Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications is a public college at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. Led by Dean Marie Hardin, it houses four departments: Advertising/Public Relations, Journalism, Film Production and Media Studies, and Telecommunications and Media Industries. The college offers five undergraduate majors, a master’s degree in media studies, and a Ph.D. in mass communications. It is the largest accredited mass communications program in the United States.
History and name changes
Penn State started offering journalism courses in 1911. The Department of Journalism was established in 1929, which later helped form the School of Journalism in 1955. Advertising began in 1936. In 1985, the journalism and advertising programs joined to form the School of Communications. Other programs in film/video, media studies, and telecommunications were added, leading to the College of Communications in 1995. In 2017, the college was renamed the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications after alumnus Donald P. Bellisario donated $30 million to support students, faculty, and the Bellisario Media Center, which opened in 2021.
Facilities and reach
The Bellisario Media Center, a 63,000-square-foot facility in the Willard Building, brings classrooms, offices, TV studios, and spaces for film and video creation under one roof. Construction began in 2019, and classes began in the center in August 2021. The college serves about 30,000 alumni and remains the largest accredited major in its field in the country.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:12 (CET).