Arizona State University now offers a bachelor’s degree that trains students to become influencers, and it just launched inside one of the most respected journalism schools in the country. The Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation is housed within ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, appears in the university’s 2026-2027 course catalog, and was approved by the ASU University Senate back in March. It is a full 120 credit hour degree, meaning it follows the same standard four year structure as any other bachelor’s program on campus.
The program does not hide what it is preparing students for. According to ASU’s own program description, the degree prepares students to become an influencer and strategic storyteller who thrives in the rapidly evolving creator economy, and it was built for students who dream of monetizing their social media platforms. Coursework covers content planning, video and podcast production, personal branding, multimedia production, social media strategy and audience analytics. Students also get hands on experience through opportunities like the Los Angeles Content Studio, brand content projects, media internships and content creation trips abroad. The curriculum includes classes with titles like How to Become an Influencer, On Camera Presence, Videography and Podcasting and Audio Storytelling.
What separates this from a typical media degree is the final project. Students choose a social media platform of their choice, TikTok being one option, then build an actual content and growth strategy and attempt to gain real followers over the course of a semester. Jessica Pucci, senior associate dean at the Cronkite School, said students will have demonstrable audience growth, explaining that they will graduate with a platform of their choice, real content, real followers and a real audience behind them. This is not a hypothetical exercise or a simulated campaign. Students are expected to walk away with an actual online presence they built themselves.
The degree still includes the general education requirements every ASU student has to complete, math, history and writing among them, so this is not a program that skips traditional academics in favor of pure content strategy. It is built as a legitimate track within a journalism school that already has a strong national reputation, positioning content creation as a professional media pathway rather than a side hustle.
Reaction has been mixed since the program went public. Anna Elizabeth, an Arizona based influencer who works as a medical assistant while building content on the side, said a program like this would have helped her when she was first starting out, pointing to the parts of the industry that are hardest to learn without guidance, editing, marketing strategy, and figuring out how to get brands and PR to notice you. She said it can be difficult to understand that side of the business without years of trial and error, and a structured program could shortcut that learning curve for the next generation of creators.
ASU is not the only school moving in this direction, but it is one of the first major public universities to build a full standalone content creation degree rather than folding influencer training into an existing communications or marketing major. Graceland University in Illinois and Grand Canyon University in Arizona both offer similar digital content or social media degrees, but ASU’s version stands out for sitting inside a nationally recognized journalism school and for requiring real, measurable audience growth as a graduation requirement rather than a classroom simulation.
Whether or not a degree can actually teach someone to become a successful influencer is still an open question, since so much of that world runs on timing, personality and platform algorithms that change constantly. What is not in question is that ASU just made a bet that content creation is stable enough as a career path to build four years of curriculum around it, complete with internships, international trips and a senior thesis that lives on TikTok instead of in a bound paper.
