FAMU Public Relations and Advertising (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
  • Public university
  • Tallahassee, FL
  • About 24 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

FAMU public relations and advertising graduates earn less than graduates of most public relations and advertising programs nationally, $28,516 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $26,625 in federal loans, more than at 78% of public relations and advertising programs in the country. Several Florida programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$28,5165th percentile of 179 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$39,89740% more than year one
Median federal debt$26,62510th lowest of 11 Florida programs
Debt-to-earnings93%Florida median 50%, national 62%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all public relations and advertising bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, FAMU graduates earn less than the national figure and about $18,727 less than the Florida median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Florida public relations and advertising program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.

FAMUOther Florida programs

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 40% between the first and fifth year.

FAMU grads, year 1$28,516
FAMU grads, year 5$39,897
All Florida public relations and advertising grads, year 5$58,624

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 $282 a month, or 11.9% 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. Separately, 25 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $9,230.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

63% of graduates (30 of 48) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tallahassee area are about 6% below the national average, so a $28,516 salary here buys what about $30,362 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 public relations and advertising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Training and Development Specialists

$71,990

Median pay in Florida. 34,130 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $38,370Top 10%: $118,190

Public Relations Specialists

$63,660

Median pay in Florida. 17,820 people work in this job in Florida. 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%: $37,000Top 10%: $115,680

Human Resources Managers

$137,790

Median pay in Florida. 11,570 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $79,420Top 10%: $232,760

Fundraisers

$64,390

Median pay in Florida. 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%: $40,880Top 10%: $128,100

About FAMU

Public Relations and Advertising ranks 15th of 19 bachelor's programs at FAMU by first-year earnings. The top three are Construction Engineering Technology ($70,804), Nursing ($64,772), and Computer and Information Science ($55,617).

Other public relations and advertising bachelor's programs near Tallahassee

Common questions

The median graduate earns $28,516 one year after graduating and $39,897 five years after. The median across public relations and advertising bachelor's programs in Florida is $35,023.

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 Florida 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 public relations and advertising program.

Sources

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

Related pages