Which communications associate's program pays the most?

University of Cincinnati in Ohio reports the highest first-year pay of the 12 programs ranked here, $38,767. Its median federal debt is $17,922.

How much debt do communications associate's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $11,889 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 39% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Communications (Associate's) Programs in the US

12 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Associate's in Communication and Media Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median communications associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,780 in their first year and $42,310 five years after. New York is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $26,780. The median program leaves its graduates with $11,889 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$26,780Across 12 programs

Median pay after 5 years$42,310Across 38 programs

Median federal debt$11,889Across 20 programs

Debt-to-earnings39%Across 12 programs

All 12 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of CincinnatiCincinnati, OH · public	$38,767	$41,786	Not reported	$17,922	46%
2	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton, OH · public	$32,284	$34,799	$38,860	$11,944	37%
3	Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehem, PA · public	$30,471	$31,229	$41,228	$17,500	57%
4	Onondaga Community CollegeSyracuse, NY · public	$29,915	Not adjusted	Not reported	$11,833	40%
5	Nassau Community CollegeGarden City, NY · public	$29,016	$26,886	$40,317	$11,000	38%
6	Monroe Community CollegeRochester, NY · public	$27,123	$25,132	$43,673	$9,750	36%
7	BMCCNew York, NY · public	$26,437	$24,497	$35,617	$8,643	33%
8	Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA · public	$24,794	$25,411	$36,157	$14,000	56%
9	LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, NY · public	$23,307	$21,596	$36,514	$8,511	37%
10	UCNJ Union College of Union County New JerseyCranford, NJ · public	$21,484	Not adjusted	$34,975	$7,350	34%
11	Dutchess Community CollegePoughkeepsie, NY · public	$17,585	Not adjusted	$36,269	$10,998	63%
12	County College of MorrisRandolph, NJ · public	$15,905	Not adjusted	$52,713	$9,000	57%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 8 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 4, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Communications (Associate's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's communications associate's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
New York	6	$26,780	$10,999

Programs in 3 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 6 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to communications, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Public Relations Specialists

$74,750

Median pay in the US. 283,380 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,110Top 10%: $135,150

Fundraisers

$72,550

Median pay in the US. 111,040 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,630Top 10%: $115,820

Editors

$77,920

Median pay in the US. 91,690 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $41,250Top 10%: $153,700

Public Relations Managers

$146,910

Median pay in the US. 74,850 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $82,410Top 10%: $284,990

Common questions

The median communications associate's program in the US pays its graduates $26,780 in their first year and $42,310 five years after.

Communications (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked577 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024