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.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$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.

University of Pennsylvania

$114,266
Northwestern University

$93,541
Cornell University

$88,463
Santa Clara University

$84,206
Boston College

$83,586
Villanova University

$81,497
Boston University

$80,306
Northeastern University

$80,191
University of Michigan-A…

$79,648
George Washington Univer…

$79,112
Fairfield University

$78,081
Wake Forest University

$77,984
Fordham University

$77,244
Tulane University of Lou…

$76,945
Roanoke College

$76,198

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

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
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.