Augusta University Communications (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies
- Public university
- Augusta, GA
- About 19 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Augusta University communications graduates earn about what communications graduates earn nationally, $30,796 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $30,520 in federal loans, more than at 96% of communications programs in the country. Several Georgia programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Georgia and national columns are the medians across all communications bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Augusta University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $8,977 less than the Georgia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia communications program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Georgia medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 29% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $324 a month, or 12.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
74% of graduates (40 of 54) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Augusta area are about 8% below the national average, so a $30,796 salary here buys what about $33,509 buys in a typical US city.
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 all experience levels.
Public Relations Specialists
$73,200Median pay in Georgia. 6,860 people work in this job in Georgia. 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.
Fundraisers
$72,010Median pay in Georgia. 2,690 people work in this job in Georgia. 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.
Editors
$76,650Median pay in Georgia. 1,920 people work in this job in Georgia. 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.
Public Relations Managers
$134,500Median pay in Georgia. 1,540 people work in this job in Georgia. 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.
About Augusta University
Communications ranks 13th of 21 bachelor's programs at Augusta University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($74,307), Medical Laboratory Science ($71,074), and Business ($60,541).
Other communications bachelor's programs near Augusta
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,796 one year after graduating and $39,792 five years after. The median across communications bachelor's programs in Georgia is $33,286.
The median federal loan balance is $30,520, which ranks 10th lowest of 12 communications bachelor's programs in Georgia. That works out to about $324 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 99% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 69%. Compare the cost with other Georgia programs before deciding.
Most do. 74% (40 of 54) were working in Georgia one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Georgia comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the communications program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024