Online Master of Science in Communication and Information (MSCI)
Communication and Information
Program Overview
Organizations across every sector need professionals who can shape communication, protect information, and drive strategy. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, built its online MSCI for people ready to step into those roles.
Complete 30 credit hours fully online — on your own schedule, with no live sessions. Choose one of two concentrations to define your direction. Graduate with focused expertise and the skills to apply it immediately.
Program Requirements
All students complete 30 credit hours in their chosen concentration, drawn from a focused pool of courses. Both concentrations include an applied capstone option — a project or practicum — to build real-world experience as part of the degree.
Regardless of concentration, you’ll build skills to:
- Develop and execute communication strategies that drive organizational goals
- Design research studies, analyze data, and translate findings into action
- Understand how people receive, process, and respond to information and messaging
- Navigate organizational communication and leadership dynamics
- Apply persuasion and social influence principles in professional contexts
- Analyze how digital platforms shape communication and content
- Use evidence and research to guide decisions at every level
Applied Learning: Project or Practicum
Both concentrations include applied learning options that bring your skills into a real professional context. Faculty help you identify the right option for your goals.
CCI 590 — Project: A faculty-guided deep dive into a communication or information problem. Ideal for students pursuing research or analytical roles, and a strong portfolio piece.
CCI 592 — Practicum: A professional experience in an actual organizational setting. Apply your skills to real challenges, build your network, and develop work samples that strengthen your candidacy.
Career Outcomes
SDC graduates move into leadership roles across marketing, communications, digital media, public relations, and content strategy in agencies, corporations, nonprofits, and public-sector organizations.
ISI graduates take on roles focused on protecting, analyzing, and managing information assets in media, government, corporate, and research environments.
Representative roles include: Communication Director, Digital Strategy Director, Public Relations Manager, Campaign Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Market Research Analyst, Content Strategist, Information Security Communications Specialist, and Organizational Communications Leader.
Admission Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
- Minimum 3.0 GPA for the ISI concentration, 2.7 for the SDC concentration
- CV or resume
- Three professional or academic references
- Personal statement
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Program Concentrations
Students must choose from one of two required concentrations.
Information Security and Integrity
Information and content are the central assets behind communication, media, and information professions. You will examine how organizations protect those assets and how professionals respond when its security or integrity is threatened.
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Strategic and Digital Communication
Built for students who want more than theory alone. This concentration is practitioner-focused, which means the curriculum is shaped by the skills, tools, and trends that matter in today’s communication roles. Explore how strategic communication works across industries and platforms in the modern communication environment.
Continue ReadingFeatured Courses
The Master of Science (MS) in Communication and Information offers a diverse range of courses to suit your personal interests and professional goals. These are just a few examples of the interdisciplinary courses offered.
Provides students with practical knowledge and analytical skills necessary to create, evaluate and execute social media campaigns. Course will include lectures, case studies, assignments and engaged activities that will help in the development of a strong social media skill set. State-of-the-art social listening software will be used for social listening assignments and provide a hands-on learning experience for enrolled students.
Provides an overview of the main theoretical frameworks and measures used to understand audience preferences and behaviors in relation to traditional forms of media. Students will learn and apply analytic tools to track and analyze audience visits to media-related websites and social media activity. Insight will be provided on factors driving engagement with sites.
The course overviews the history of mis/dis/malinformation, discusses contemporary case studies of information manipulation, and critically examines computational techniques to detect and intervene with problematic content. Broadly, this course will cover the role of technology (e.g., networks, bots, generative AI, and automated detection), the role of design (e.g., platform affordances and information interventions), the role of human psychology (e.g., heuristics, continued influence, and biases), and the role of institutions (e.g., legacy media, active measures, and national security) in the creation, spread, and detection of mis/dis/malinformation.
Examination of social influence theory and practice. In-depth treatment of intentional, message-driven attitude and behavior change.
