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Professional Yapping

Media & Communication Studies

The "Our Alumni Control Your Feed" Mafia

World-renowned communication and media schools that double as direct pipelines to the networks, studios, streaming platforms, and roughly every blue-check you follow.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 322 11% 35% / 65% 12% $62,938 30 92% —
2 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 71 7% 25% / 75% 10% $89,184 83 94% —
3 Boston University
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 40 13% 18% / 83% 18% $78,958 72 95% —
4 U. of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Columbia, MO 208 77% 38% / 62% 1% $61,276 57 98% —
5 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 600 9% 25% / 75% 12% $62,619 36 86% —
6 Syracuse
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, NY 192 35% 42% / 58% 9% $65,648 45 90% —
7 U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill, NC 504 17% 24% / 76% 5% $68,118 66 97% —

Too Prestigious to Call It a Comm Degree

Ivy-tier institutions that study media as critical theory, rhetoric, and cultural analysis—and would sooner perish than print the words "Mass Comm" on a diploma.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 278 11% 24% / 76% 12% $81,683 86 94% —
2 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 225 9% 16% / 84% 8% $63,038 53 — —
3 U. of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 11 5% 36% / 64% 9% $75,264 61 — —
4 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 0 6% — — — 21 — —
5 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 69 8% 25% / 75% 0% $85,521 79 92% —
6 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 0 11% — — — 76 — —
7 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 88 5% 26% / 74% 6% $84,004 80 96% —
8 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 106 13% 20% / 80% 3% $78,620 74 98% —
9 Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA 22 4% 41% / 59% 0% $152,368 100 92% —

State-Funded Media Monoliths

Massive, well-funded public flagships pumping thousands of highly capable, work-hard-play-hard comms grads into the corporate and media wild every single year.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL 266 71% 37% / 63% 0% $54,135 38 92% —
2 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 341 88% 42% / 58% 3% $60,790 62 91% —
3 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 186 37% 33% / 67% 12% $73,013 77 95% —
4 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 482 76% 38% / 62% 4% $64,195 58 95% —
5 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 263 45% 30% / 70% 2% $71,192 76 95% —
6 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 216 16% 21% / 79% 5% $80,532 73 96% —
7 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 289 83% 47% / 53% 3% $66,250 60 95% —
8 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 441 49% 34% / 66% 10% $65,564 61 97% —
9 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 109 55% 47% / 53% 11% $51,740 26 93% —
10 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 171 22% 26% / 74% 2% $70,975 72 100% —
11 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 359 42% 28% / 72% 24% $57,533 49 93% —
12 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 230 41% 33% / 67% 11% $58,430 41 96% —

Solidly Upper-Middle-Class Comm Degrees

Highly respected research universities where you will get a genuinely great media education, even if the school is technically famous for medicine, engineering, or freezing winters.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 265 46% 29% / 71% 20% $68,974 67 96% —
2 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 244 29% 31% / 69% 12% $58,128 34 91% —
3 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 618 38% 32% / 68% 5% $66,598 62 94% —
4 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 241 71% 45% / 55% 1% $64,663 61 94% —
5 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 279 54% 43% / 57% 8% $66,651 67 98% —
6 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 23 47% 17% / 83% 0% $66,662 44 91% —
7 U. of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Coral Gables, FL 122 17% 34% / 66% 2% $59,171 27 89% —
8 Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Chestnut Hill, MA 202 13% 33% / 67% 9% $76,109 65 97% —
9 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 153 22% 22% / 78% 24% $72,793 62 94% —
10 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 66 59% 29% / 71% 0% $57,811 45 100% —
11 Temple
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 234 72% 43% / 57% 2% $51,947 30 91% —
12 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 530 52% 21% / 79% 0% $65,174 64 93% —
13 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 141 43% 27% / 73% 6% $60,783 59 96% —

Hot Takes from the Local Market

Scrappy, highly practical programs that dominate their regional media scene and quietly feed the podcasts, newsrooms, and content shops of their home turf.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 925 43% 40% / 60% 2% $57,837 66 88% —
2 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 267 41% 43% / 57% 5% $50,295 53 94% —
3 U. of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, HI
Honolulu, HI 125 88% 30% / 70% 4% $42,961 16 93% —
4 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 78 76% 37% / 63% 5% $63,132 69 99% —
5 U. of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
Iowa City, IA 119 80% 29% / 71% 3% $66,509 69 97% —
6 U. of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Lawrence, KS 88 93% 50% / 50% 2% $67,104 72 97% —
7 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 207 40% 27% / 73% 0% $57,103 50 86% —
8 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 105 72% 42% / 58% 0% $63,296 67 91% —
9 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 277 69% 47% / 53% 0% $61,776 69 96% —
10 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 293 82% 38% / 62% 15% $59,040 58 93% —
11 George Mason
Fairfax, VA
Fairfax, VA 118 72% 32% / 68% 3% $57,755 49 — —