Communication and Media Studies
Contains Stem Majors
Add ComparisonIn 2024, the locations with the highest concentration of Communication and Media Studies degree recipients are Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, and San Diego, CA. In 2024, the locations with a relatively high number of Communication and Media Studies degree recipients are Dania Beach, FL, Greencastle, IN, and Lancaster, OH. The most common degree awarded to students studying Communication and Media Studies is a bachelors degree.
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Communication and Media Studies and the types of students that study this field. University of California-Santa Barbara awards the most degrees in Communication and Media Studies in the US, but John Paul the Great Catholic University and Southeast Arkansas College have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies.
Tuition costs for Communication and Media Studies majors are, on average, $7,716 for in-state public colleges, and $37,190 for out of state private colleges.
The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Communication and Media Studies programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (653 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (37,915 completions).
The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies, is Public, 4-year or above (37,915 completions in 2024).
The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Communication and Media Studies programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.
University of California-Santa Barbara has the most Communication and Media Studies degree recipients, with 649 degrees awarded in 2024.
The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies.
Out of all institutions that offer Communication and Media Studies programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, John Paul the Great Catholic University has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies, with 64.6%.
This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies by year.
Information on the businesses and industries that employ Communications graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.
The average salary for Communications majors is $92,774 and the most common occupations are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
The industry that employs the most Communications majors is Elementary & secondary schools, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing.
The average salary for Communications majors is $92,774 and the most common occupations are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Communications majors.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Communications majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Communications majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
The most common occupations for Communications majors, by number of employees, are Other managers, Marketing managers, and Elementary & middle school teachers.
Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Communications majors working as News analysts, reporters & correspondents, Public relations specialists, and Public relations & fundraising managers.
The highest paid occupations by median income for Communications majors are Surgeons, Physicians, and Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists.
The number of Communications graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.21%, from 2.52M in 2023 to 2.6M in 2024.
The largest single share of Communications graduates go on to work as Other managers (5.17%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Communications by share of the total number of graduates.
The most common industries that employ Communications majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and Computer Systems Design.
The highest paying industries of Communications majors, by average wage, are Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing, Oil & gas extraction, and Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals.
The number of Communications graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 3.21%, from 2.52M in 2023 to 2.6M in 2024.
The industry which employs the most Communications graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Communications.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Communications majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Communications majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Communications in the United States.
The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Communications is 41.1.
The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold Communications degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in Communications (29,217 students).
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Communications. The most common ages of employees with this major are 30 and 29 years old, which represent 3.19% and 3.16% of the population, respectively.
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Communication and Media Studies are Bachelors Degree, Associates Degree, and Masters Degree.
The most common degree types held by the working population in Communications are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.
This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Communication and Media Studies.
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Communication and Media Studies for each race & ethnicity.
In 2024, White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.
This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Communication and Media Studies.
White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.
There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Samoa that hold Communications degrees (7 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is Mexico (19,582 degree recipients).
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Communication and Media Studies field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Communication and Media Studies majors need many skills, but most especially Speaking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Communication and Media Studies majors need more than the average amount of Operation and Control, Social Perceptiveness, and Speaking.
These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Communication and Media Studies majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Operation and Control is very distinctive for majors, but the Speaking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension are the three most important skills for people in the field.
