The master’s in advertising online degree program provides students with the opportunity to learn skills that will help them further their careers in different advertising fields. It prepares them to build a creative bent of mind and learn from accomplished professionals. The program is designed to prepare students for real-world advertising. Students who take up these master’s programs come from varied undergraduate degrees and are not required to have an advertising major. However, students coming from non-advertising backgrounds may be required to take certain courses like advertising and statistics before entering the program or concurrently during their first semester. The online advertising degree is mostly 36 credit hours, depending on the program’s format, university, coursework, and concentrations or electives provided by the institution. In addition to coursework, students are generally required to complete a final portfolio for review. 

The master’s in advertising online programs benefit students as they are popular over their offline counterparts since they allow the students to keep their current jobs and manage any other priorities while continuing to pursue their degrees. Graduate students pursuing an online advertising master’s degree can choose on-campus, online, and blended or hybrid programs, which would combine online and on-campus classes.

Online Master’s in Advertising Degree Types

When applying for a master’s the student must understand the types of master’s in advertising degrees available across different institutions. There are two types of online master’s in advertising degrees available. They are Master of Arts or MA in advertising online and Master of Science or MS in advertising online. 

Specializations in Online Master’s in Advertising Programs

Specializations at the graduate level will help prospective students strengthen their skills and get them several industry benefits like better career prospects, higher salaries, and industry recognition.  

The master’s in advertising itself is a concentration in marketing and hence does not have specializations as such. The master’s in marketing degree is a skill-based degree that provides advertising specializations to their students to provide them with relevant skills in the marketing field. Since advertising is such a broad field, different subjects encompass it. Many different combinations of advertising programs are found across the country, some of which are: 

Area of Specialization	Description
Advertising and Branding and Communication	This degree combines practical skills and industry experience in branding and advertising. Students develop creative and strategic thinking, communication skills, and advertising tactics that could be used to create a brand, innovative advertisements, and design campaigns for businesses and organizations.
Advertising and Public Relations	This degree teaches students how they could approach their target audience through interactions on advertising platforms like digital and print media. The program helps students think and work creatively and analytically.
Advertising and Strategic Communication	This degree helps students integrate public relations, advertising, and health communication. They learn to communicate a concept or provide data that would help different organizations like healthcare, education, sports, social service, nonprofits, and so on.
Advertising and Digital Marketing	In this degree, students learn about different outlets that could increase their company’s brand awareness. They learn to write, design, or work on digital marketing campaigns. Students also get insights into implementing digital campaigns.
Advertising and Media Design	In this degree, students learn to generate ideas and solve problems for brands. They go through a design thinking process grounded in creative and analytical thought. Students are taught skills to deal with changing social and digital media.

Curriculum and Skills Gained in Online Master’s in Advertising Programs

An online master’s in advertising typically requires 36 credits to complete on average. Credits might differ depending on the curriculum designed by the institution. Students are required to take core courses and pick from different elective courses. They must also complete an end-of-curriculum project and take a comprehensive exam. The curriculum might also vary depending on whether the program includes a thesis or not. Regardless, the advertising master’s program will have some common advertising courses across programs, such as: 

• Qualitative Research in Advertising 
• Foundations of Advertising 
• Quantitative Research in Advertising 
• Advertising And Basics of Planning 
• Graphic Design Fundamentals 
• Digital Branding and Strategy 
• Basics of Advertising Theory 
• Advertising Account Management  
• Trends in Consumer Behavior 
• Basic or Advanced Marketing Strategy 
• Advertising Media Strategy 
• Advertising Analytics 
• Applied Research Project 
• Advertising Proseminar 
• Brand Communication 
• Marketing Strategy
• Strategic Principles and Practices 

Apart from these required courses mentioned above, students would be required to complete either a master’s thesis or a capstone project. Students are also required to choose around 12 graduate-level electives, which should be at least one course from the college and one from outside the institution; however, this requirement would vary from college to college.  

Upon graduating from advertising master’s programs, students can take up various occupations available in advertising. Some of the skills they will be able to apply to this field are the ability to: 

• solve problems creatively within the field of advertising, including research and conceptual knowledge; 
• communicate their ideas professionally and connect with their prospective audience using oral, written, and visual presentations of skills relevant to their field of advertising;  
• evaluate the work they do on the job using professional terminologies, and develop a cohesive portfolio tailored to reflect their goals in their career; 
• use their knowledge to create a diverse and balanced curriculum for the field of advertising if they are working in academic areas. 
• demonstrate professionalism in directing promotion programs and supervising promotion specialist teams; 
• influence their work with major aesthetic and cultural trends that impact historically and contemporarily; 
• display high standards of professionalism associated with achieving success in the field of advertising and related fields; 
• convey creative ideas fluently, keeping the brand tone in mind, and engaging in the creative process while understanding the needs of the target groups for branding and design strategies to influence the customers’ decisions and manage brand campaigns; 
• demonstrate creative ways of gathering, assessing, and applying relevant information, which would include doing strategic work and historical research; and 
• develop a business-oriented bend of mind to understand the changing trends in advertising and marketing and show flexibility in producing multiple ideas. 

Accreditation for Online Master’s in Advertising Programs

Accreditation is a process of evaluating institutions in the country to ensure that they maintain high standards of educational quality. This process is executed by non-governmental bodies and is based on peer evaluation. Accrediting institutions would ensure that these institutions promote continuous improvement in education and provide quality resources to their students. A school’s accreditation could determine if students can transfer their credits between institutions or whether they are eligible for federal financial aid. While applying to accredited master’s in advertising programs, students should check whether the institution they are applying to offers an accredited program that has been granted national or regional accreditation. Some of the bodies executing accreditation in the United States are: 

• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) 
• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) 
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC) 
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) 
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) 
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) 

There are no specific programmatic accreditations for the master’s in advertising program. For more information on accreditation, students can refer to the Accreditation Guide.

For More information on accreditation and its importance is available in the Accreditation Guide.

Timeline for graduating from Online Master’s in Advertising Programs

Most of the master’s in advertising programs would require around 36 credit hours and 2 years for completion. However, coursework, curriculum, thesis, end-of-the-year project, concentration, Synchronous vs Asynchronous classes, program structure, etc., can determine the exact duration of the degree. Students can take up studies in two modes: 

Full-time: full-time master’s are an intensive mode of study which would require around 2 years for students to complete, depending on the program.  

Part-time: part-time master’s are a more flexible study mode and spread out over more than 2 years, usually 3 to 4 years. 

Online Master’s in Advertising Programs Admission Requirements

An online advertising master’s degree would require specific requirements that aspiring students would need to meet before getting admitted to the program. Each institution has different requirements and prerequisites, which a student would need to meet depending on the program. Here are some of the most common master’s in advertising admission requirements:  

• Application form 
• Nonrefundable application fee 
• An undergraduate degree from an accredited institution (3.0 GPA or more is preferred) 
• Official transcripts from all the universities which students have attended 
• Graduate Résumé 
• Minimum of two letters of recommendation meeting academic or professional requirements (differs by the institution) 
• Statement of Purpose or Personal Statement 
• Graduate Record Examination or GRE scores 
• Students lacking an appropriate background in selected concentration may be required to take up some additional prerequisite courses. 

Students applying for graduate programs must give the Graduate Record Examination or GRE and submit their scores while applying to a graduate program. Some colleges also have the GRE requirement as an option; therefore, if the students wish to, they can submit their GRE scores or not. Having a master’s program with no GRE requirement makes it accessible to more students. Some examples of colleges offering online master’s in advertising no GRE programs are The University of Illinois, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Oregon. 

Graduate students have opportunities to fund their education by applying for different kinds of scholarships. Scholarships help students reduce their financial expenses considerably. Students can apply for scholarships based on academic success or merits in music, art, sport, etc. Here are some scholarships for a master’s in advertising degree: