What Communication and Media Studies Graduates Earn
How much do Communication and Media Studies bachelor's graduates earn?
One year out, the median bachelor's graduate in Communication and Media Studies earns $43,991; five years out, $60,586. The figures pool 62,303 graduates counted at the first horizon, and the median debt carried out of school is $19,500.
The after side of the Communication and Media Studies decision: a $43,991 start, $60,586 by year five, and $19,500 of median debt, measured by the federal government rather than surveyed by marketers.
Updated November 5, 2026
Median earnings at 1, 4, and 5 years (College Scorecard)
The three rows below are the whole earnings story Scorecard can tell about Communication and Media Studies: $43,991, then $56,968, then $60,586. Each median is graduate-weighted, built from 609 programs at year one and 656 at year five, and the unweighted program median sits alongside so a reader can see how much the weighting itself is doing.
| Horizon | Median earnings (graduate-weighted) | Median program (unweighted) | Graduates counted | Share earning above the high-school threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after graduation | $43,991 | $42,082 | 62,303 | 58.9% |
| 4 years after graduation | $56,968 | $54,257 | 70,342 | n/p |
| 5 years after graduation | $60,586 | $57,330 | 72,202 | 76.7% |
From $43,991 in the first year to $60,586 in the fifth, earnings grow 38% ($16,595). For scale, the median bachelor's field in the Scorecard file grows from $45,010 to $65,763 over the same span, so this field's early-career slope is gentler than typical.
One more cut of the year-one data: Pell recipients in Communication and Media Studies post a median of $42,422, non-recipients $46,288. That $3,866 gap is the distance between two different student populations studying under one field name, and it narrows or widens by institution, which the program table below hints at.
Inside its own CIP family, Communication and Media Studies ranks 4 of 5 published bachelor's fields by five-year earnings; the family median at that horizon is $63,023. Its closest sibling is Journalism at $63,023, above this field's $60,586. Family comparisons strip out the broad field effect and leave the specific program choice exposed.
Ranked across all 182 published fields, Communication and Media Studies stands number 112 by five-year earnings and number 104 by first-year earnings, and number 49 from the lowest median debt. Those three ranks together are the field's fingerprint: high earn rank with a low debt rank is the combination students are actually shopping for, and this field's spread between them is 63 places.
The debt side of the same degree
Debt first, because earnings get the headlines: $19,500 is the median federal loan balance at graduation in Communication and Media Studies, pooled from 518 reporting programs. Against year-one earnings of $43,991 that balance is 44% of a year's gross pay, roughly 5.3 months of it. The standard 10-year repayment at 6.52% (the 2026-27 undergraduate Direct Loan rate) runs $222 a month and $7,094 in total interest. Your own balance and rate belong in the student loan payoff calculator; the degree-level verdict belongs in the college ROI calculator and the college major ROI calculator.
Where graduates of this field earn the most
One field, many markets: the five-year median for Communication and Media Studies is $60,586 nationally, yet the strongest programs below run far ahead of it. The ranking keeps a 30-graduate floor under every entry, and University of Pennsylvania heads the list at $112,568.
| Institution | Median earnings, 5 years | Median earnings, 1 year | Median debt | Graduates counted (5yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pennsylvania | $112,568 | $65,287 | n/p | 41 |
| Boston College | $98,503 | $56,442 | $18,967 | 154 |
| Santa Clara University | $97,296 | $62,295 | $19,000 | 83 |
| University of California-Berkeley | $95,154 | $52,119 | $11,132 | 202 |
| Cornell University | $94,133 | $63,499 | $10,000 | 65 |
Treat the top of this table as a research list, not a ranking to enroll by: medians reflect local labor markets and student mix as much as teaching. The honest comparison pairs each program's earnings here with its net price from the net price estimator and its four-year total from the degree cost calculator.
Two more facts about the shape of this field: the five highest-paying programs in the table account for only 0.8% of the 72,202 graduates counted at five years, so the top of the table is a thin slice and not the field's center; and the leading program's five-year median of $112,568 sits 86% above the national field median of $60,586. Its graduates' debt figure is not published, one of the gaps this page leaves visible rather than filling.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Communication and Media Studies graduates earn?
The national median is $43,991 one year after graduation and $60,586 five years after, across the 609 bachelor's programs reporting 1-year earnings to College Scorecard (October 2026 release), weighted by graduates counted.
How much debt do Communication and Media Studies graduates carry?
The median cumulative federal loan debt at graduation is $19,500. On a standard 10-year plan at 6.52% that is $222 a month and $7,094 of interest in total.
How were the Communication and Media Studies national figures computed?
Scorecard publishes one median per program; this page takes the median of those program medians weighted by each program's graduates counted (62,303 people at year one), and prints the unweighted median program beside it. The field cleared a publication bar of at least 10 programs reporting at every horizon.
Is a degree in Communication and Media Studies worth it?
The inputs are on this page: $60,586 median earnings at year five against $19,500 median debt. The verdict depends on your actual cost, so run your numbers through the college ROI calculator and the college major ROI calculator.