Which Kentucky communications program has the lowest debt?

Berea College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,801, with first-year pay of $30,663.

How much do communications graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 11 Kentucky communications bachelor's programs is $34,858 in the first year after graduating and $45,754 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Kentucky?

11 Kentucky programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Kentucky communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,858 in their first year, $284 more than the national median. Eastern Kentucky University reports the highest first-year pay ($40,429), and Berea College the lowest median debt ($5,801).

Median first-year pay$34,858National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$45,754National $52,771

Median federal debt$24,857National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings69%National 69%

All 11 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	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$40,429	$43,281	$25,000	62%
2	University of KentuckyLexington · public	$39,311	$54,361	$23,875	61%
3	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$38,637	$55,596	$25,000	65%
4	University of LouisvilleLouisville · public	$38,219	$51,634	$23,375	61%
5	Georgetown CollegeGeorgetown · private nonprofit	$35,442	$52,299	$26,750	75%
6	Bellarmine UniversityLouisville · private nonprofit	$34,858	$51,043	$25,853	74%
7	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$33,955	$45,754	$23,500	69%
8	Berea CollegeBerea · private nonprofit	$30,663	$45,220	$5,801	19%
9	University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg · private nonprofit	$27,754	Not reported	$19,331	70%
10	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$26,803	$39,457	$24,857	93%
11	Lindsey Wilson UniversityColumbia · private nonprofit	$25,549	$37,978	$26,769	105%

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky communications program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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

$60,150

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,580 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $37,190Top 10%: $103,530

Fundraisers

$68,270

Median pay in Kentucky. 1,030 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $42,220Top 10%: $106,590

Editors

$59,430

Median pay in Kentucky. 490 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $39,040Top 10%: $149,990

Public Relations Managers

$112,320

Median pay in Kentucky. 510 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $73,470Top 10%: $171,620

Common questions

Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,429. 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 Kentucky 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