Which Alabama communications program has the lowest debt?

Auburn University reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,675, with first-year pay of $35,929.

How much do communications graduates earn in Alabama?

The median across 10 Alabama communications bachelor's programs is $33,172 in the first year after graduating and $42,034 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Alabama?

10 Alabama programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

Communications (Bachelor's) Programs in Alabama, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

10 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Alabama communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,172 in their first year, $1,402 less than the national median. University of Alabama reports the highest first-year pay ($40,790), and Auburn University the lowest median debt ($20,675).

Median first-year pay$33,172National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$42,034National $52,771

Median federal debt$25,000National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings70%National 69%

All 10 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of AlabamaTuscaloosa · public	$40,790	$52,949	$25,000	61%
2	Samford UniversityBirmingham · private nonprofit	$39,690	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Auburn UniversityAuburn · public	$35,929	$62,643	$20,675	58%
4	Jacksonville StateJacksonville · public	$35,147	$39,144	$24,750	70%
5	UABBirmingham · public	$33,190	$39,661	$26,000	78%
6	Troy UniversityTroy · public	$33,154	Not reported	$23,250	70%
7	Auburn University at MontgomeryMontgomery · public	$31,354	$41,292	$27,500	88%
8	University of North AlabamaFlorence · public	$30,182	$42,034	$21,000	70%
9	University of South AlabamaMobile · public	$30,153	$46,121	$26,000	86%
10	Alabama StateMontgomery · public	$21,996	$37,881	$32,750	149%

Samford University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Alabama communications program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Alabama medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Alabama$40,790
Samford University$39,690
Auburn University$35,929
Jacksonville State$35,147
UAB$33,190

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$61,710

Median pay in Alabama. 2,410 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $39,320Top 10%: $111,970

Fundraisers

$60,120

Median pay in Alabama. 1,120 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,440Top 10%: $84,740

Editors

$63,330

Median pay in Alabama. 530 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $35,600Top 10%: $103,890

Public Relations Managers

$98,210

Median pay in Alabama. 540 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $63,380Top 10%: $176,630

Common questions

University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,790. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

Communications (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked577 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Alabama rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the communications bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024