By Michelle Rai, Chair 
PUC Communication Department

What can you do with a communication degree?

It’s a question I get asked regularly. Actually, my friends and family members asked me that same question when I attended PUC back in the day.

The answer is this: you can do anything with a communication degree. Don’t believe me? Take a look at some of the careers our communication graduates are in now: PR/marketing director, lawyer, TV news anchor, medical doctor, filmmaker, computer engineer, teacher, pharmacist and more. The list goes on and on.

Why? The top skills employers are looking for include: 1) Communication skills 2) Problem solving/critical thinking skills and 3) Interpersonal/teamwork skills. In other words, you need to write well and know how to talk to people. You need to figure things out on your own. And you need to work with others to achieve results.

And guess what? All of those skills can be honed — dare I say perfected — by majoring in communication.

We cross-train all of our majors in newswriting and editing, intercultural communication, research and more. We require internships and help students hand pick the best experience for them, whether it’s implementing social media strategies for a fashion designer in San Francisco or working alongside the public relations team for the San Diego Chargers. We help you gain hands-on experience that you’ll never find at a big university. And to top it all off, our professors are a tight-knit group of professionals who are experts in their fields.

Check out these excerpts from unsolicited messages (that’s right, I didn’t ask for these emails!) from our communication graduates:

“I am proud to say that PUC greatly cemented the confidence I have in the necessary skill sets that I now see are key to getting through law school. All of the education I received at PUC was QUALITY, and when comparing stories with people who went to the big state schools I am doubly thankful I attended a place where professors really care about your well-being, education and post-graduate life.”
–COMM department graduate attending law school

“We had our first test week. Super stressful, but it went well. And, I just wanted to let you know my COMM degree helps in medical school. Besides communicating with others, we even covered similar topics, such as kurtosis and skews from Dr. McGuire’s Comm Research class!”
–COMM department graduate attending medical school

“I’m just writing to let you know that my first month went very well! I have caught errors in copy on the second proof before they go to print, and that makes me feel like I’m doing something right. I’ve been using many of the skills I learned in our department, and I’m very grateful for the time [my professors] took to work with me and develop my potential. I feel very fortunate to have gotten a job in my field so soon after graduation.”
–COMM department graduate working at a communication and publishing firm

So what can you do with a communication degree? I believe the better question is: What can’t you do with a communication degree?