Tired of the standard, run-of-the-mill classroom experience? With Full Sail University’s accelerated master’s degree programs, students engage in hands-on, project-based curricula designed to meet the needs of actual workplaces and realistic lifestyles.

Watch this video for an inside look as a group of grads and instructors discuss the importance of providing — and obtaining — a real-world education.

“It’s one thing to sit in a classroom,” says Jeff Sharon, a course director in Full Sail’s Public Relations Master’s Program. “It’s another thing to test your ability out in the field in real time.”

Jeff says he challenges students to build upon their technical skills week after week. To give an example, he describes a typical assignment in his Digital News Production class.

“[The students] start with just a sequence of video — no narration, just natural sound. Then you add narration in Week 2. Then in Week 3, you add sound bites from two interviews. And then in Week 4, I take away one of those things. I take away narration. And then it’s just what we call a documentary-style piece … They don’t even realize it ’til the end.”

While lessons about documentary filmmaking aren’t found in every Full Sail classroom, this kind of project-based learning is. “Whatever fields that we’re teaching,” says Ryan Kitelyn (Program Director, Graduate Studies), “we’re using technology to an end. To make sure you can create and that you can be artistic in your endeavors.”

For instance, Cassandra Willard (Course Director, Entertainment Business Master’s) strives to make sure her students accomplish their respective endeavors by walking them through detailed business plans. “We look at a fundamental framework of, what are the things you’re going to create that somebody will want to buy one day?”

Reflecting on his experiences as a Full Sail student, Thaddeus Ray (an Entertainment Business Master’s and Business Intelligence Master’s grad) recalls building upon his own expanding skillsets. “I’d work on a big project bit by bit. And every week, it was something new and different and exciting.”

For a closer look at Full Sail’s master’s degree programs, all of which incorporate hands-on, project-based learning, explore our degrees, or call an Admissions Representative at 800.226.7625.