Top Rated Schools for Sports Broadcasting

It’s a growing and fairly lucrative field for graduates. A career in sports broadcasting can take you around the world as you follow athletic teams on their trip to glory or keep you firmly rooted in a high-paying job with a tight-knit school community. Top colleges for sports broadcasting and journalism take on modern issues for the digital age, dip into law and offer many on-campus outlets for students to get real-world experience.

Best Degree for Sports Broadcasting

Typically, students pursuing a sports broadcasting degree will need to be part of the communication or journalism school at the college they attend. They will learn the basics of journalism, including media law and ethics, with an emphasis on broadcasting and athletics.

Jobs for Sports Broadcasting Graduates

There are many areas in which a graduate can delve after attending one of the best sports broadcasting schools. The best degree for sports broadcasting should be from a school that offers time in the chair for anchors and time behind the camera for production hopefuls. Sports broadcasting degree jobs include:

Announcers, commentators and reporters
Camera operators
Producers and directors
Graphics and replay technicians
Stage managers
Technical directors
Audio and video technicians

Hofstra University Lawrence Herbert School of Communication

This well-known university has a stellar athletics program. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in sports broadcasting. Hofstra has an impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 13 to 1, and it costs around $30,000 a year to attend. Courses include:

Sports Writing
Sports, Media and Society
Single-Camera Television Production
Voice Performance for Radio and Digital
Media Relations for Sports and Entertainment
Sports Marketing
Sports and Entertainment Law

Hofstra’s communication college has a top-rated and award-winning college radio station for students to get real-world experience as well as a multicamera production with live online broadcasts. Students are given the opportunity to cover more than 100 of the Hofstra Pride teams as they play, from basketball to lacrosse, softball, field hockey, soccer and other college sports. They can write or report on sports for many media outlets through the college, such as The Chronicle, Hofstra Today, Long Island Report, Sports Beat and WRHU.

Students age 12 to 18 are welcome to complete a continuing education program before they step up to the big leagues as a full-time college freshman.

Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Easily one of the top-rated sports journalism schools in the country, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has a large amount of areas of study from which to choose. Aside from on-campus degrees in sports broadcasting, ASU’s intensive journalism program offers informative online courses. Students have a wealth of opportunities to connect with experienced instructors and gain real-world experience at a number of media outlets. The communication school at ASU delves deep into digital concerns for students.

Undergraduate degrees offered by the school are:

Digital Audiences, BS (this is also offered as a minor)
Mass Communication and Media Studies, BA
Media Analysis, minor
Journalism and Mass Communication, BA
Sports Journalism, BA

ASU is relatively affordable, as students can expect to pay around $12,000 a year to attend. It has a student-to-faculty ratio of 15 to 1.

University of Miami School of Communication

This is a well-designed journalism program that can allow students to explore other avenues other than athletics and round out their college experience. The cost to attend the University of Miami is a little more than $40,000 on average.

The student-to-faculty ratio is 12 to 1, so students get a good amount of time with experienced instructors. More than 10,000 students are enrolled at the university full time, and nearly 90 percent take advantage of the on-campus housing as freshmen. After college, students tend to earn a salary in the middle five figures on average.

A related minor can help you to gain employment in a position you crave upon graduation. These include electronic media, Hispanic media and media management. Undergraduate courses for students at the University of Miami include: