Major Rankings

Best Colleges for Communication and Media Studies

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 613

Avg grad salary: $44,963

Total graduates: 62,818

Top Colleges for Communication and Media Studies: Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	$126,932	$66,274	27	$24,500	11.4%
2	Northeastern University Boston, MA	$81,078	$49,727	142	$23,250	9.9%
3	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	$80,616	$62,182	74	$14,418	8.2%
4	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	$77,464	$53,022	41	$15,637	5.9%
5	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	$77,066	$52,210	57	$18,112	7.1%
6	UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA	$76,374	$43,696	213	$11,180	11.7%
7	UT Austin Austin, TX	$76,309	$44,506	191	$20,500	29.1%
8	Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA	$74,666	$52,694	30	$26,354	16.5%
9	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	$71,818	$51,720	62	$18,500	43.8%
10	University of Washington Seattle, WA	$71,597	$63,449	401	$16,433	42.5%
11	RPI Troy, NY	$71,567	$36,191	29	$25,000	58.5%
12	Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA	$71,547	$47,053	246	$31,050	75.0%
13	Chapman University Orange, CA	$69,235	$46,519	64	$19,500	55.6%
14	Boston University Boston, MA	$69,156	$49,254	332	$25,108	10.8%
15	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	$68,882	$57,615	33	$20,000	8.7%
16	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	$68,510	$47,368	68	$21,230	16.9%
17	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	$68,445	$34,857	103	$17,875	91.3%
18	Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA	$68,201	$39,248	57	$25,000	91.1%
19	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA	$67,761	$47,465	142	$23,250	N/A
20	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$66,507	$50,556	237	$20,376	17.9%
21	Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY	$66,343	$41,818	236	$26,000	64.7%
22	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	$65,839	$46,825	32	$20,250	12.4%
23	George Washington University Washington, DC	$65,477	$50,552	27	$25,000	43.5%
24	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	$65,184	$55,162	139	$18,500	15.7%
25	Roger Williams University Bristol, RI	$64,953	$33,596	35	$26,000	87.8%
26	American University Washington, DC	$64,488	$36,980	30	$22,611	47.4%
27	University of Maryland College Park, MD	$63,691	$43,696	279	$20,000	44.8%
28	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT	$63,356	$46,677	83	$27,000	45.0%
29	USC Los Angeles, CA	$63,317	$64,846	169	$17,702	10.0%
30	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	$63,294	$42,993	256	$19,750	85.7%
31	St. Thomas Aquinas College Sparkill, NY	$62,832	$28,480	16	N/A	82.2%
32	Seattle University Seattle, WA	$62,478	$39,316	36	$19,500	76.0%
33	Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD	$62,264	$42,640	115	$27,000	76.3%
34	Pace University New York, NY	$62,219	$35,992	152	$26,000	77.1%
35	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	$62,198	$43,144	58	$19,839	24.0%
36	Fordham University Bronx, NY	$62,162	$46,405	147	$25,700	56.3%
37	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	$62,150	$43,259	20	$27,000	83.8%
38	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	$62,097	$38,154	245	$27,000	77.5%
39	Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston, MA	$61,703	$50,599	93	$27,000	85.4%
40	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	$61,473	$32,123	80	$21,500	42.6%
41	Villanova University Villanova, PA	$61,471	$52,294	148	$26,456	25.1%
42	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	$61,461	$39,000	93	$23,250	50.8%
43	Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT	$61,393	$28,884	87	$26,399	67.7%
44	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	$61,344	$45,071	42	$27,000	65.6%
45	UIUC Champaign, IL	$61,211	$37,808	298	$19,500	43.7%
46	University of Delaware Newark, DE	$61,186	$42,585	196	$25,000	65.1%
47	UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	$61,114	$46,598	380	$13,018	27.8%
48	UC Davis Davis, CA	$60,820	$42,569	285	$13,000	41.6%
49	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	$60,597	$41,113	118	$19,500	40.3%
50	Cal Poly SLO San Luis Obispo, CA	$60,521	$62,183	41	$14,928	29.8%
51	Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ	$60,479	$43,649	421	$25,000	65.3%
52	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	$60,466	$43,609	156	$25,375	61.7%
53	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	$60,326	$35,722	119	$18,250	96.8%
54	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	$60,234	$42,055	56	$22,250	21.6%
55	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	$60,224	$36,380	203	$25,125	57.8%
56	Elon University Elon, NC	$60,125	$48,637	137	$23,250	67.3%
57	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	$59,906	$46,761	178	$20,613	57.0%
58	Colorado State University Global Denver, CO	$59,821	$49,436	58	$32,010	92.9%
59	Manhattan University Riverdale, NY	$59,580	$44,016	83	$26,000	78.5%
60	UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	$59,487	$43,348	653	$15,500	18.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best Communication and Media Studies Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

Compare schools side by side

Use the CollegeBound compare tool to see full profiles (admissions, costs, and outcomes) for any two schools at once.

Open Compare Tool

Explore Other Majors

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical NursingView →Business Administration, Management and OperationsView →Psychology, GeneralView →Criminal Justice and CorrectionsView →Business/Commerce, GeneralView →Biology, GeneralView →

← Back to Rankings