The Broadcast Education Association, the premiere international academic media organization, released its second annual rankings celebrating consistent student success in the association’s Festival of Media Arts.
Elon University’s School of Communications continued its success in the Broadcast Education Association’s annual rankings of schools based on student achievements in the Festival of Media Arts, earning a second consecutive top-10 finish.
ElonComm placed ninth overall and took second in the Interactive Multimedia and Emerging Technology category and third in the Film and Video category. The school also earned top-20 finishes in the News (No. 13), Sports (No. 20) and Documentary (No. 20) categories. The rankings were derived from the results of the BEA Festival of Media Arts, a preeminent international media competition focused on student and faculty creative endeavors.
According to the BEA news release, the rankings – which are based on the past five-year period of student success – are not an overall evaluation of an academic program, but an evaluation of the quality and consistency of students’ creative works produced at one institution compared to those at other institutions.
The 10 overall programs consisted of – in order – Arizona State University, University of Oklahoma, Syracuse University, Missouri State University, Huntington University, University of Florida, Taylor University, Ball State University, Elon, and Rowan University.
“National and regional awards burnish our reputation and provide immense value to the school,” said Interim Dean Kenn Gaither. “We are immensely proud of this recognition, which is a reflection of the hard work and talent shown by our amazing students, who consistently produce some of the best video, multimedia and news projects in the nation. Pairing their dedication with the mentoring of our faculty members is a powerful combination, and a reason why our School of Communications is among the best in the country.”
In the last five years, more than 6,000 student creative works were submitted from BEA’s more than 300 member institutions around the globe. Entries go through a blind-juried review in the following competitions: Audio, Documentary, Film & Video, Interactive Multimedia & Emerging Technologies, News, Scriptwriting, and Sports.
In the 2023 BEA Student Festival of Media Arts competition, Elon had four award-winning entries, including’s Charlie Breckenridge’s “Right Now, It’s Like This” music video. The entry earned a Student Best of Festival award in the Film & Video Competition, as well as first place in the Music Video category. In the Graduate Student Interactive Multimedia and Emerging Technologies Competition, a team of seven Interactive Media graduate students won an Award of Excellence for its content created for Niños de Nueva Esperanza, a nonprofit organization that serves children in Puerto Rica. Here is the student-produced website, www.nnepr.org.
Only the top 20% of entries become a festival winner. There are five levels of awards: Best of Festival, First Place, Second Place, Third Place, and Award of Excellence. The rankings take into account both the quantity and quality of student works. For instance, Best of Festival winners are given a higher weight than Awards of Excellence. While the BEA honors outstanding achievements of both faculty and students, the rankings focus solely on student accomplishments.
The Broadcast Education Association is the premiere international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals. The Festival of Media Arts was created and is organized by BEA faculty across the globe to honor the amazing works of both students and faculty.
Rankings recap
How did ElonComm do this year compared to last year? Check out the rankings below.
Overall: No. 9
(No. 6 in 2022)
Documentary: No. 20
(No. 21 in 2022)
Film and Video: No. 3
(No. 3 in 2022)
Interactive Multimedia and Emerging Technology: No. 2
(No. 2 in 2022)
News: No. 13
(No. 12 in 2022)
Sports: No. 20
(No. 15 in 2022)