Journalism: bachelor's degree earnings by college

Median earnings of journalism graduates (bachelor's degree) one year after graduation, at 169 colleges. National median: $41,407, rising to $54,717 after four years.

#	College	State	Earnings after 1 yr	After 4 yrs	Median debt
1	Lehigh University	PA	$65,957	$81,935	$23,250
2	George Washington University	DC	$53,658	$81,927	$19,875
3	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$53,114	$68,128	$17,337
4	Seton Hall University	NJ	$52,380	—	—
5	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$52,252	$75,967	$18,351
6	Southern Methodist University	TX	$52,095	$62,551	$23,000
7	University of Southern California	CA	$51,919	$79,776	$15,500
8	Hofstra University	NY	$50,536	$61,609	$24,750
9	University of Miami	FL	$50,500	$71,466	$15,000
10	American University	DC	$50,406	$66,635	$20,500
11	Syracuse University	NY	$50,132	$70,404	$22,572
12	Baylor University	TX	$49,805	$63,622	$19,374
13	Fordham University	NY	$49,599	$72,475	$25,750
14	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$49,535	$67,038	—
15	Brigham Young University	UT	$49,237	$50,338	$14,250
16	University of Missouri-Columbia	MO	$49,014	$69,016	$18,500
17	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$48,498	$66,799	$17,095
18	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	$47,643	$64,224	$18,375
19	University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	$47,155	$52,760	—
20	Elon University	NC	$46,855	$69,964	$23,149
21	University of Kansas	KS	$46,649	$62,394	$19,500
22	University of Arkansas	AR	$46,526	$66,087	$21,500
23	University of Colorado Boulder	CO	$46,262	$57,079	$15,000
24	Creighton University	NE	$46,214	$67,808	—
25	Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	$46,204	$59,151	$17,000
26	Boston University	MA	$46,107	$65,617	$15,500
27	St Bonaventure University	NY	$46,001	$58,816	—
28	Loyola University New Orleans	LA	$45,960	$58,835	$19,698
29	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	$45,681	$54,031	$19,896
30	Drake University	IA	$45,650	$62,969	$24,125
31	Suffolk University	MA	$45,552	$57,220	$26,000
32	Northeastern University	MA	$45,499	$74,709	$18,750
33	California State University-Chico	CA	$45,400	$63,358	$19,800
34	University of Iowa	IA	$45,377	$56,933	$19,000
35	University of Florida	FL	$45,204	$58,150	$13,875
36	University of Florida-Online	FL	$45,204	$58,150	$13,875
37	Texas Christian University	TX	$45,174	$58,738	$25,000
38	University of Georgia	GA	$45,140	$60,729	$18,750
39	University of Houston	TX	$45,054	$53,195	$17,625
40	University of Nebraska at Kearney	NE	$44,875	$51,659	—
41	University of North Texas	TX	$44,594	$57,461	$17,750
42	Kansas State University	KS	$44,562	$56,418	$20,155
43	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$44,504	—	$17,375
44	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$44,423	$67,539	$15,750
45	University of Northern Colorado	CO	$44,298	$57,603	$21,600
46	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	$44,298	$62,336	$25,000
47	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus	PA	$44,298	$62,336	$25,000
48	University of Connecticut	CT	$44,185	$59,604	$20,628
49	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus	CT	$44,185	$59,604	$20,628
50	University of Connecticut-Avery Point	CT	$44,185	$59,604	$20,628
51	University of Connecticut-Stamford	CT	$44,185	$59,604	$20,628
52	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus	CT	$44,185	$59,604	$20,628
53	Georgia College & State University	GA	$44,167	$57,843	$21,500
54	Ohio University-Eastern Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
55	Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
56	Ohio University-Southern Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
57	Ohio University-Lancaster Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
58	Ohio University-Main Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
59	Ohio University-Zanesville Campus	OH	$44,037	$59,276	$20,598
60	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	$43,830	$54,322	$14,500
61	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$43,370	$61,917	$19,836
62	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$43,348	$57,407	$23,000
63	University of Central Arkansas	AR	$43,337	$43,189	$19,875
64	San Diego State University	CA	$43,326	$53,997	$15,333
65	Ithaca College	NY	$43,230	$61,317	$23,750
66	Emerson College	MA	$43,207	$63,337	$23,250
67	The University of Alabama	AL	$43,149	$55,043	$23,250
68	Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	$43,081	$53,528	$19,250
69	Iowa State University	IA	$43,049	$53,633	$18,855
70	University of Rhode Island	RI	$43,008	$52,115	$18,250
71	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$42,817	$51,280	$13,000
72	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$42,605	$52,663	$17,500
73	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	FL	$42,515	$50,832	$19,000
74	Temple University	PA	$42,208	$53,518	$26,000
75	University of Central Florida	FL	$42,129	$60,887	$16,750
76	Quinnipiac University	CT	$41,991	$61,819	$20,500
77	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$41,980	$62,670	$19,000
78	Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	$41,980	$62,670	$19,000
79	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	$41,871	$50,970	$22,100
80	DePaul University	IL	$41,796	$61,708	$21,004
81	California State University-Northridge	CA	$41,557	$53,351	$15,000
82	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$41,557	$61,145	$20,964
83	University of Mississippi	MS	$41,528	$56,381	$21,000
84	University of Arizona	AZ	$41,424	$55,676	$15,250
85	West Virginia University	WV	$41,407	$58,454	$20,500
86	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh	WI	$41,344	$48,935	—
87	Ball State University	IN	$41,202	$49,456	$18,962
88	Samford University	AL	$41,177	$50,652	$21,500
89	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE	$41,162	$53,618	$23,329
90	Hampton University	VA	$41,127	$61,675	$20,149
91	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$41,059	$53,145	$14,478
92	Michigan State University	MI	$41,025	$59,498	$18,500
93	Columbia College Chicago	IL	$40,991	$51,639	$25,562
94	Washington State University	WA	$40,930	$58,795	$20,107
95	Middle Tennessee State University	TN	$40,785	$49,932	$19,500
96	University of Kentucky	KY	$40,731	$52,785	$19,500
97	Biola University	CA	$40,729	$59,925	—
98	Marquette University	WI	$40,633	$63,322	$21,250
99	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania	PA	$40,436	$47,760	$25,000
100	Chapman University	CA	$40,408	$79,135	$19,500
101	San Francisco State University	CA	$40,270	$57,260	$13,467
102	Western Kentucky University	KY	$39,993	$47,661	$21,393
103	Utah State University	UT	$39,944	$61,724	$14,750
104	Stony Brook University	NY	$39,896	$65,535	$21,500
105	Missouri State University-Springfield	MO	$39,660	$50,025	—
106	Northern Kentucky University	KY	$39,539	$44,834	$24,487
107	Illinois State University	IL	$39,538	$55,641	$25,000
108	Kent State University at Kent	OH	$39,479	$49,842	$21,500
109	State University of New York at Plattsburgh	NY	$39,448	$40,034	$22,375
110	Kennesaw State University	GA	$39,409	$54,360	$22,081
111	The University of Arizona Global Campus	AZ	$39,289	$44,589	$33,572
112	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus	OH	$39,279	$48,803	$20,000
113	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	$39,222	$54,425	—
114	Gonzaga University	WA	$39,169	$62,743	—
115	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	$39,037	$53,294	$20,500
116	Metropolitan State University of Denver	CO	$38,795	$47,460	$14,000
117	Georgia State University	GA	$38,581	$54,732	$24,774
118	St. John's University-New York	NY	$38,546	$59,067	$19,500
119	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	OH	$38,393	$48,331	$19,750
120	California State University-Dominguez Hills	CA	$38,121	—	—
121	Liberty University	VA	$38,096	$51,940	—
122	Northern Arizona University	AZ	$38,072	$57,868	$15,500
123	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$38,051	$70,829	$15,250
124	University of Central Oklahoma	OK	$37,918	$51,042	$18,500
125	Northern Illinois University	IL	$37,867	$50,658	$21,500
126	Appalachian State University	NC	$37,849	$48,243	$14,000
127	Indiana University-Indianapolis	IN	$37,774	$48,113	$21,302
128	University of Southern Mississippi	MS	$37,563	$41,293	$16,462
129	Arkansas Tech University	AR	$37,520	$39,173	—
130	Southern Connecticut State University	CT	$37,318	$50,760	—
131	University of West Georgia	GA	$37,213	$47,891	$22,914
132	SUNY Brockport	NY	$37,183	$50,073	$19,125
133	Wayne State University	MI	$37,063	$54,188	$22,250
134	Western Washington University	WA	$36,924	$57,697	$16,468
135	Auburn University	AL	$36,719	$44,704	$19,000
136	Eastern Michigan University	MI	$36,603	$45,245	—
137	Central Connecticut State University	CT	$36,563	$56,990	—
138	Oakland University	MI	$36,464	$46,680	—
139	Texas State University	TX	$36,456	$57,963	$19,500
140	New Mexico State University-Main Campus	NM	$36,410	$45,765	$14,000
141	Georgia Southern University	GA	$36,366	$54,396	$21,500
142	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$36,358	$55,192	$15,000
143	University of Oregon	OR	$35,989	$55,615	$18,500
144	University of Memphis	TN	$35,966	$49,445	$21,798
145	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$35,962	$52,292	$26,000
146	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$35,930	$52,011	$20,500
147	Flagler College	FL	$35,851	$46,971	$25,592
148	SUNY at Purchase College	NY	$35,518	$52,859	$20,000
149	Radford University	VA	$35,517	$45,369	$23,375
150	University of California-Irvine	CA	$35,149	$57,492	$10,428
151	CUNY Brooklyn College	NY	$35,021	$60,272	—
152	Marshall University	WV	$34,758	$44,277	—
153	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	IL	$34,541	$49,880	$18,333
154	The University of Montana	MT	$34,529	$46,267	$14,600
155	North Greenville University	SC	$34,376	$46,502	—
156	Louisiana Tech University	LA	$33,482	$41,220	$18,202
157	State University of New York at New Paltz	NY	$33,057	—	—
158	Indiana University of Pennsylvania	PA	$32,995	$49,625	—
159	Morgan State University	MD	$32,551	$50,700	$25,405
160	Central Michigan University	MI	$32,394	$47,775	$26,500
161	University at Albany	NY	$31,397	$59,495	$15,000
162	Kentucky State University	KY	$31,341	$42,363	—
163	Texas Southern University	TX	$30,938	$45,152	$27,000
164	Rowan University	NJ	$30,924	$48,057	$17,509
165	Bloomfield College of Montclair State University	NJ	$30,752	$53,579	$20,000
166	Montclair State University	NJ	$30,752	$53,579	$20,000
167	Savannah State University	GA	$29,659	$39,677	$26,000
168	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt	CA	$29,210	$39,178	$15,179
169	CUNY Lehman College	NY	$25,423	$49,025	—

Earnings are median annual earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured by the U.S. Department of Education. Colleges with too few graduates are not shown.

Frequently asked questions

How much do journalism graduates earn?

The median college reports $41,407 in earnings one year after a bachelor's degree in journalism and $54,717 four years after. The highest is $65,957 at Lehigh University.

How much student debt do journalism graduates have?

The median federal loan debt for this degree is about $20,000 at the typical college.