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Program ranking · CIP 09.01 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Communications

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Communications (CIP 09.01) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$114,266
Highest communications earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$62,096
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $62,096 median earnings for Communications bachelor's (CIP 09.01) completers. University of Pennsylvania leads at $114,266.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$114,266
#1 - University of Pennsylvania
$62,096
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
1,116
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 communications programs by median completer earnings

Communications bachelor's (CIP 09.01) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Communications medians mix media, PR, and corporate roles - debt still matters when media-market pay varies sharply by metro.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of Pennsylvania PA $114,266 $15,000 63
2 Northwestern University IL $93,541 $17,687 90
3 Cornell University NY $88,463 $14,400 88
4 Santa Clara University CA $84,206 $17,832 137
5 Boston College MA $83,586 $18,000 191
6 Villanova University PA $81,497 $26,228 155
7 Boston University MA $80,306 $23,250 134
8 Northeastern University MA $80,191 $21,500 135
9 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $79,648 $19,941 255
10 George Washington University DC $79,112 $25,000 30
11 Fairfield University CT $78,081 $26,919 61
12 Wake Forest University NC $77,984 $22,250 130
13 Fordham University NY $77,244 $24,615 131
14 Tulane University of Louisiana LA $76,945 $23,082 176
15 Roanoke College VA $76,198 $26,820 33
16 University of Southern California CA $75,864 $15,875 326
17 University of California-Berkeley CA $75,612 $11,100 258
18 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $75,223 $14,857 77
19 Marist University NY $74,726 $25,000 193
20 Manhattan University NY $74,471 $25,500 44
21 University of Maryland-College Park MD $74,402 $17,250 354
22 Elon University NC $73,750 $21,999 38
23 Hobart William Smith Colleges NY $73,650 $26,500 63
24 Gonzaga University WA $73,558 $21,875 36
25 Chapman University CA $73,461 $18,777 104
26 The Catholic University of America DC $73,073 $27,000 25
27 University of California-Santa Barbara CA $72,976 $13,000 582
28 St Lawrence University NY $72,839 $25,000 55
29 University of California-Davis CA $72,778 $13,000 293
30 University of Arizona AZ $72,758 $18,910 259
31 CUNY Graduate School and University Center NY $72,564 $12,901 49
32 The University of Texas at Austin TX $72,210 $19,500 234
33 Loyola University Maryland MD $71,948 $27,000 99
34 Stonehill College MA $70,618 $25,000 42
35 Roger Williams University RI $70,575 $26,000 30
36 University of Delaware DE $70,414 $24,296 188
37 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC $70,240 $14,625 560
38 Syracuse University NY $70,106 $26,000 140
39 CUNY City College NY $69,948 $14,858 86
40 Pace University NY $69,876 $26,000 115
41 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $69,709 $21,500 323
42 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA $69,573 $25,870 42
43 Gustavus Adolphus College MN $69,423 $27,000 36
44 Saint Anselm College NH $69,288 $27,000 28
45 DePauw University IN $69,228 $27,000 50
46 Loyola Marymount University CA $69,144 $17,750 125
47 University of New Hampshire-Main Campus NH $69,098 $25,990 148
48 University of Nevada-Reno NV $68,953 $17,232 58
49 University of San Diego CA $68,913 $24,000 74
50 Brigham Young University UT $68,843 $19,680 94
51 Sonoma State University CA $68,833 $17,877 103
52 The College of New Jersey NJ $68,654 $19,500 80
53 University of San Francisco CA $68,592 $21,875 76
54 University of Connecticut CT $68,542 $21,036 231
55 Bryant University RI $68,518 $27,000 33
56 University of Georgia GA $68,319 $17,250 121
57 American University DC $67,863 $22,611 27
58 University of California-San Diego CA $67,302 $13,193 278
59 University of Dayton OH $67,231 $25,000 141
60 University of Maryland Global Campus MD $67,181 $23,000 192
61 Denison University OH $66,730 $25,000 64
62 University of Colorado Boulder CO $66,623 $16,500 204
63 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $66,439 $18,850 315
64 James Madison University VA $66,436 $20,500 399
65 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $66,106 $20,500 219
66 Queens University of Charlotte NC $65,985 $26,975 25
67 Purdue University-Main Campus IN $65,517 $17,375 151
68 University of St Thomas MN $64,917 $26,125 30
69 Lake Forest College IL $64,580 $27,000 30
70 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $64,533 $15,750 407
71 University of Rhode Island RI $64,520 $22,813 170
72 Saint Mary's College of California CA $64,456 $19,500 36
73 College of Saint Benedict MN $64,430 $27,000 31
74 Merrimack College MA $64,345 $25,783 67
75 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $64,153 $15,000 314
76 University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA $64,153 $15,000 112
77 University of Washington-Tacoma Campus WA $64,153 $15,000 63
78 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh WI $64,103 $26,000 41
79 Furman University SC $64,014 $22,631 66
80 Keene State College NH $63,995 $25,000 30
81 Indiana University-Bloomington IN $63,855 $20,500 436
82 San Francisco State University CA $63,731 $13,703 264
83 Augustana College IL $63,730 $26,375 34
84 SUNY College at Geneseo NY $63,577 $19,500 101
85 Texas Christian University TX $63,531 $21,500 123
86 State University of New York at Cortland NY $63,431 $21,500 78
87 University of Denver CO $63,374 $20,666 107
88 University of Utah UT $63,309 $17,500 322
89 Towson University MD $63,292 $17,989 121
90 Quinnipiac University CT $63,012 $23,250 61
91 University at Buffalo NY $62,912 $19,500 278
92 University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus CO $62,882 $21,896 148
93 Marymount Manhattan College NY $62,844 $24,500 50
94 Utah Valley University UT $62,566 $13,942 131
95 Westmont College CA $62,535 $23,250 29
96 SUNY Brockport NY $62,532 $19,969 55
97 University of Hartford CT $62,464 $26,374 27
98 Seattle Pacific University WA $62,411 $25,137 31
99 John Carroll University OH $62,270 $27,000 60
100 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $62,096 $19,822 489

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Communications (CIP 09.01) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Communications (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Communication and Media Studies (CIP 09.01) bachelor's programs - journalism (CIP 09.04) and public relations/advertising (CIP 09.09) are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.