University of West Georgia Journalism (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Journalism
- Public university
- Carrollton, GA
- About 102 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of West Georgia journalism graduates earn less than graduates of most journalism programs nationally, $27,268 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, more than at 82% of journalism programs in the country. Several Georgia programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Georgia and national columns are the medians across all journalism bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of West Georgia graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Georgia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia journalism 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 78% 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 $5,959 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 $286 a month, or 12.6% 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, 79 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $17,406.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (157 of 175) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Atlanta area are about the same as the national average.
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
$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.
Photographers
$43,770Median pay in Georgia. 1,420 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$74,710Median pay in Georgia. 820 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$81,910Median pay in Georgia. 1,520 people work in this job in Georgia. 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 West Georgia
Journalism ranks 21st of 25 bachelor's programs at University of West Georgia by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($77,140), Computer and Information Science ($69,653), and Accounting ($53,940).
Other journalism bachelor's programs near Carrollton
Common questions
The median graduate earns $27,268 one year after graduating and $48,565 five years after. The median across journalism bachelor's programs in Georgia is $31,800.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 5th lowest of 8 journalism bachelor's programs in Georgia. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 99% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 67%. Compare the cost with other Georgia programs before deciding.
Most do. 90% (157 of 175) 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 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