Studies track is your most advantageous option. You can still learn about the topics that interest you by selecting five electives from a pool of more than 20 courses.

Experience the Flexibility of Our Online Classroom

No matter which track you choose for your BA in communication, you’ll enjoy the unequalled convenience of our 100% online, asynchronous format. Our program allows you to complete your coursework on your own schedule practically anywhere in the world, from New England to New South Wales. You can continue meeting your professional and personal commitments as you complete a potentially life-changing bachelor’s degree. Along the way, you’ll stay closely connected to classmates and faculty through multiple online collaboration and communication tools.

Set your own course as a communication major with UT Permian Basin! Apply now.