FAQs

Graduate Studies

The program is designed to be completed in two calendar years or less depending on your pace. Most courses are offered in standard fall/spring/summer semesters. Inter-session study opportunities exist. A ‘sample’ course plan with a timeline that shows how and when students can fulfill all requirements to graduate can be found here.

Each credit hour costs $1,100, plus a student fee. Tuition is the same for in-state, out of state, and international students. Details here .

We recommend starting in a fall semester and take two or three courses per semester.

Consideration for scholarships (need-based and merit-based) is only available for full-time M.A. applicants. Scholarship awards will be determined by reviewing the overall quality of your application. Submitting strong GRE or GMAT scores is optional, but adds information which will enhance the quality of your application. Limited number of research/teaching assistantships are also available to qualified M.A. applicants. The value of a 20-hour research/teaching assistantship can amount up to $13,000 per academic year (fall + spring semester). These competitive awards significantly reduce the cost of the program. Please contact Dr. Sid (Graduate Program Advisor) @ TAIgrad@smu.edu for further details. Learn more.

Familiarity with Advertising, Marketing, or Strategic Communication is helpful, but not required.

Many of our most successful students have undergraduate degrees in Art, Business, Economics, English, Graphic Design, Journalism, Management, Psychology, and Sociology. Bring your varied experiences and knowledge and we will help you apply it to your future profession.

Prerequisite coursework (or self-study with credit by examination) may be required depending on your knowledge and/or professional experience with advertising, research methods, and media planning.

Yes, part-time work is possible. Classes are typically offered on weekdays and weeknights. A full-time job and full-time course of study is not recommended, we suggest a maximum of two graduate courses per semester while working

TAI graduate students come from both U.S. and international backgrounds.

Students have attended from all over the United States, and as far away as Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Honduras, India, and Nigeria. Dallas is very welcoming of foreign students and we love the global perspective!

TAI Faculty are world-renown professionals and academic experts.

Would you like to learn from the former agency CEO?
Want to learn how to pitch new business from a guy who built and sold three agencies?
Study online advertising with the former Editor of the Journal of Interactive Advertising.
Develop your cultural fluency with an Altschuler Distinguished Professor who lived in Japan, Canada, & Singapore and has traveled to more than 30 countries.
If that is not enough, study with leading advertising researchers and current working professionals who can all share best practices and the way the industry really works.
See Faculty Bios

Yes, our program is flexible. Part-time students can take up to two graduate courses per semester.

Of course. Life keeps us all busy. Come take a class or two and then take a break.