Starting in 2026, students at the Atlanta University Center will have the chance to complete a four-year college degree for the first time in the U.S. The last two years of the curriculum will prepare students for careers in media sales, operations and marketing. Juniors and seniors at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College will be eligible to register for the courses starting in the fall of 2026. The curriculum will be inspired by the Media Sales Institute schedule, according to Black News.

Founders of the MSI announced plans for a new curriculum in Media Sales on June 15 at the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters / MSI graduation at Morehouse College with Gray Television as its “inaugural” media partner and the CAU School of Business and Division of Communications Arts within the School of Arts & Sciences.

The HBCU also revealed its partnership with the CAU School of Business and the Division of Communication Arts.

In late September, the CAU, Gray Television, and MSI Foundation principles leadership team convened to deliberate on introducing the Media Sales Department curriculum. The curriculum’s design, research, development and accreditation will take five years.

Located in CAU’s School of Business, the new program will address the difficulty faced by the media sector in ensuring a diverse workforce by focusing on radio, television, cable, print, digital and interactive media sales. It will be available to AUC students pursuing any major.

“I am proud and excited to be a part of this initiative and partner with the MSI Foundation, along with the media industry, to offer the first collegiate concentration in media sales, operations and marketing in the country!” Dean of the CAU School of Business Silvanus Udoka said.

“Building on the very successful MSI curriculum, the expanded reach that this program will offer promises to accomplish our shared goals of sustained creation of primed media sales professionals for today and tomorrow,” Udoka continued.

Jeffrey P. Myers and Dana Myers, MSD Developers, have teamed up with NABOB Telecommunications Education and Management Foundation for roughly 20 years, providing developmental courses that prepare graduates for careers in media sales.

“Our strategy is the best long-term plan to recruit diverse, pre-screened and highly qualified entry-level employees in the media industry. Building this curriculum and partnership has been part of a 20-year journey that started with the MSI Program in 2000. We are proud of an amazing alumni network that consists of more than 1,000 graduates being employed in media sales departments,” Myers said.

Throughout the curriculum’s development, sponsoring organizations can participate as “adjunct practitioners” and “adjunct professionals.”

“Gray is excited to be part of this innovative approach to preparing students for the ever-changing world of media sales,” Gray President and Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney said. “The entire industry will benefit from having students who will have spent years learning how best to help advertisers tell their stories across so many platforms.”

The five-year design cost will be funded by the MSI Foundation and its partners in funding. Enrollment at the CAU School of Business and the Division of Communication Arts in the School of Arts and Sciences will begin to cover the program’s costs in 2028.

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