Best colleges for communications, ranked by value
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranks first of 388 colleges for communications value; its graduates' median earnings 4 years after the bachelor's degree are $70,240 (College Scorecard field-of-study data, 2025).
Communication and media studies bachelor's programs ranked by value: graduate earnings against debt, net price and completion.
Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition · Source: College Scorecard field of study, reporting year 2025 · 388 colleges ranked · Updated November 4, 2026
#1 for communications
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
- Earnings
- $70,240
- 4 yrs after
- Net price
- $11,305
- per year
- Grad rate
- 91%
- six years
At a glance
- Colleges ranked
- 388
- Of 1,058 with a communications bachelor's program in the data.
- Median graduate earnings
- $56,130
- 4 years after the bachelor's degree, at the median ranked college.
- Median federal debt
- $19,593
- Borrowed at the college by communications graduates.
- Median average net price
- $17,285
- What aided first-year students pay a year after grants.
What the data shows
Key findings
388 colleges qualify. At the median one, communications graduates earn $56,130 4 years after graduating, and the average net price is $17,285 a year.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranks first with a value score of 91.5: graduates earn $70,240 and the average net price is $11,305.
The highest earnings are at University of Pennsylvania ($114,266), which ranks #39 once cost, debt and graduation rate are counted.
Public colleges hold 23 of the top 25 places.
How the value score is weighted
- Graduate earnings40%
- Average net price25%
- Debt-to-earnings20%
- Graduation rate15%
Each part is a percentile among ranked colleges, so a score of 80 means better than 80% of them on that measure. Full methodology
Top 25 by value score
The ranking
Every figure behind each rank is shown. Filter by state, public or private, and net price; ranks stay national.
Top 25 of 388 ranked colleges.
- Rank 1
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC · Public · Communication and Media Studies
91.5Value score- Earnings
- $70,240
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $12,500
- Net price
- $11,305
- per year
- Grad rate
- 91%
- Graduates
- 534
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 91.2
- Net price
- 83.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 97.6
- Graduation
- 98.2
- Rank 2
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
89.7Value score- Earnings
- $75,612
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $11,132
- Net price
- $14,538
- per year
- Grad rate
- 94%
- Graduates
- 258
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 95.9
- Net price
- 66.7
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 99.2
- Graduation
- 99.0
- Rank 3
University of Maryland-College Park
College Park, MD · Public · Communication and Media Studies
88.6Value score- Earnings
- $74,402
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $15,000
- Net price
- $14,296
- per year
- Grad rate
- 88%
- Graduates
- 258
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 94.8
- Net price
- 69.0
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 95.4
- Graduation
- 95.9
- Rank 4
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI · Public · Communication and Media Studies
88.4Value score- Earnings
- $79,648
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $19,500
- Net price
- $14,362
- per year
- Grad rate
- 93%
- Graduates
- 233
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 97.9
- Net price
- 68.0
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 87.4
- Graduation
- 98.7
- Rank 5
University of California-Davis
Davis, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
88.1Value score- Earnings
- $72,778
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $11,000
- Net price
- $14,318
- per year
- Grad rate
- 86%
- Graduates
- 301
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 93.0
- Net price
- 68.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 98.9
- Graduation
- 93.5
- Rank 6
Brigham Young University-Provo
Provo, UT · Private nonprofit · Communication and Media Studies
86.7Value score- Earnings
- $68,843
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $11,000
- Net price
- $13,397
- per year
- Grad rate
- 81%
- Graduates
- 68
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 87.9
- Net price
- 75.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 98.4
- Graduation
- 87.1
- Earnings
- $68,319
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $14,988
- Net price
- $13,636
- per year
- Grad rate
- 89%
- Graduates
- 112
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 86.3
- Net price
- 74.9
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 92.2
- Graduation
- 96.1
- Rank 8
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL · Public · Communication and Media Studies
85.2Value score- Earnings
- $66,439
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $15,000
- Net price
- $13,042
- per year
- Grad rate
- 86%
- Graduates
- 260
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 84.8
- Net price
- 76.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 90.3
- Graduation
- 94.6
- Rank 9
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
84.6Value score- Earnings
- $76,243
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $13,050
- Net price
- $18,056
- per year
- Grad rate
- 94%
- Graduates
- 142
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 96.4
- Net price
- 46.3
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 98.1
- Graduation
- 99.2
- Rank 10
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
84.3Value score- Earnings
- $67,302
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $11,556
- Net price
- $14,794
- per year
- Grad rate
- 86%
- Graduates
- 244
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 85.8
- Net price
- 65.1
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 97.8
- Graduation
- 94.3
- Rank 11
University of Washington-Seattle
Seattle, WA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
84.2Value score- Earnings
- $64,153
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $12,516
- Net price
- $13,663
- per year
- Grad rate
- 85%
- Graduates
- 318
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 81.4
- Net price
- 73.9
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 96.6
- Graduation
- 92.2
- Earnings
- $69,948
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $10,000
- Net price
- $1,557
- per year
- Grad rate
- 50%
- Graduates
- 64
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 90.7
- Net price
- 98.7
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 99.5
- Graduation
- 21.4
- Rank 13
University of California-Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
84.0Value score- Earnings
- $72,976
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $11,108
- Net price
- $16,807
- per year
- Grad rate
- 84%
- Graduates
- 649
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 93.5
- Net price
- 53.0
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 98.7
- Graduation
- 91.0
- Rank 14
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
82.4Value score- Earnings
- $75,223
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $14,091
- Net price
- $18,832
- per year
- Grad rate
- 87%
- Graduates
- 86
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 95.6
- Net price
- 41.9
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 97.3
- Graduation
- 94.8
- Rank 15
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
81.4Value score- Earnings
- $68,833
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $14,000
- Net price
- $10,759
- per year
- Grad rate
- 55%
- Graduates
- 68
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 87.6
- Net price
- 86.8
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 95.2
- Graduation
- 37.7
- Rank 16
Northeastern University
Boston, MA · Private nonprofit · Communication and Media Studies
80.9Value score- Earnings
- $80,191
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $23,245
- Net price
- $17,850
- per year
- Grad rate
- 91%
- Graduates
- 114
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 98.2
- Net price
- 47.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 75.8
- Graduation
- 97.9
- Rank 17
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX · Public · Communication and Media Studies
80.9Value score- Earnings
- $72,210
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $15,625
- Net price
- $18,554
- per year
- Grad rate
- 89%
- Graduates
- 156
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 92.5
- Net price
- 43.2
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 93.3
- Graduation
- 96.4
- Rank 18
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN · Public · Communication and Media Studies
80.3Value score- Earnings
- $65,517
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $16,750
- Net price
- $14,851
- per year
- Grad rate
- 84%
- Graduates
- 121
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 83.7
- Net price
- 64.6
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 84.5
- Graduation
- 91.5
- Rank 19
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
New York, NY · Public · Communication and Media Studies
79.8Value score- Earnings
- $59,756
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $13,000
- Net price
- $657
- per year
- Grad rate
- 70%
- Graduates
- 104
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 65.9
- Net price
- 99.7
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 92.6
- Graduation
- 66.7
- Rank 20
University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
Tacoma, WA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
79.5Value score- Earnings
- $64,153
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $12,516
- Net price
- $11,900
- per year
- Grad rate
- 60%
- Graduates
- 51
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 81.4
- Net price
- 80.9
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 96.6
- Graduation
- 49.4
- Earnings
- $68,953
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $15,000
- Net price
- $13,797
- per year
- Grad rate
- 60%
- Graduates
- 52
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 88.4
- Net price
- 72.4
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 92.6
- Graduation
- 48.6
- Rank 22
University of Washington-Bothell Campus
Bothell, WA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
79.3Value score- Earnings
- $64,153
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $12,516
- Net price
- $13,802
- per year
- Grad rate
- 68%
- Graduates
- 83
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 81.4
- Net price
- 72.1
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 96.6
- Graduation
- 62.8
- Earnings
- $61,501
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $7,092
- Net price
- $1,272
- per year
- Grad rate
- 53%
- Graduates
- 77
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 74.2
- Net price
- 99.0
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 99.7
- Graduation
- 32.8
- Earnings
- $72,758
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $15,500
- Net price
- $17,125
- per year
- Grad rate
- 71%
- Graduates
- 228
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 92.8
- Net price
- 51.4
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 94.4
- Graduation
- 68.7
- Rank 25
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA · Public · Communication and Media Studies
78.6Value score- Earnings
- $61,389
- 4 yrs after
- Median debt
- $14,000
- Net price
- $13,243
- per year
- Grad rate
- 78%
- Graduates
- 303
- latest year
Percentile among ranked colleges
- Earnings
- 73.6
- Net price
- 75.5
- Debt (Debt-to-earnings)
- 89.5
- Graduation
- 82.7
363 more matching colleges are in the CSV download.
Earnings against net price
Each dot is a ranked college. Higher means graduates earn more; further left means a year costs less after grants. The best value sits top left.
- Top 25
- Other ranked colleges
Scatter plot of 388 colleges. The ranked list above gives every figure.
Methodology
- Programs counted
- Bachelor's degrees reported under CIP 09.01 at public and private nonprofit colleges published on CollegesRef. When a college reports more than one qualifying program, its largest one is used.
- Eligibility
- A college needs at least 20 graduates in the latest award year, reported median earnings 4 years after graduation, and a published average net price and graduation rate. A field is published only when at least 50 colleges qualify.
- Value score
- Each figure is turned into a 0–100 percentile among ranked colleges (100 is best: highest earnings or graduation rate, lowest net price or debt-to-earnings). The value score is the weighted average: graduate earnings 40%, average net price 25%, debt-to-earnings 20%, graduation rate 15%. If a college reports no debt figure, that weight is shared among the other three.
- Earnings and debt
- Median annual earnings 4 years after completing the bachelor's degree, for graduates who received federal aid and were working. Debt is the median federal loan amount borrowed at the college by those graduates (College Scorecard field of study).
- Cost and completion
- Average net price is what aided first-year students pay after grants, for the whole college rather than the major. Graduation rate is the college-wide share finishing within six years (150% of normal time).
Limits
- Value, not prestige
- The score rewards high earnings at a low cost. It does not measure research strength, faculty, selectivity or reputation, so famous programs can rank below less-known ones.
- Earnings lag
- Earnings describe students who graduated several years ago and were measured years later. Today's job market and starting salaries can differ.
- Suppressed small programs
- The Department of Education withholds figures for small groups of graduates to protect privacy, so many small programs cannot be ranked at all.
- Federal aid recipients only
- Earnings and debt cover graduates who received federal grants or loans; students who paid without federal aid are not included.
Definitions: average net price. Read the CollegesRef methodology for how college data is checked. Methodology version 1; 666 colleges had too few graduates or suppressed earnings and 4 lacked a net price or graduation rate.
Sources
- Data
- U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study, cost and completion data.
- Edition
- 2026–27, data verified Nov 2026
- Source reporting year
- 2025
- Snapshot
- November 4, 2026
Questions about this ranking
See rankings for other majors, compare any two colleges side by side with Compare, or check a family's price with the cost calculator.
What is the best college for communications?
On value, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranks first in this ranking: communications graduates earn a median of $70,240 4 years after graduating, and the average net price is $11,305 a year. "Best" depends on what you need; this ranking weighs earnings against cost, debt and graduation rate.
What do communications graduates go on to do?
Graduates work in public relations, media, content and corporate communications. The earnings here are medians for graduates who received federal aid, 4 years after the bachelor's degree.
Why are some well-known communications programs ranked low or missing?
The ranking measures value, not prestige. A college with high earnings but a high net price can rank below a cheaper college with slightly lower earnings. Programs are missing when federal data suppresses their earnings, when they have fewer graduates than the threshold, or when they are reported under a CIP code this ranking does not count.
Can I see colleges in my state only?
Yes. Use the state filter above the list; ranks stay national so you can see where each college stands overall. You can also filter by public or private and by a maximum net price, or download the full CSV.
Does the net price shown apply to communications students?
No. Average net price is reported for the whole college, not by major. Your own price depends on your family's finances; each college's net price calculator gives a personal estimate.