This fall semester, the number of students enrolled in the MA Communication Program at HPU has more than doubled, from 26 students last year to 62.

Today with more and more organizations and entrepreneurs finding communication even more essential, “It is becoming the fastest growing profession. More and more people are feeling the need to study communication,” said Harry Byerly, assistant dean/director of graduate admissions and marketing at the Graduate Service Center.

However, the growing importance of the profession itself is not the only reason for the sudden growth of the MA Communication Program. The program content is one reason. It covers the entire domain of communication - advertising, integrated communication, public relations, and journalism. “Our program emphasis is more on practical applications than academic theory, which graduate students seem to prefer. Moreover, HPU’s location is at the hub of (Hawai‘i) business and mass media organizations, so we are pretty well positioned to help students after they finish the program,” said Byerly.

Concurring with Byerly is Donnell Baldwin, a student in the first year of the program. “My top three choices were New York, California, and Washington, D.C., but…HPU had everything that I wanted.” Endorsing a similar view is Sylvester Seleka, head of Learning Research Center/Education Technology and lecturer at the Tonota College of Education in Botswana who said that HPU was the only university that offered communication courses appropriate in Botswana.

Course flexibility and practical applicability are other reasons for the success of HPU’s MA Com. “ HPU offers the flexibility that enables me to maintain my professional schedule” said Alicia Maluafiti, who currently works as a manager of community and government relations for HMSA. She added “Moreover every class I have taken has been applicable professionally.”

No matter how good the course content is and how flexible its offering, no success is possible without the professors that teach in the classroom. Dean of Communication Dr. Helen Varner, is an experienced professional with more than 20 years in the field of communication. The teaching staff is comprised of Dr. John Barnum, Dr. John Hart, and Dr. Richard A. Ruidl, all very knowledgeable and highly respected, and each with more than two decades of teaching as well as practical experience, according to Byerly.

Summing up the various reasons for the success of the HPU MA Com program, Ulrike Robinson, a second year student from Germany said: “At HPU you can major in different areas, as well as accelerate the program if you want to. The location is good, tuition fees are low, and we have great professors.”