Nigerian scholar Ugochukwu Madu commenced a fully funded direct PhD program in Mass Communication with a Health Communication concentration at the University of Iowa in August 2022, after receiving multiple offers from top Carnegie R1-classified U.S. institutions on his first attempt at graduate school applications.
Madu’s selection follows a competitive application cycle during which he received several fully funded offers from top-tier universities: Georgetown University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Alabama, and the University of Iowa. The offers included full tuition waivers, health insurance, coverage of student fees, teaching assistantships, and monthly stipends, which is a rare feat for any applicant, let alone an international student applying to graduate school for the first time.
Before pursuing graduate education in the United States, Madu had already built an outstanding academic record in Nigeria. He earned a Distinction in his associate bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from OSISATECH Polytechnic, Enugu, before advancing to Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, where he graduated with First Class Honours for his bachelor’s degree. Out of 1,924 graduating students, he was one of only six to earn a first-class distinction across the entire university, ranking among the top 0.3% and graduating with the university’s fourth-best CGPA for the entire class of 2019.
Between March 2021 and February 2022, he completed Nigeria’s mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program at Benue State University (BSU), where he served in the Department of Mass Communication. There, he held multiple roles: Teaching Assistant, News Editor, and Studio Manager at BSU FM, the university’s campus radio station. He trained undergraduates in journalism, news production, and media operations. Madu was also elected as the Projects Chairman of the NYSC Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Community Development Service (CDS) group, where he led outreach efforts and was recognised during the February 2022 NYSC Passing Out Parade as the Most Influential Corps Member of the Year.
Speaking on his transition to doctoral studies in the U.S., Madu said, “I feel deeply honoured and humbled to represent my country in one of the most respected journalism schools in the United States. The opportunities ahead of me reaffirm my commitment to using communication as a tool for the public good. I look forward to building research collaborations and contributing to global conversations on health misinformation, especially in communities that are most affected.”
Madu selected the University of Iowa due to its national reputation in media education and research. The School of Journalism and Mass Communication, established in 1924, was the first in the United States to award PhD degrees in journalism and mass communication and remains a recognised centre for communication and media scholarship.
With his program underway, Madu will combine research and teaching responsibilities while working toward his long-term goal of advancing public health communication and media literacy on a global scale.
