The school is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Fewer than 30 percent of the nation’s approximately 420 undergraduate journalism and mass communication programs have achieved this status.
Information about ACEJMC accreditation can be found at the ACEJMC website.
ACEJMC invites all students and other persons to report incidents in which they can present evidence that a unit has violated accreditation standards. Such reports should be addressed to: ACEJMC, 201 Bishop Hall, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848.
Accountability
ACEJMC requires its accredited programs to report to the public retention and graduation rates, as well as other relevant information about student achievement. This information must be updated by August 15 each year. Below is the most recent student achievement information available for the Drake SJMC.
Retention rates of entering first-year students
| Entering Class | Drake Overall | SJMC |
| 2023–2024 | 84.4% | 90.2% |
Four-year undergraduate completion rates
| Entering Class | Drake Overall | SJMC |
| 2018 | 67% | 68% |
Four-year graduate* completion rates
| Entering Class | SJMC |
| 2021 | 88% |
*While many of our working professionals in the Master of Arts in Communication program finish within two years, some choose to finish in four years for personal or professional reasons.
Fall semester 2024 SJMC enrollment
| Level | Status | Students with SJMC Primary Degree | All SJMC Majors and Minors* |
| Undergraduate | |||
| Full-Time | 191 | 257 | |
| Part-Time | 10 | 11 | |
| Total | 201 | 268 |
| Graduate | |||
| Full-Time | 12 | N/A | |
| Part-Time | 44 | N/A | |
| Total | 56 | N/A |
*Most SJMC undergraduate students pursue a second or even third major or degree in another academic unit, such as the College of Arts and Sciences or the Zimpleman College of Business. This table shows the number of students whose first major is in SJMC, and also students whose second or third major is in SJMC or who have an SJMC minor (that is, all the students that SJMC serves).