Temple University Journalism (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Journalism
- Public university
- Philadelphia, PA
- About 65 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Temple University journalism graduates earn about what journalism graduates earn nationally, $30,959 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,500. Several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all journalism bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Temple University graduates earn about the national figure and about $2,537 more than the Pennsylvania median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania journalism program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania 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 75% 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 $1,456 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $276 a month, or 10.7% 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, 54 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $47,459.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
67% of graduates (87 of 130) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Philadelphia area are about 3% above the national average, so a $30,959 salary here buys what about $30,188 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 journalism, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Editors
$63,460Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,240 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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.
Photographers
$40,520Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,870 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Writers and Authors
$77,410Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,080 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
$62,200Median pay nationwide. 1,160 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Temple University
Journalism ranks 48th of 64 bachelor's programs at Temple University by first-year earnings. The top three are Mathematics and Computer Science ($86,109), Nursing ($82,319), and Electrical Engineering ($75,148).
Other journalism bachelor's programs near Philadelphia
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,959 one year after graduating and $54,063 five years after. The median across journalism bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania is $33,591.
The median federal loan balance is $26,000, which ranks 3rd lowest of 6 journalism bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $276 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 84% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.
Most do. 67% (87 of 130) were working in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 journalism 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