Is a Communication and Media Studies degree worth it?
Across 632 schools, graduates of Communication and Media Studies earn a median $52,331 five years out on $23,000 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Public Relations Specialists (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$52,331
Median debt
$23,000
Years to pay off
4.2
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
61%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+3.1%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
2.8%
$54,429 vs $52,926
Net price
$19,809/yr
Debt-test failures
7.9%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$8,514
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Communication and Media Studies in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.