Photoj Q&A, Finding the right photojournalism college

"I was impressed with the journalism programs at Mizzou and Ohio. I also was impressed with the photography program at RIT, but was disapointed with the lack of liberal arts.

"I have a few questions that I was wondering if you could answer.

1) "Are these the schools that I should be looking at? If so, why? If not, are there others that I should be considering?

2) "On your website you say that you went to University of Missouri, why do you consider it as the place to go for photojournalism? What about the fine art photo programs?"

If you haven't already seen them, I wrote three earlier columns in response to other student's questions about photojournalism, the most recent, Internet Photojournalism Q's and A's, and two earlier columns, Photoj Q's and A's and More Photoj Q's and A's, this last in which I wrote briefly about photojournalism schools at 2-year and 4-year colleges.

When I was researching schools way back in 1973 and settled on Missouri, the two other schools on my final list were Philadelphia School of the Arts and an art photography/design school in Los Angeles, the name of which escapes me now many years later.

I'm from North Carolina and still live here, so I also considered UNC-Chapel Hill, but at that time they had no photojournalism major. I am told that the program there now is first-rate, though I have no direct knowledge of that.

I recently ran across a webpage called Some schools known for photojournalism, which was assembled based on recommendations of members of the National Press Photographers Association and seems like a comprehensive list. At the bottom of this page is a list of questions and answers about choosing the right photojournalism school.

I settled on Missouri because of the legacy of the late Cliff Edom, the man who coined the word photojournalism, who was also the founder of the program there.

One of my instructors from 1973-75 was still there last I heard, Bill Kuykendall, and Vi Edom, Cliff's wife, if she is still living, was last I heard still serving as sort of a surrogate mother to the photojournalism students. I haven't had any direct contact with the program there, other than to look at the Photojournalism School's website occasionally.

For some reason, Bill Kuykendall's website has been moved so I can't give you a link to it, but I did run across a webpage about the 1997 Missouri Photo Workshop in Carthage, Mo., which mentions both Bill and Vi as two of the leaders of that group.

The Rochester Institute program in Rochester, N.Y., has long been one of the premier photo programs in the nation, with the Kodak plant and headquarters in that town being a major sponsor of the program over the years. The lack of a liberal arts program is a negative for you, but if you're interested only in photography and not a complete, well-rounded education, RIT would be a fine choice.

I'm not familiar with the programs at Boston, Ohio or Syracuse.

I would strongly recommend that you choose a photojournalism school based on both the quality of the photoj instructors and the quality of the journalism school as a whole. I greatly value the classes and practical experience I gained as a writer as well as a photographer at Mizzou, particularly as my career led me toward jobs as a reporter and editor as well as photographer.

One of the unwritten rules of newspapers is you can take pictures if you're a writer, but if you're a photographer, you're not expected to write and may not even get the opportunity to be a writer, and by extension, an editor.

I hope this helps your search for a good school. I commend you in your diligence. This could be one of the most important decisions you'll ever make and will affect the course of the rest of your life.

I thank God every day I ended up at Missouri. I had no idea I even had any writing talent, but what I learned there has defined my entire career.