Master of Arts in Public Relations and Advertising

You will lead and thrive in the rapidly expanding public relations industry because we prepare you to deliver more — more strategy, more content, more channels, more creativity, and more insights.
We will ensure you are ready to create integrated public relations campaigns that span paid, earned, shared and owned media types. You will learn to weave together storytelling with data intelligence while creating multi-platform content. You will hone your ability to use audience insight mining to inform and execute PR strategies. You will become adept at building influencer relations and advancing brand activations.
Led by our dynamic faculty in one of the world’s great media capitals, you will be empowered to shape your own career path while forging professional opportunities that can span business, marketing, advertising, entertainment, technology, healthcare, advocacy, and beyond.
Faculty, student and alumni work
Leap of faith
Facebook’s Director of Consumer Communications, Sona Iliffe-Moon ’05, shares her career journey and advice for students navigating their own professional paths.
The power of online influencers
Maria Rodriguez’s video thesis secures her more than just a master’s degree. It lands her a job.
Relationships are key
Siddharth Pandey ’19, an international student from Dubai, learns to think on his feet while creating dynamic PR campaigns.
Inventing netnography
Fusing the internet with ethnography, Professor Robert Kozinets develops an innovative research method to study online communities.
A creative partnership
Manuelita Maldonado ’20 reflects on storytelling in the age of artificial intelligence.
Charting the #PRFuture
The USC Center for Public Relations podcast series features industry leaders, including Kelly McGinnis at Levi Strauss and Damon Jones of Procter and Gamble.

Advance your audience insight and content creation skills
Our state-of-the-art Media Center and Digital Lounge allow you to gain hands-on experience while acquiring the advanced multimedia and analytical skills necessary to tell stories while measuring impact across platforms. Through the center’s Digital Media Analytics Desk, you can learn to monitor the social stream as well as how to collect and analyze data for real-time events, brand communication and advertising campaigns. The Digital Lounge offers a creative makerspace where you can build your technology and content creation skills, including Adobe Certification.