Bachelor's degree · Communication and journalism · CIP 09.09
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication: earnings and debt by college
The College Scorecard lists 380 colleges that award bachelor's degrees in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication, together awarding 15,048 of these degrees in the most recent year. At the median institution, graduates who received federal aid earn $47,136 one year after finishing and $65,474 five years after finishing (two separate graduating classes). The median institution's graduates leave with $22,494 in federal student loans.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Compare Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication programs on one chart
Pick any two measures. Hover a dot to see the college; click it to open the college's page.
Each dot is one institution's program; branch campuses share their institution's figures and appear as one dot. Dashed lines mark the median for all colleges. Showing 117 of 369; programs missing either value are left out (the Scorecard withholds figures for small programs).
Colleges with a bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
| Southern New Hampshire University Manchester · Private nonprofit | NH | 650 | $50,916 | $59,880 | $28,335 |
| The University of Texas at Austin Austin · Public | TX | 511 | $55,871 | $88,465 | $19,500 |
| Michigan State University East Lansing · Public | MI | 500 | $51,683 | $74,382 | $20,500 |
| University of Oregon Eugene · Public | OR | 392 | $50,648 | $76,061 | $19,500 |
| University of Colorado Boulder Boulder · Public | CO | 374 | $51,590 | $91,092 | $19,500 |
| University of Florida Gainesville · Public | FL | 338 | $50,901 | $78,805 | $14,201 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park · Public | PA | 320 | $55,985 | $81,151 | $25,000 |
| University of Georgia Athens · Public | GA | 313 | $53,688 | $77,559 | $18,500 |
| Boston University Boston · Private nonprofit | MA | 301 | $55,505 | n/a | $19,000 |
| The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa · Public | AL | 299 | $46,569 | $73,759 | $23,250 |
| Texas State University San Marcos · Public | TX | 295 | $44,073 | $65,590 | $21,822 |
| Fashion Institute of Technology New York · Public | NY | 254 | $47,605 | $77,014 | $19,750 |
| Texas Tech University Lubbock · Public | TX | 251 | $50,849 | $69,437 | $20,500 |
| Syracuse University Syracuse · Private nonprofit | NY | 228 | $63,858 | $97,536 | $25,000 |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln · Public | NE | 224 | $47,765 | $65,550 | $22,328 |
| Temple University Philadelphia · Public | PA | 221 | $47,170 | $69,245 | $26,000 |
| Florida International University Miami · Public | FL | 210 | $44,918 | n/a | $16,500 |
| Washington State University Pullman · Public | WA | 202 | $52,097 | $76,294 | $18,125 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis · Public | MN | 198 | $49,804 | n/a | $18,973 |
| Rowan University Glassboro · Public | NJ | 193 | $42,398 | $62,418 | $22,621 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign · Public | IL | 192 | $55,788 | $88,689 | $17,223 |
| Utah Valley University Orem · Public | UT | 190 | $43,914 | n/a | $16,500 |
| Brigham Young University Provo · Private nonprofit | UT | 189 | $59,229 | $83,367 | $11,000 |
| University of Miami Coral Gables · Private nonprofit | FL | 177 | $49,501 | $82,422 | $16,000 |
| Kennesaw State University Kennesaw · Public | GA | 174 | $48,784 | $64,995 | $21,124 |
| University of South Florida Tampa · Public | FL | 173 | $42,377 | n/a | $18,397 |
| University of Rhode Island Kingston · Public | RI | 169 | $48,688 | $74,802 | $21,875 |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville · Public | TN | 157 | $49,839 | $72,744 | $19,500 |
| University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia · Public | SC | 154 | $49,640 | $70,968 | $23,250 |
| Appalachian State University Boone · Public | NC | 145 | $41,187 | $54,597 | $18,500 |
| University of Houston Houston · Public | TX | 137 | $39,143 | $58,004 | $15,000 |
| Elon University Elon · Private nonprofit | NC | 136 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Miami University-Oxford Oxford · Public | OH | 135 | $54,655 | $87,897 | $21,000 |
| University of Central Florida Orlando · Public | FL | 134 | $44,565 | $69,390 | $14,544 |
| Southern Methodist University Dallas · Private nonprofit | TX | 133 | $56,398 | $88,602 | $18,500 |
| University of Kentucky Lexington · Public | KY | 126 | $48,202 | $65,165 | $19,500 |
| Grand Valley State University Allendale · Public | MI | 111 | $47,798 | $64,533 | $23,250 |
| Auburn University Auburn · Public | AL | 110 | $48,211 | $70,689 | $25,000 |
| The University of Tampa Tampa · Private nonprofit | FL | 110 | $45,672 | $74,437 | $21,750 |
| Texas Christian University Fort Worth · Private nonprofit | TX | 109 | $59,088 | $77,698 | $19,500 |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe · Public | AZ | 106 | $42,879 | $58,131 | $21,000 |
| Florida State University Tallahassee · Public | FL | 103 | $47,631 | $74,470 | $13,469 |
| DePaul University Chicago · Private nonprofit | IL | 98 | $51,067 | $76,431 | $23,208 |
| Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater · Public | OK | 94 | $42,532 | $55,372 | $21,620 |
| Iowa State University Ames · Public | IA | 90 | $48,560 | $66,971 | $20,825 |
| Ithaca College Ithaca · Private nonprofit | NY | 89 | $48,302 | $84,902 | $23,250 |
| Northern Arizona University Flagstaff · Public | AZ | 88 | $46,035 | $63,789 | $19,500 |
| Howard University Washington · Private nonprofit | DC | 87 | $54,181 | $73,304 | $23,750 |
| Loyola University Chicago Chicago · Private nonprofit | IL | 83 | $54,198 | $78,763 | $25,000 |
| Butler University Indianapolis · Private nonprofit | IN | 82 | $52,061 | $65,834 | $22,500 |
Quick facts: Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- How many colleges offer a bachelor's degree in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication?
- The College Scorecard lists 380 colleges that award bachelor's degrees in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.
- How much do Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication graduates earn?
- Across institutions, the median of graduates' median earnings is $47,136 one year after graduation (162 institutions reporting) and $65,474 five years after graduation (172 institutions reporting). These figures cover graduates who received federal aid and are working and not enrolled in school. Branch campuses share their institution's figures, so each institution counts once.
- Where do Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication graduates earn the most five years after graduation?
- By reported median earnings five years after graduation: University of Southern California ($101,953), Syracuse University ($97,536), George Washington University ($93,229), Pepperdine University ($91,940), and University of Colorado Boulder ($91,092).
- How much student debt do Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication graduates have?
- The median institution's Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication graduates leave with $22,494 in federal student loans (142 institutions reporting). Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
- Which colleges award the most Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication degrees?
- By bachelor's degrees awarded in the most recent year: Southern New Hampshire University (650), The University of Texas at Austin (511), Michigan State University (500), University of Oregon (392), and University of Colorado Boulder (374).
Related majors in communication and journalism
How these numbers work
Figures cover bachelor's degree programs in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (CIP code 09.09), as reported in the College Scorecard. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal aid, measured one and five years after they finished, among those working and not enrolled in school; the one-year and five-year figures describe different graduating classes. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation. The Scorecard withholds figures for programs with few graduates, so many smaller programs show n/a. Summary figures are medians across institutions: the Scorecard reports program earnings and debt for a whole institution, so branch campuses share one figure and count once. All figures are from the Scorecard's most recent field-of-study release. More on the data.