Print students take classes in the Journalism Building, while broadcast students are across campus, spread among three buildings. Dean Brown has made one of his priorities raising funds for a building to bring the approximately 400 majors under one roof. Accreditation means the school fulfills its mission and compares favorably with similar programs. It also allows the school to approach the many notable philanthropic foundations that do not accept proposals from non-accredited schools. The second oldest undergraduate school of journalism in the United States, the UM school was founded in 1914 and first accredited in 1948.
Accreditation is reviewed every six years.
Of some 400 programs in the country, only 110 are accredited. The site-visit team was led by Will Norton, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Journalism and Mass Communications. As head of the Freedom Forum, Overby oversees the groups efforts to protect free press and free speech around the world. Overby is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and worked for Gannett Company as a reporter, editor and corporate executive for 16 years. He was named president and CEO of the Freedom Forum in 1989 and was named chairman and CEO in 1997.