TEENS UNFAZED BY PUBLISHING CRISIS Journalism faculties are highly sought after

Competition in the journalism universities all over the country was very heavy. Two of the most prestigious domestic state universities in the sector, of Bucharest and Cluj -Napoca, saw people lining up to win a place in these schools, with 8.19, and 11.18 candidates per place. The fact that over the past year no less than 6,000 journalists lost their jobs and the wages in the sector have dropped dramatically didn"t seem to matter for the wannabe students. Neither the never-ending talks about the diabolical media moguls, nor even the 70-80% contraction of the advertising market and the much mourned lost independence of the press succeeded in discouraging the wave of aspiring journalists.

The Journalism and Communication Sciences Faculty of the University of Bucharest had 380 places, 120 subsidized by the state and 260 with an annual fee. Even though candidates had to go through an exam, this didn"t seem to deter the candidates (8.19 candidates per place). The subsidized places were occupied with grades higher than 7.30, and the lowest admission grade for tuition fee seats was 6.10.

Competition in Cluj was even greater. The Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences - with the specializations "Journalism", "Communication and Public Relations" and "Advertising", of the "Babeş Bolyai" university, saw a large influx of studious teens. There were 1,712 candidates for 153 subsidized seats, meaning an average of 11.18 candidates per seat.

The universities of Iaşi, Oradea, Arad, Piteşti, Craiova, Timişoara, Constanţa have also seen a large number of applicants for journalism studies, which was one of the most sought after specializations in 2010. This is also caused by the generous offer of master degrees: management of mass-media institutions, communication sciences, communication campaigns, multimedia and audio-video production, themed journalism, Canadian studies, communication and human resources.

Those who failed their admission in the state universities, have the option of following the journalism courses of a private university, where they can apply in September as well. The Hyperion University, The Media University, The Spiru Haret University, the National School of Political and Administrative Sciences (SNSPA) are just some of the private higher learning institutions that can provide education to the new generations of journalists.