Illinois State Public Relations and Advertising (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- Public university
- Normal, IL
- About 65 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Illinois State public relations and advertising graduates earn more than graduates of most public relations and advertising programs nationally, $43,874 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $22,500 in federal loans, less than at 75% of public relations and advertising programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying public relations and advertising degrees in Illinois.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all public relations and advertising bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Illinois State graduates earn more than the national figure but about $4,610 less than the Illinois median. Several Illinois programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois public relations and advertising program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 42% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $25,000 against $20,500.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $239 a month, or 6.5% 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, 27 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $21,350.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (95 of 106) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the Bloomington area are about 6% below the national average, so a $43,874 salary here buys what about $46,906 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
$67,380Median pay in Illinois. 15,140 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
Public Relations Specialists
$76,380Median pay in Illinois. 6,200 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
Human Resources Managers
$151,370Median pay in Illinois. 13,520 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
Fundraisers
$66,440Median pay in Illinois. 4,470 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
About Illinois State
Public Relations and Advertising ranks 28th of 52 bachelor's programs at Illinois State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($81,363), Nursing ($72,709), and Construction Management ($70,672).
Other public relations and advertising bachelor's programs near Normal
Common questions
The median graduate earns $43,874 one year after graduating and $62,349 five years after. The median across public relations and advertising bachelor's programs in Illinois is $41,234.
The median federal loan balance is $22,500, which ranks the lowest of 8 public relations and advertising bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $239 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 51% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 62%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less.
Most do. 90% (95 of 106) were working in Illinois 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 Illinois 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
- 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