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Program ranking · CIP 09.04 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Journalism

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Journalism (CIP 09.04) 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.

$81,935
Highest journalism earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$49,445
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $49,445 median earnings for Journalism bachelor's (CIP 09.04) completers. Lehigh University leads at $81,935.

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

$81,935
#1 - Lehigh University
$49,445
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
379
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 journalism programs by median completer earnings

Journalism bachelor's (CIP 09.04) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Journalism medians mix newsroom, PR, and digital 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 Lehigh University PA $81,935 $19,500 30
2 George Washington University DC $81,927 $25,000 69
3 University of Southern California CA $79,776 $15,000 92
4 Chapman University CA $79,135 $22,290 25
5 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $75,967 $21,500 196
6 Northeastern University MA $74,709 $24,005 31
7 Fordham University NY $72,475 $26,324 33
8 University of Miami FL $71,466 $15,500 27
9 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $70,829 $19,500 58
10 Syracuse University NY $70,404 $27,000 123
11 Elon University NC $69,964 $18,000 33
12 University of Missouri-Columbia MO $69,016 $21,000 390
13 University of Maryland-College Park MD $68,128 $21,500 142
14 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $67,539 $21,000 58
15 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $66,799 $19,500 111
16 American University DC $66,635 $24,976 59
17 University of Arkansas AR $66,087 $21,500 124
18 Boston University MA $65,617 $24,500 110
19 Stony Brook University NY $65,535 $23,375 55
20 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $64,224 $18,340 158
21 Baylor University TX $63,622 $23,525 67
22 California State University-Chico CA $63,358 $18,618 44
23 Emerson College MA $63,337 $23,610 108
24 Marquette University WI $63,322 $25,155 25
25 Drake University IA $62,969 - 32
26 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $62,670 $23,000 115
27 Rutgers University-Newark NJ $62,670 $23,000 30
28 University of Kansas KS $62,394 $22,000 217
29 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $62,336 $24,367 190
30 Quinnipiac University CT $61,819 $23,750 42
31 Utah State University UT $61,724 $16,932 61
32 DePaul University IL $61,708 $21,666 34
33 Hampton University VA $61,675 $26,000 64
34 Hofstra University NY $61,609 $23,375 58
35 Ithaca College NY $61,317 $25,000 31
36 The University of Texas at Austin TX $61,145 $17,250 147
37 Miami University-Oxford OH $60,974 $27,000 40
38 University of Central Florida FL $60,887 $18,810 53
39 University of Georgia GA $60,729 $19,500 153
40 CUNY Brooklyn College NY $60,272 - 29
41 University of Connecticut CT $59,604 $21,500 34
42 Michigan State University MI $59,498 $23,547 100
43 University at Albany NY $59,495 $22,467 30
44 Ohio University-Main Campus OH $59,276 $24,000 141
45 Indiana University-Bloomington IN $59,151 $18,762 121
46 Washington State University WA $58,795 $20,625 81
47 Texas Christian University TX $58,738 - 38
48 West Virginia University WV $58,454 $24,188 150
49 University of Florida FL $58,150 $16,454 145
50 Texas State University TX $57,963 $16,869 43
51 Georgia College & State University GA $57,843 $23,250 83
52 Western Washington University WA $57,697 $18,151 68
53 University of California-Irvine CA $57,492 $17,200 26
54 University of North Texas TX $57,461 $19,500 267
55 Loyola University Chicago IL $57,407 $21,125 29
56 San Francisco State University CA $57,260 $15,000 42
57 Suffolk University MA $57,220 $20,543 26
58 University of Colorado Boulder CO $57,079 $15,250 64
59 University of Iowa IA $56,933 $23,957 98
60 Kansas State University KS $56,418 $21,000 82
61 University of Mississippi MS $56,381 $23,725 53
62 University of Arizona AZ $55,676 $20,500 64
63 Illinois State University IL $55,641 $20,750 32
64 University of Oregon OR $55,615 $23,336 139
65 California State University-Long Beach CA $55,192 $15,000 85
66 The University of Alabama AL $55,043 $23,375 113
67 Georgia State University GA $54,732 $23,500 164
68 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY $54,425 $15,045 38
69 Georgia Southern University GA $54,396 $20,500 25
70 Kennesaw State University GA $54,360 $21,506 54
71 University of Nevada-Reno NV $54,322 $19,500 101
72 Wayne State University MI $54,188 $27,725 29
73 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus OK $54,031 $23,000 253
74 San Diego State University CA $53,997 $14,998 145
75 Iowa State University IA $53,633 $23,250 32
76 University of Nebraska-Lincoln NE $53,618 $20,990 72
77 Colorado State University-Fort Collins CO $53,528 $21,000 131
78 Temple University PA $53,518 $24,000 78
79 California State University-Northridge CA $53,351 $14,311 133
80 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC $53,294 $21,750 67
81 Texas Tech University TX $53,206 $22,000 38
82 University of Houston TX $53,195 $18,750 59
83 California State University-Sacramento CA $53,145 $20,000 43
84 University of Kentucky KY $52,785 $25,000 50
85 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM $52,760 $14,000 29
86 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN $52,663 $20,157 82
87 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $52,011 $21,500 79
88 Columbia College Chicago IL $51,639 $24,525 25
89 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $51,280 $20,500 28
90 University of Central Oklahoma OK $51,042 $23,500 45
91 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater WI $50,970 $21,500 45
92 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University FL $50,832 $26,125 54
93 Morgan State University MD $50,700 $28,750 40
94 Samford University AL $50,652 $18,120 39
95 Brigham Young University UT $50,338 $14,959 62
96 SUNY Brockport NY $50,073 $19,699 33
97 Middle Tennessee State University TN $49,932 $19,462 71
98 Kent State University at Kent OH $49,842 $25,000 46
99 Ball State University IN $49,456 $24,418 85
100 University of Memphis TN $49,445 $25,000 42

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Journalism (CIP 09.04) 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 Journalism (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 Journalism (CIP 09.04) bachelor's programs only - broader communication (CIP 09.01) and digital media majors 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.