Looking for a gentler semester? Start with courses where students have earned higher grades.
Highest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
20 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Introduction to creative message development for advertising, PR, and strategic communications, focusing on campaign planning and execution.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Dominique Brossard
The course was rated as moderate in difficulty, though specific workload details regarding assignments or exam frequency were not provided in the review.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025An introduction to strategic communication covering advertising, public relations, health communications, and political campaigns.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Pete Long
One student reported 1-2 hours of weekly out-of-class work, easy grading, and study guides for quizzes.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Advanced exploration of varying concepts and skills in journalism or strategic communication, focusing on producing publishable work and critiquing media practices.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Debra Pierce
A past student reported that the instructor assigned ridiculous amounts of homework, creating a heavy workload that required substantial time commitment.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Introduction to data visualization covering major concepts, specific tools for data analysis, and skill application in a final project.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Special topics in mass communication focusing on the in-depth analysis of a conceptual mass communication issue.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Stephen Vaughn
A large research paper was assigned early in the semester, with new components added daily and shifting requirements, requiring website coding skills.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025Covers core skills for communicating about sports to a mass audience, including career support and professional access, within a changing media landscape.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Fall 2025Explores the role of gender and sexuality in media representation, production, reception, and activism.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lindsay Palmer
Weekly reading quizzes on Canvas and clear exam expectations kept the workload manageable, requiring consistent note-taking and attention in lectures.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores and critiques literary journalism through critical reading of reporting and writing, examining narrative nonfiction trajectories and subgenres.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to Sports Communication explores journalism, broadcasting, marketing, and PR in sports, including race, gender, and career strategies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Justin Doherty
Assignments were described as simple and applicable to real life, though grading was inconsistent because different TAs reviewed each paper.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Sports Marketing Communications explores promotion domain activities such as marketing research, branding, image management, advertising, event promotion, sponsorships, and public relations, focusing on associated marketing communications.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Principles and Practices of Reporting covers basic reporting for print and electronic media, involving the creation of print, audio, and web-based news stories on a current public issue.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Stephen Vaughn
The workload included covering one story within an assigned beat every week during the second half of the semester, which some students found to be a hassle.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to consumer packaged goods brand management exploring marketing, advertising, and strategy to grow profitable sales and build brand equity.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Pete Long
Students rated the difficulty as relatively low, indicating a manageable workload level for this course.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2025–Spring 2026Introduction to the roles and functions of print, film, electronic, and digital media in multicultural America, including international comparisons of mass media's social and cultural position in diverse societies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jing Wang
The course required weekly quizzes, five multimodal assignments, and peer work. Students described the workload as easy to manage, noting that the class structure was straightforward despite some confusion over assignment grading.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Develops information collection, verification, analysis, and presentation skills (CVAP approach) for journalism and strategic communication careers.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Mass Communication and Society examines relationships between mass communications and society, analyzing media performance and suggestions for change.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lewis Friedland
The course required around 100 pages of reading per week, which students found manageable if interested in the material.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2025Introduction to Mass Communication covers how mass media are organized, their technological, economic, and political foundations, and social implications in modern society.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Greg Downey
Grading was described as super easy, particularly when compared to other communication B requirements.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to digital media and its influence on society, culture, politics, and economy; creates on-trend content and critically examines mediums, messages, and audiences.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Mass Communication Practices builds communication skills like writing, editing, and data work for media careers in journalism and strategic communication.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Lucas Graves
The course involved many deadlines and assignments to track, though the learning management system was well-maintained to help manage this volume.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores prominent sports controversies affecting sports communication professionals like journalists, broadcasters, marketers, and PR specialists, focusing on how these issues impinge on professional practices.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Matt Hermann
The course centered on a semester-long group project with subjective grading, meaning individual performance could be significantly impacted by other group members.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Law of Mass Communication covers freedom of speech and press, focusing on legal issues for media practitioners including censorship, libel, privacy, and media regulation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026