A communications master alongside your job
In this subject the master is the level of leadership: strategy, budget, crisis, responsibility for a team. Here is which bachelor is required, when entering from another field works, and which career step is realistic.
When the master is the right level
And why the answer depends on where you work.
The master is the level at which execution turns into steering. In content the emphasis moves from formats and texts to strategy, measurement, budget, agency management and crisis situations. That is precisely the difference from the bachelor: there you learn to do communications, here you learn to answer for it.
It pays off if you have one of three goals. First, leading a communications department, which in many larger organisations is advertised with a master requirement. Second, the public sector and organisations bound by collective agreements, where higher pay grades frequently hang on the degree level. Third, the route into research and teaching, for which the master is the prerequisite.
It does not pay off if you intend to stay in an agency: that system decides on references, and three years of strong cases weigh more. Without a first degree the road starts at the part-time communications bachelor, the subject itself is on the communications subject page.
Which bachelor is required
Communications is one of the most open subjects for career changers, but not for everyone.
What is required is a first degree, usually with a minimum grade. Because communications is interdisciplinary, many programmes also open up to degrees from other fields, typically business, social science and humanities bachelors. What they ask for instead is relevant work experience, conditions in the first semester or a solid statement of motivation. Purely technical or creative first degrees have a harder time, because the methodological foundation is missing.
Then comes the arithmetic. Many universities require bachelor and master together to add up to 300 ECTS. With a 180 ECTS bachelor you need a 120 ECTS programme, or the difference is closed through conditions and credited prior learning. Not a knockout criterion, but it shapes which programmes are open to you.
For experienced professionals there are two extra doors: master after career experience and, as a rare exception under strict conditions, master without a bachelor. The framework is on the overview master degree while working.
How long this level takes
Shorter than the bachelor, but with more awkward peaks.
Master programmes come to 60 to 120 ECTS. Assume 90 ECTS. At 15 ECTS per semester that is six semesters, so three years. At 10 ECTS per semester it becomes nine semesters and therefore four and a half years. A 120 ECTS programme at 15 ECTS per semester lands at four years.
Credit transfer bites less at this level than at bachelor level, because training and years on the job are usually already spent on the first degree. Three sources remain: university certificates at master level, modules from an abandoned degree and individual advanced courses with documented volume and level. How the procedure runs is set out under credit transfer, and what work experience is worth under credit for work experience.
One point I always raise here: communications work is reactive, and a crisis does not ask whether it is exam week. If you carry a spokesperson or on-call function, set 10 rather than 15 ECTS per semester. The arithmetic is under ECTS per semester, the cost side under what a distance degree costs.
The four levels in communications
So you can see where the master sits and what lies next to it.
| Level | ECTS | Alongside work | Admission | What for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate | usually 5 to 30 | 1 to 2 semesters | often on work experience alone | adding one single competence |
| Bachelor | 180, sometimes 210 | 4 to 8 years depending on pace | entrance qualification or the vocational route | first academic degree, access to formal recruitment |
| Master | 60 to 120 | 2 to 4 years | a first degree, other fields often with conditions | leadership, strategy, crisis communication, doctoral access |
| MBA | 60 to 120 | 2 to 4 years | a degree plus several years of work experience | general company leadership rather than subject depth |
The choice between master and MBA often only arises late in this subject. If you want to answer for an organisation's communications, take the subject master. If you want to move out of communications into general management, the MBA is the fitting level, see MBA or master.
What the master opens, and what it does not
The career step is real, but it is limited and can be named.
The master opens leadership processes above all. In larger companies, at associations and in foundations, vacancies for head of corporate communications frequently state a master. Second, it opens the higher pay grades in the public sector, because career and pay rules there attach to degree levels. And third, it opens access to a doctorate and with it teaching and research, a route more people take in this subject than you would assume.
It does not open a role. The spokesperson function is assigned, not conferred, and there are no protected titles in this field. In agencies the reference list stays the selection criterion. And in crisis communication it does not replace experience: anyone who has never had to give information in a real case learns that only partly in a degree. On pay, the same applies as one level down, see salary after your degree.
My advice before applying: find two or three real vacancies for the position you want in five years and read which degree is required. If it says master, you have your answer. If it says nothing, the time is better invested in responsibility than in credit points. For a bigger switch, see career change through a degree.
A communications master alongside work
The questions that come up in almost every initial consultation.
Can I enter a communications master from another field?
More often than in other subjects. Communications is interdisciplinary, so many programmes open up to business, social science and humanities degrees. What they then ask for is relevant work experience, conditions in the first semester or a solid statement of motivation. Purely creative or technical first degrees have a harder time, so settle that before you apply.
What does the master bring if nothing in the field is regulated?
It works in three places. In organisations bound by collective agreements and in the public sector, higher pay grades frequently hang on a master. In corporations it is a common criterion in leadership vacancies. And it is the prerequisite for a doctorate. For day to day agency work it brings little, because references decide there.
Do I have to reach 300 ECTS in total?
Many universities require bachelor and master together to add up to 300 ECTS. With a 180 ECTS bachelor you then need a 120 ECTS master programme, or the gap is closed through conditions and credited prior learning. With a 210 ECTS bachelor the question does not arise. Settle it before you apply.
Specialise or broaden, which is smarter?
That depends on your first degree. If you already hold a communications bachelor, you gain from depth in strategy, crisis communication or public affairs. If you come from another field, the master is your entry into the field and a broader programme serves you better. Two specialisations in a row narrow your market faster than most people expect.
Does the master make me a press officer?
No. The role is assigned, not conferred, and job titles in this field are not protected. The master improves your chance of getting into the process where that decision is made, and in many organisations it is the formal expectation for leadership posts. The spokesperson role itself rests on trust, experience and composure.
Whether the master holds up in your case
Admission, programme fit and target role settled in one conversation.
The information on this page is general in nature and based on my advisory practice (last updated 31.07.2026). It does not replace an official credit transfer or recognition decision by the respective university and is not legal advice. Specific decisions are made by universities, the ZAB (Germany), the BMBWF (Austria), or the SBFI (Switzerland). I clarify binding next steps with you in the initial consultation.