Advertising
Program Details
Advertising is all about how businesses create meaningful connections with audiences. As an advertising major, you'll dive into the realm of creative brainstorming, digital media and market research while learning to analyze, write and design captivating ads and ad campaigns.
Here, you'll have the opportunity to focus on work that benefits the community through courses that partner with Cincinnati-based businesses and organizations. You'll also gain experience through interning at local and national advertising agencies and graduate ready for a meaningful, creative career in advertising.
Xavier University, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is nationally recognized as a top university by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review and Forbes. 99 percent of our students, including those in the advertising major, are working, volunteering or in graduate school within six months of graduation (Class of 2022).
Degree Awarded
Bachelor of Arts in Advertising
Curriculum
The sample course sequence below illustrates class offerings for the Advertising major. Consult the official Xavier University course catalog for detailed registration and advising information.
Fall
- Core 101 - GOA............ 0cr.
- Comm 101 (OC Flag) or Comm 123............ 3cr.
- English Composition or Rhetoric............ 3cr.
- Second Language Elective ............ 3cr.
- Core 100 First-Year Seminar or Theo 111 Theological Foundations ............ 3cr.
- Math 105 (Math a placement level) or Math 116 (Math Perspectives) ............ 3cr.
Spring
- Core 102 - GOA............ 0cr.
- Comm 101 (OC Flag) or Comm 123............ 3cr.
- Historical Perspectives............ 3cr.
- Second Language Elective ............ 3cr.
- Core 100 First-Year Seminar or Theo 111 Theological Foundations ............ 3cr.
- Phil 100 Ethics as Introduction to Philosophy ............ 3cr.
Fall
- Communication Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Creative Perspectives ............ 3cr.
- Phil 200 Philosophical Perspectives ............ 3cr.
- Social Science elective ............ 3cr.
- Quantitative Reasoning Flag ............ 3cr.
Spring
- Comm 206 (Writing Flag) ............ 3cr.
- Eng 205 Literature and the Moral Imagination ............ 3cr.
- Theology Perspectives (THEO 200+) ............ 3cr.
- Scientific Perspectives ............ 3cr.
- Natural Science elective ............ 3cr.
Fall
- Communication Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Diversity Flag (COMM 323, 324 or other) ............ 3cr.
- E/R & Focus Flag (COMM 477) ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
Spring
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Humanities Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
Fall
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
Spring
- Communications Arts Course ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
- General Elective ............ 3cr.
Sample Courses
Xavier is known for providing an education that's both challenging and personal. Here are some courses that are part of the advertising major at Xavier:
Elements of Copy and Design (COMM 237) - Lay the foundation for upper-division classes by learning creative strategy, visual communication, and persuasive writing while developing ads for several media.
Media Strategies in Advertising (COMM 332) - A study of the characteristics of the various communication media and the methods employed in measuring their relative efficiencies in delivering the advertising message to the target audiences.
Creative Strategies in Advertising (COMM 430) - A study of the theoretical foundations and the process of developing advertising and promotional strategy; methods of utilizing research data for developing and evaluating advertising strategy.
Senior Seminar (COMM 439) - Integrate concepts and experiences throughout the Advertising major and liberal arts core to create an original advertising campaign for a real-world client with deliverables that are suitable for student portfolios.
Career Outcomes
99% of undergraduate Xavier students, including those in the advertising major, are working, volunteering or in graduate school within six months of graduation (Class of 2022).
Careers for Advertising Majors: Account Executive, Campaign Manager, Communications Specialist, Content Coordinator, Digital Advertising Specialist, Marketing Coordinator, Marketing Manager, Media Planner, Promotions Manager, Public Relations Manager, Sales Manager, Social Media Marketing Assistant
Student Job Placements (All Communications Majors): Procter & Gamble, ESPN, Fifth Third Bank, NCAA, Macy's, Amazon, Four Entertainment Group, Total Quality Logistics, Mercy Health, ABC
More: Xavier's Career Development Office assists students in their search for employment by offering individual career counseling sessions, conducting workshop series on interviewing and resume writing techniques and maintaining an educational, vocational and employer information resource center. More than 100 nationally known companies visit the campus annually to interview graduating seniors for positions in business and industry.
Student Clubs
The following clubs are popular choices for students in the advertising major.
The Advertising Club
The Advertising club, part of the nationally renowned American Advertising Federation (AAF), specializes in uniting creativity and advertising within the Xavier Community.
Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is a national, student-managed organization offering a campus program of speakers, skill-building activities and social events.
Take the Next Step
All For One
Cincinnati: A City of Opportunity for Advertising Majors
Cincinnati, Ohio is ranked the #1 Best City for College Graduates (smartasset.com) and the #15 Best Place to Start a Career (WalletHub). Students in the advertising major take advantage of for-credit internships and employment opportunities at multiple Fortune 500 companies, private companies, nonprofit organizations and other businesses.
International Study Abroad Programs
You can learn a lot on campus, but not everything. There’s a world out there, and we’ll help you to explore it. Here, students in the advertising major participate in study abroad opportunities of all types: short-term, long-term, direct exchanges and programs sponsored by other providers. You’ll see and do things that will change your life. And you’ll have a lot of fun, too.
What is Jesuit Education?
A Xavier education is more than your typical college experience. Drawing on a Jesuit Catholic educational model 400 years in the making, students in the advertising major get the personal attention and support they need to succeed and make a difference in the world. The result is an education that’s as encouraging as it is challenging, and as enriching as it is demanding.
Ask a Musketeer: Emily Linginfelter (Public Relations, Advertising, Digital Media, '17)
Advice for making the most of four years at Xavier.
Graduate With Honors
Are you looking for an academic challenge? The University Scholars Honors Program offers incoming students a more challenging curriculum and close support from professors while completing their undergraduate degree. Acceptance into the program is highly selective and includes a $2000 travel grant.
Advertising Major at Xavier University
Advertising is an academic major in which students learn to connect marketers to consumers through creative and strategic campaigns. The Bachelor of Arts in Advertising is a four-year program designed to not only teach students what it takes to be an advertising professional, but also how to apply the skills and principles they learn. Students explore all facets of the industry, including fundamentals of advertising, media planning, research and management.
Xavier University’s College of Arts and Sciences challenges students to develop an integrated understanding of humanity, the world, and God by pursuing the questions raised in Xavier's core and departmental curricula. The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest and largest college at Xavier University. The college provides an excellent liberal arts education in the Jesuit tradition that prepares students for careers, professional or graduate school, and life in a global society.
Xavier University is a private university located in Cincinnati, Ohio, providing a liberal arts education in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. Founded in 1831, the University is the sixth-oldest Catholic university in the nation. It has been ranked among the top 10 master's-level universities in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report for the past two decades. The Princeton Review names it one of the "Best 385 Colleges in America."