University of Florida Journalism (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Journalism
- Public university
- Gainesville, FL
- About 176 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of Florida journalism graduates earn about what journalism graduates earn nationally, $38,164 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $17,054 in federal loans, less than at 88% of journalism programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying journalism degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all journalism bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of Florida graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida journalism program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 53% 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 $17,165 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 $181 a month, or 5.7% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
73% of graduates (83 of 113) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Gainesville area are about 3% below the national average, so a $38,164 salary here buys what about $39,453 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
$73,950Median pay in Florida. 3,790 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$42,640Median pay in Florida. 4,390 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$68,080Median pay in Florida. 3,010 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$58,730Median pay in Florida. 2,490 people work in this job in Florida. 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 University of Florida
Journalism ranks 36th of 70 bachelor's programs at University of Florida by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($90,651), Computer Engineering ($87,949), and Chemical Engineering ($87,164).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,164 one year after graduating and $58,392 five years after. The median across journalism bachelor's programs in Florida is $38,164.
The median federal loan balance is $17,054, which ranks 2nd lowest of 5 journalism bachelor's programs in Florida. That works out to about $181 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 45% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 73% (83 of 113) were working in Florida 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 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 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