Specialized Communication and Media Studies
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OverviewSalary and DebtIs a Bachelor's EnoughCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
A specialized program that focuses on the specialized study within communication, and including the study of mass communication/media studies, old and new media technologies, social and political applications, and speech communication and rhetoric.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($57K) with a Bachelor's Degree: CUNY Graduate School and University Center
Career with the highest median salary ($94K) where most workers have a Bachelor's Degree: Computer and Information Systems Managers
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
Specialized communication and media studies majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Specialized ManagersElementary and Middle School S...Wholesale and Manufacturing Sa...Labor Relations SpecialistsCustomer Service Representativ...Marketing ManagersFirst-Line Supervisors of Reta...Secretaries and Administrative...Lawyers, and judges, magistrat...Retail SalespersonsChief executives and legislato...Sales Representatives of Servi...Education and childcare admini...Sales ManagersMarket Research Analysts and M...First-Line Supervisors of Non-...Public Relations SpecialistsProducers and DirectorsPostsecondary TeachersFinancial ManagersManagement AnalystsFirst-Line Supervisors of Offi...Real estate brokers and sales ...Accountants and AuditorsProject Management SpecialistsGeneral and Operations Manager...Advertising Sales Agents
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
01K2K3K4K0-1 Year CertificateAssociate's DegreeBachelor's DegreePostbaccalaureate CertMaster's DegreePost-master's CertResearch Doctorate
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for communications changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
01,0002,0003,0004,000200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Research Doctorate
Post-master's Cert
Master's Degree
Postbaccalaureate Cert
Bachelor's Degree
Associate's Degree
1-2 Year Certificate
0-1 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in specialized communication and media studies doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field communication, which includes specialized communication and media studies.
Median starting salaries
$26K$34K$46K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KMaster'sBachelor'sAssociate's
Median cumulative loan amount
$11K$25K$38K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KMaster'sBachelor'sAssociate's
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Context: median salaries
How does the median (middle) salary for communications majors compare to the median salaries for other college majors?
$57K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Distribution: communications majors' salaries by education level
What is the salary distribution for graduates with a bachelor's incommunications by the level of their highest degree (Graduate degrees may not be in the same field as the bachelor’s)
$78K$64K$54K$79K$0$50K$100K$150K$200KBachelor'sMaster'sDoctorateProfessional
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Is a bachelor's degree all you need?
Education level of workers with a bachelor's in communications
Is a bachelor's degree going to be sufficient to make you competative in the job market? We can look at the education level of workers with a bachelors in this degree to see if there is a likely need for a graduate degree. You'll also want to check out the careers section on this page to where they are employed.
This chart shows the level of education of workers with a bachelor's degree in communications. The worker's graduate degree may have been completed in a different field.
Education level of workers
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Context: Graduate degrees in any field by undergraduate ACS degree
About 22% of communications majors chose to also earn a graduate degree (possibly of a different major). The percentage of communications majors also earned a graduate degree is near the middle in comparison to other fields.
22%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Percentage salary boost obtained with a graduate degree
How important is a graduate degree for earning a higher salary? We can see the difference in salary of workers with a bachelors in this degree to workers with a bachelor’s AND a graduate degree.
19%46%47%0%20%40%60%80%Bachelor's to Master'sBachelor's to DoctorateBachelor's to Professional
Careers
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Careers for communications majors
Where do communications majors work, and how well do those jobs pay? A ** in the job title indicates that the Department of Education recommends this job for this program.
Not so much?
The top ten careers for workers with a bachelor's in communications
Take a minute to interact with this sankey diagram. Follow the top ten jobs held by communications graduates through to their most hired majors. Learn where it may easiest to find work. Expand the careers to explore other majors that might lead to the job that excites you the most. *For many majors, the top ten jobs don't even include half of graduates!*
Expand careers
Specialized ManagersElementary and Middl...Wholesale and Manufa...Labor Relations Spec...Customer Service Rep...Marketing ManagersFirst-Line Superviso...Secretaries and Admi...Lawyers, and judges,...Retail SalespersonsAll othersThis degreeTop 10 Careers
What careers hire communications majors as one of their top 10?
To the left of this diagram, see all careers that hire communications majors as one of their top 10 majors, and on the right, see what proportion of openings for the jobs on the left are filled by communications majors.
CommunicationsAll other degreesBroadcast Announcers and ...Public Relations Speciali...Advertising and Promotion...Public relations and fund...Producers and DirectorsTelevision, video, and fi...News Analysts, Reporters,...Advertising Sales AgentsMeeting, Convention, and ...Specialized Media and Com...EditorsFundraisersMarketing ManagersMarket Research Analysts ...Agents and Business Manag...Writers and AuthorsPhotographersSpecialized Sales and Rel...Sales ManagersLabor Relations Specialis...Sales Representatives of ...ActorsInterpreters and Translat...Flight AttendantsAthletes and Sports Compe...Technical WritersWeb and Digital Interface...Coaches and ScoutsWholesale and Manufacturi...Speech-Language Pathologi...Web DevelopersReal estate brokers and s...Training and Development ...Specialized Religious Wor...Umpires, Referees, and Ot...Insurance Sales AgentsEntertainment and Recreat...Community and Social Serv...Emergency Management Dire...Compensation, Benefits, a...Religious Activities and ...Property, Real Estate, an...Training and Development ...Claims Adjusters, Examine...Insurance UnderwritersFirst-Line Supervisors of...TutorsSpecialized Entertainers,...Compensation and Benefits...Social and Community Serv...Lodging ManagersBusiness Operations Speci...Purchasing AgentsArtists and related worke...Specialized Legal Support...Fashion DesignersGraphic DesignersHuman Resources ManagersSocial and Human Service ...Educational, Guidance, an...Tour and travel guidesLoan OfficersProofreaders and Copy Mar...Project Management Specia...Marriage and Family Thera...General and Operations Ma...Paralegals and Legal Assi...Specialized Teachers and ...Exercise Trainers and Gro...Education and childcare a...Interior DesignersCommercial and Industrial...Administrative Services M...Specialized Healthcare Di...ClergyAcupuncturistsSecurities, Commodities, ...Chief executives and legi...Financial SpecialistsLibrarians and Media Coll...LogisticiansSpecialized CounselorsMusicians and SingersPrivate Detectives and In...Specialized Educational I...Specialized DesignersPurchasing ManagersPersonal Financial Adviso...Clerical Library Assistan...Tax Examiners/Collectors ...Specialized Financial Cle...Atmospheric and Space Sci...Financial ManagersAudiologistsMusic Directors and Compo...Specialized TherapistsSpecial Education Teacher...Credit AnalystsTax PreparersAll other careersDegreeDegree in top 10 employed
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer specialized communication and media studies degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Offering this program at this level
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AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Related Programs
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Careers for communications majors
communications is part of a larger collection of programs: Communications, including journalism, multimedia, film, and radio. Is there a different program that's close to communications that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in specialized communication and media studies earned in the last academic year, 62% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
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Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
01K2K3K4KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
56%44%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a lower percentage of women than 40% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$54K$63K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For communications graduates, men have a 17% higher median salary than women, This is near the middle of salary differentials within each program's graduates.
17%17%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all specialized communication and media studies graduates from this last academic year. We found a higher percentage of international graduates in this program than in 65% of other programs.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
01K2K3K4KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a lower percentage of graduates than in 50% of other programs.