School of Media Facts
The Western Kentucky University School of Media's reputation for excellence and tradition of success continue to attract outstanding faculty and top students from across the nation. The School boasts 26 Pulitzer Prize winners among its alumni and faculty while WKU students consistently place near the top of the overall William Randolph Hearst Competition and have finished first 22 of the past 26 years in the photojournalism category of that contest.
As one of only seven Programs of Distinction in Kentucky the School's mission is enhanced through support for the Center for 21st Century Media, the Continuing Media Education Institute and the Kentucky High School Media Institute. The School also features the Mountain Photography Workshops, WWHR national student radio station and professional television and photography studios. Students are afforded extracurricular opportunities including our award-winning student newspaper, yearbook, newscast, and the Emmy Award winning public television station and public radio network. The School also provides students with numerous internship, workshop and international experiences. We are dedicated to making sure that our students have every opportunity to become leaders in their chosen professions.
Total | 702 | 685 | 657 | 612 | 579 | 579 | 552 | 524 | 454 | 419 | 386 | 382 |
WKU School of Media Undergraduate Enrollment |
Fall 2011 |
Fall 2012 |
Fall 2013 |
Fall 2014 |
Fall 2015 |
Fall 2016 |
Fall 2017 |
Fall 2018 |
Fall 2019 |
Fall 2020 |
Fall 2021 |
Fall 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broadcasting (seeking admission), AB (#726P) | 199 | 196 | 203 | 173 | 152 | 145 | 120 | 94 | 84 | 69 | 66 | 58 |
Broadcasting, AB (#726) | 136 | 129 | 99 | 106 | 105 | 111 | 116 | 114 | 108 | 93 | 70 | 65 |
Film (seeking admission), AB (#667P) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 53 | 59 | 52 | 69 | 59 | 64 | 61 | 27 |
Film Production - Seeking Admission, BFA (#530P) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 |
Film Production, BFA (#530) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 47 | 49 |
Film, AB (#667) | 85 | 109 | 145 | 104 | 83 | 77 | 78 | 57 | 53 | 28 | 33 | 38 |
Journalism (seeking admission), AB (#736P) | 71 | 77 | 50 | 54 | 53 | 62 | 50 | 61 | 38 | 33 | 30 | 24 |
Journalism, AB (#736) | 48 | 43 | 38 | 370 | 29 | 30 | 37 | 43 | 44 | 36 | 35 | 37 |
Photojournalism (seeking admission), AB (#750P) | 111 | 88 | 90 | 68 | 70 | 54 | 59 | 35 | 29 | 29 | 15 | 24 |
Photojournalism, AB (#750) | 52 | 43 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 41 | 40 | 51 | 39 | 35 | 28 | 20 |
Total | 702 | 685 | 657 | 612 | 579 | 579 | 552 | 524 | 454 | 419 | 386 | 382 |
WKU School of Media Undergraduate Enrollment |
Fall 2011 |
Fall 2012 |
Fall 2013 |
Fall 2014 |
Fall 2015 |
Fall 2016 |
Fall 2017 |
Fall 2018 |
Fall 2019 |
Fall 2020 |
Fall 2021 |
Fall 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broadcasting, AB (#726) | 335 | 325 | 302 | 279 | 257 | 256 | 236 | 208 | 192 | 162 | 136 | 123 |
Film Production, BFA (#530) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 48 | 89 |
Film, AB (#667) | 85 | 109 | 145 | 141 | 136 | 136 | 130 | 126 | 112 | 92 | 94 | 65 |
Journalism, AB (#736) | 119 | 120 | 88 | 91 | 82 | 92 | 87 | 104 | 82 | 69 | 65 | 61 |
Photojournalism, AB (#750) | 163 | 131 | 122 | 101 | 104 | 95 | 99 | 86 | 68 | 64 | 43 | 44 |
Percentage of Students Retained in Same Major |
Retained in First Major After 1 Year |
Retained in First Major After 2 Years |
Retained in First Major After 3 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 54.5 | 50.5 | 33.8 | 27.7 | 30.3 | 20.3 |
Fall 2009 | 47.3 | 48.8 | 34.2 | 29.5 | 28.3 | 22.2 |
Fall 2010 | 55.4 | 49.2 | 38.3 | 29.9 | 30.3 | 23.5 |
Fall 2011 | 46.4 | 46.6 | 32.1 | 29.3 | 25.5 | 23.0 |
Fall 2012 | 47.5 | 48.3 | 26.2 | 30.3 | 20.2 | 23.3 |
Fall 2013 | 56.0 | 50.4 | 40.0 | 31.5 | 35.5 | 24.1 |
Fall 2014 | 51.9 | 46.8 | 36.4 | 32.2 | 32.1 | 25.8 |
Fall 2015 | 53.8 | 48.4 | 38.6 | 33.6 | 34.8 | 28.2 |
Fall 2016 | 50.7 | 47.3 | 36.8 | 32.1 | 30.9 | 26.2 |
Fall 2017 | 52.5 | 48.0 | 37.7 | 33.4 | 32.1 | 28.1 |
Fall 2018 | 55.5 | 47.3 | 35.9 | 34.5 | 33.6 | 28.8 |
Fall 2019 | 42.6 | 51.8 | 32.0 | 37.6 | 30.3 | 30.0 |
Fall 2020 | 40.7 | 49.5 | 35.6 | 34.7 | ||
Fall 2021 | 40.6 | 50.3 |
Percentage of Students Retained in Same Department |
Retained in First Department After 1 Year |
Retained in First Department After 2 Years |
Retained in First Department After 3 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 57.1 | 53.2 | 36.4 | 31.7 | 33.3 | 24.3 |
Fall 2009 | 54.3 | 52.9 | 39.7 | 34.2 | 33.2 | 27.3 |
Fall 2010 | 58.9 | 51.8 | 42.3 | 33.6 | 33.1 | 27.2 |
Fall 2011 | 51.5 | 49.8 | 39.3 | 33.9 | 31.6 | 27.5 |
Fall 2012 | 52.5 | 51.6 | 31.7 | 34.6 | 25.1 | 27.4 |
Fall 2013 | 59.0 | 52.7 | 44.5 | 35.1 | 40.5 | 28.5 |
Fall 2014 | 56.2 | 50.1 | 41.4 | 35.8 | 35.8 | 28.9 |
Fall 2015 | 57.0 | 51.6 | 42.4 | 37.3 | 38.6 | 31.8 |
Fall 2016 | 54.6 | 50.0 | 40.8 | 35.5 | 34.2 | 29.6 |
Fall 2017 | 55.6 | 50.5 | 41.4 | 36.9 | 35.2 | 31.4 |
Fall 2018 | 59.4 | 49.8 | 51.6 | 38.2 | 48.4 | 32.2 |
Fall 2019 | 50.8 | 54.8 | 41.0 | 41.3 | 37.7 | 33.2 |
Fall 2020 | 55.1 | 52.1 | 45.8 | 38.1 | ||
Fall 2021 | 59.4 | 53.3 |
Percentage of Students Retained in Same College |
Retained in First College After 1 Year |
Retained in First College After 2 Years |
Retained in First College After 3 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 68.2 | 59.8 | 50.0 | 41.3 | 47.5 | 34.9 |
Fall 2009 | 69.0 | 59.1 | 58.7 | 43.0 | 54.3 | 36.9 |
Fall 2010 | 72.0 | 57.7 | 60.0 | 42.8 | 50.3 | 36.7 |
Fall 2011 | 61.2 | 55.8 | 54.1 | 42.3 | 48.5 | 36.6 |
Fall 2012 | 64.5 | 56.7 | 48.6 | 42.9 | 43.2 | 36.2 |
Fall 2013 | 67.0 | 58.8 | 55.0 | 43.6 | 49.5 | 36.9 |
Fall 2014 | 66.0 | 56.5 | 53.1 | 44.5 | 47.5 | 38.2 |
Fall 2015 | 68.4 | 57.5 | 53.2 | 45.4 | 48.7 | 39.9 |
Fall 2016 | 61.8 | 55.6 | 52.0 | 43.6 | 44.1 | 37.5 |
Fall 2017 | 66.7 | 57.3 | 58.0 | 46.3 | 52.5 | 40.4 |
Fall 2018 | 68.0 | 57.2 | 61.7 | 46.9 | 56.3 | 40.9 |
Fall 2019 | 60.7 | 61.3 | 54.1 | 49.2 | 50.0 | 41.0 |
Fall 2020 | 62.7 | 59.0 | 55.9 | 46.5 | ||
Fall 2021 | 65.6 | 60.1 |
Percentage of Students Retained at WKU |
Retained at WKU After 1 Year |
Retained at WKU After 2 Years |
Retained at WKU After 3 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 72.2 | 73.7 | 60.1 | 63.7 | 56.6 | 57.8 |
Fall 2009 | 80.4 | 73.7 | 70.7 | 63.4 | 66.3 | 58.2 |
Fall 2010 | 81.1 | 73.2 | 76.0 | 64.3 | 67.4 | 58.3 |
Fall 2011 | 74.0 | 71.4 | 68.4 | 63.2 | 63.3 | 57.0 |
Fall 2012 | 75.4 | 71.8 | 59.6 | 63.8 | 56.3 | 57.2 |
Fall 2013 | 76.0 | 73.1 | 63.5 | 63.5 | 58.0 | 56.6 |
Fall 2014 | 75.9 | 72.5 | 65.4 | 64.4 | 61.7 | 57.6 |
Fall 2015 | 75.3 | 72.8 | 65.2 | 64.5 | 58.2 | 59.4 |
Fall 2016 | 71.1 | 69.9 | 60.5 | 61.5 | 52.6 | 54.2 |
Fall 2017 | 76.5 | 71.5 | 69.8 | 63.5 | 63.6 | 57.2 |
Fall 2018 | 74.2 | 72.9 | 69.5 | 66.3 | 63.3 | 59.0 |
Fall 2019 | 79.5 | 76.8 | 68.0 | 67.0 | 62.3 | 57.8 |
Fall 2020 | 73.7 | 72.8 | 64.4 | 62.8 | ||
Fall 2021 | 79.2 | 76.6 |
Percentage of Students Graduated From Same Major |
Graduated From First Major in 4 Years |
Graduated From First Major in 5 Years |
Graduated From First Major in 6 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 16.2 | 11.7 | 24.7 | 16.6 | 25.3 | 17.1 |
Fall 2009 | 19.0 | 12.7 | 24.5 | 18.1 | 26.1 | 18.9 |
Fall 2010 | 18.9 | 15.1 | 26.9 | 20.1 | 26.9 | 20.8 |
Fall 2011 | 16.3 | 14.0 | 23.5 | 19.9 | 24.0 | 20.5 |
Fall 2012 | 15.3 | 15.8 | 19.7 | 20.5 | 19.7 | 21.5 |
Fall 2013 | 22.0 | 15.6 | 28.0 | 21.0 | 28.0 | 21.7 |
Fall 2014 | 22.8 | 18.9 | 29.6 | 24.2 | 30.9 | 24.9 |
Fall 2015 | 24.1 | 21.2 | 29.7 | 26.2 | 30.4 | 26.9 |
Fall 2016 | 27.0 | 22.1 | 29.6 | 25.8 | 30.3 | 26.5 |
Fall 2017 | 26.5 | 23.4 | 29.6 | 27.5 | ||
Fall 2018 | 28.1 | 24.3 |
Percentage of Students Graduated From Same Department |
Graduated From First Department in 4 Years |
Graduated From First Department in 5 Years |
Graduated From First Department in 6 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 17.7 | 13.9 | 27.3 | 20.0 | 27.8 | 21.0 |
Fall 2009 | 21.2 | 15.3 | 27.7 | 22.4 | 29.9 | 23.7 |
Fall 2010 | 20.6 | 17.1 | 30.3 | 23.7 | 30.3 | 24.7 |
Fall 2011 | 19.4 | 15.9 | 27.6 | 23.5 | 28.6 | 24.4 |
Fall 2012 | 19.1 | 18.5 | 24.0 | 24.7 | 24.0 | 26.2 |
Fall 2013 | 24.5 | 17.5 | 33.0 | 24.4 | 33.0 | 25.4 |
Fall 2014 | 25.3 | 21.0 | 32.7 | 27.3 | 34.0 | 28.2 |
Fall 2015 | 25.9 | 23.6 | 32.9 | 29.7 | 34.2 | 30.7 |
Fall 2016 | 29.6 | 24.4 | 32.2 | 29.0 | 32.9 | 30.1 |
Fall 2017 | 28.4 | 26.0 | 32.1 | 30.7 | ||
Fall 2018 | 39.1 | 26.6 |
Percentage of Students Graduated From Same College |
Graduated From First College in 4 Years |
Graduated From First College in 5 Years |
Graduated From First College in 6 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 25.8 | 18.6 | 38.9 | 28.2 | 40.4 | 30.0 |
Fall 2009 | 31.0 | 19.6 | 43.5 | 30.0 | 47.8 | 32.0 |
Fall 2010 | 30.3 | 21.7 | 45.1 | 31.6 | 45.7 | 33.6 |
Fall 2011 | 28.1 | 19.9 | 40.3 | 31.1 | 42.3 | 32.7 |
Fall 2012 | 29.5 | 22.7 | 40.4 | 32.0 | 40.4 | 34.3 |
Fall 2013 | 31.5 | 22.3 | 43.5 | 31.8 | 45.0 | 33.7 |
Fall 2014 | 33.3 | 26.6 | 43.8 | 35.3 | 45.1 | 36.8 |
Fall 2015 | 34.8 | 29.4 | 43.0 | 37.2 | 44.9 | 38.6 |
Fall 2016 | 38.8 | 30.4 | 44.7 | 36.5 | 45.4 | 37.9 |
Fall 2017 | 41.4 | 32.4 | 46.3 | 39.3 | ||
Fall 2018 | 43.8 | 32.7 |
Percentage of Students Graduated From WKU |
Graduated From WKU in 4 Years |
Graduated From WKU in 5 Years |
Graduated From WKU in 6 Years |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
School of Media % |
WKU % |
|
Fall 2008 | 27.8 | 26.5 | 45.5 | 44.2 | 51.0 | 49.9 |
Fall 2009 | 35.9 | 27.3 | 56.0 | 45.1 | 61.4 | 50.0 |
Fall 2010 | 38.3 | 30.1 | 60.6 | 47.8 | 63.4 | 51.9 |
Fall 2011 | 31.6 | 28.5 | 51.5 | 46.8 | 54.6 | 50.6 |
Fall 2012 | 37.2 | 31.7 | 51.9 | 48.3 | 54.1 | 53.3 |
Fall 2013 | 35.5 | 30.9 | 50.0 | 48.0 | 53.0 | 51.6 |
Fall 2014 | 38.3 | 36.7 | 51.2 | 51.8 | 56.8 | 55.0 |
Fall 2015 | 38.6 | 40.1 | 51.3 | 54.8 | 53.8 | 57.4 |
Fall 2016 | 42.1 | 40.0 | 50.7 | 51.4 | 51.3 | 53.8 |
Fall 2017 | 48.1 | 42.4 | 56.2 | 53.9 | ||
Fall 2018 | 50.0 | 44.2 |
For further information regarding WKU Facts visit: https://www.wku.edu/instres/fact_book.php
Accreditation Complaints Statement
NOTICE TO STUDENTS
The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication invites all students and other persons to report incidents in which they can present evidence that a journalism/mass communications unit has violated accreditation standards.
The School of Media at Western Kentucky University, like all other accredited units, is required to inform all students of this invitation.
Such reports must be made in writing to:
Marie Hardin, Chair, Accrediting Committee
Dean
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
Pennsylvania State University
201 Carnegie Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814)863-1484
mch208@psu.edu
(Term expires 2024)
MC maintains records of all complaints it receives and their resolution. The School of Media is required to maintain records of student complaints and their resolution.
A copy of the accreditation standards is available in the department office.
For more information, visit the ACEJMC Homepage.
The School of Media & Communication at WKU is ACEJMC accredited for majors in Broadcasting, Journalism and Photojournalism.
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