The Master of Journalism is offered jointly by the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University. It is a 10-month program that offers two streams: investigative reporting and new ventures. It’s designed specifically for students who already possess a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Academic Requirements

Admission will be restricted to those who have obtained a Bachelor of Journalism degree or equivalent program, with an average grade of B or better. The King’s registrar, in consultation with the director the School of Journalism, will determine a program’s equivalency to a Bachelor of Journalism. A prior learning assessment will be available for the few applicants who do not have a Bachelor of Journalism degree, but who have a degree in another discipline and deep experience in the field.

Admission Procedures and instructions:

The Master of Journalism is offered jointly by Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College. Applicants may apply online or they may submit a paper application using the standard form of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Graduate Studies.  To speed the processing of your paper application, applicants are requested to send all documents, including the Dalhousie Graduate Studies Application Form and all supporting documents directly to:

Office of the Registrar
1st Floor Arts and Administration Building
University of King’s College
6350 Coburg Road
Halifax, NS
B3H 2A1

A completed application consists of:

Please indicate your proposed Field of Study, selecting one of New Ventures or Investigative.

Please note that the Dalhousie Graduate Studies Form does not include the option for a June start date. You may check the “May” start box or leave this section blank.

Process of Admission
As the number of places in the MJ program is limited, it is expected that only a proportion of qualified applicants will be admitted; selection will be made on a competitive basis. Candidates will typically be notified by the middle of April, pending final program approval

Dalhousie University/University of King’s College will verify any information provided by the applicant, including letters of reference and transcripts. Information on falsified documents is shared with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Furthermore, if an applicant does not provide complete information or provides falsified documents, the applicant’s association with, admission to, or registration in the University may be rescinded and cancelled after notice in writing to the applicant at the home address.

All documents received become the property of the University and will be used at the discretion of the University for internal purposes only. Documents will not be returned.
The initial application evaluation process is conducted by the School of Journalism, which then makes its recommendation to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The final decision is made and a formal offer of admission is signed and sent out by the Registrar of Dalhousie University.

Students offered a place in the MJ program will be asked to confirm acceptance of the offer and tender an admission deposit by a specified deadline in order to hold a place in the program.
A ranked waiting list of qualified students will be maintained throughout the late spring and early summer.

English Language Competency

As the standard language of study at King’s/Dalhousie is English, candidates whose language is not English must demonstrate their capacity to pursue graduate- level program in English before admission. The standard test is the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) The Faculty of Graduate Studies sets a minimum acceptable score of 580 for the written TOEFL, 237 for the computer- based test, and a 92 for the internet- based test.  The following tests will also be accepted with the following minimum scores:

MELAB     85
IELTS        7
CanTest    Average of at least 4.5, with no band score lower than 4.0
CAEL        70 overall, with no band score lower than 5.0

A TOEFL score may be waived if you have completed a university degree from an accredited institution in which the language of instruction is English.