College Magazine ranks School of Communications among the nation’s best

The online magazine names Elon second in its list of top schools for communications majors, citing the strength of the school’s programs and singling out Live Oak Communications. 

College Magazine ranks Elon’s School of Communications as the second-best communications program in the nation, behind only Syracuse.

College Magazine, a college-centric online news outlet, commended Live Oak Communications, Elon University’s student-run, full-service communications agency, for the opportunities it provides students to work with real clients.
The Aug. 25 article titled “The Top 10 Colleges for Communications Majors” touted the school’s undergraduate majors, its internship requirement and student agency Live Oak Communications for putting students on the path to success.

College Magazine staff writer Samantha Slavin, a student at Tulane University, detailed in written correspondence her research method and how she identified potential candidates. Drawing on about 15 previously published rankings, Slavin narrowed her scope to 20 prominent schools and evaluated them based on alumni success, organizational offerings, student interviews, reputation and focus.

“Student perspectives were extremely valuable for me,” Slavin wrote. “Not only was I able to get amazing quotes, but I got the chance to learn in depth about each school and gather information that I wouldn’t be able to receive from a website.”

The article quotes strategic communications major Sophie Zuriff ’19, who served as a Live Oak account executive last year and who applauded the breadth of her Elon education. She and Slavin attended the same New York City high school and connected for the late August article.

“(Sophie) always had a passion for communications and had wanted to attend Elon for as long as I can remember,” Slavin wrote. “Her answers to my questions gave me an immense amount of insight and knowledge about the program.”

Since its publication, the communications schools ranking has earned a great deal of attention online, including more than 3,400 Facebook shares.

According to its website, College Magazine is “written by students for students” and consists of a team of journalists from universities nationwide. It began as a print publication nearly a decade ago at the University of Maryland and eventually gained a readership of more than 120,000 on 14 East Coast campuses. Today, the college-centric news source is published entirely online.