The Robertson Advantage

Why the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at VCU? Lots of reasons:

Capital of the Commonwealth

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia with a metropolitian population of nearly 1.3 million people and ranking by Nielsen as TV market number 55 (a strong, medium-sized market). This puts the Robertson School in the heart of the media capital for advertising, news and public relations.

We're accredited

The Robertson School is one of only 118 undergraduate mass communications programs accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (out of at least 400 specific programs and close to 1,000 college and universities that offer some kind of mass comm class). This means...

• Every six years we submit an exhaustive self-study and we're thoroughly evaluated by external reviewers made up of leading media professionals and academics;
• We're teaching to media industry standards and expectations so our graduates are well-positioned in the job market;
• Small class sizes for skills and lab classes, with no more than 20 students per class (and a lot of our other classes are that small, too);
• It's a seal of approval for our curriculum, faculty, resources and facilites; and
• We're able to offer special scholarships and opportunities reserved just for accredited programs.

Find out more on our page for accreditation and assessment.

Area media

The area has lots of media outlets where many of our students complete internships while in school, and where many of our graduates have worked or are currently working:

• The Richmond Times-Dispatch
• WTVR-TV CBS6
• WRIC-TV ABC8
• WWBT-TV NBC12
• WCVE-TV, WCVW-TV (PBS) and 88.9 FM WCVW (NPR)
• iHeartRadio stations, including Q94, MIX 98.1, XL102, 106.5 The Beat and Newsradio 1140 WRVA
• Summit Media radio stations, including K95, Classic Rock 96.5, Star 100.9, 103.7 Play and Hot 106.1
• Radio One radio stations, including iPower92.1, 99.3/105.7 KISS FM, Praise 104.7 and News Talk 1240.
• Richmond BizSense.com
• rvamag.com

Top firms

Richmond sports top national and international advertising, PR and strategic communication companies, including:

• The Martin Agency (headquartered in Richmond with offices in New York and London)
• Padilla (headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in Richmond, New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC)
• Burford Advertising
• Big River Advertising
• The Hodges Partnership
• Madison+Main

Culture, music, sports, history and museums

Wow, there's a lot to do in Richmond:

• Agecroft Hall
• Children's Museum of Richmond
• Edgar Allan Poe Museum
• Hollywood Cemetery
• Institute for Contemporary Art 
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
• Modlin Center for the Arts
• Richmond Ballet
• Richmond CenterStage, including the Carpenter Theatre, Gottwald Playhouse, Rhythm Hall, Showcase Gallery and Altria Theater
• Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball (Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)
• Richmond International Raceway, home to NASCAR and other races
• Richmond National Battlefield Park
• Richmond Symphony
• The National, an historic concert venue with the latest acts
• Virginia Holocaust Museum
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
• Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clérisseau
• Visit Richmond VA

Location, location, location

On top of everything Richmond has to offer, we're a few hours in any direction from the water, the mountains and Washington DC.