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.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$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.

Lehigh University

$81,935
George Washington Univer…

$81,927
University of Southern C…

$79,776
Chapman University

$79,135
University of Wisconsin-…

$75,967
Northeastern University

$74,709
Fordham University

$72,475
University of Miami

$71,466
California Polytechnic S…

$70,829
Syracuse University

$70,404
Elon University

$69,964
University of Missouri-C…

$69,016
University of Maryland-C…

$68,128
University of Illinois U…

$67,539
University of Minnesota-…

$66,799

What this shows Journalism medians mix newsroom, PR, and digital 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	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.