University of Georgia Communications (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies
- Public university
- Athens, GA
- About 107 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of Georgia communications graduates earn more than graduates of most communications programs nationally, $44,283 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $22,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. It is one of the higher-paying communications degrees in Georgia.
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, University of Georgia graduates earn more than the national figure and about $13,940 more 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 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 $9,625 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. 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 $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, 50 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $27,851.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
80% of graduates (106 of 133) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Athens area are about 7% below the national average, so a $44,283 salary here buys what about $47,441 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 University of Georgia
Communications ranks 29th of 65 bachelor's programs at University of Georgia by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($79,546), Management Information Systems ($78,190), and Computer Engineering ($77,882).
Other communications bachelor's programs near Athens
Common questions
The median graduate earns $44,283 one year after graduating and $62,709 five years after. The median across communications bachelor's programs in Georgia is $33,286.
The median federal loan balance is $22,500, which ranks 3rd lowest of 12 communications bachelor's programs in Georgia. 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 69%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 80% (106 of 133) 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