Which Michigan communications program has the lowest debt?

University of Michigan reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,376, with first-year pay of $50,556.

How much do communications graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 18 Michigan communications bachelor's programs is $36,017 in the first year after graduating and $48,259 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Michigan?

18 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 18 of them also report federal debt.

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

18 programs report first-year pay
18 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 Michigan communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,017 in their first year, $1,443 more than the national median. University of Michigan reports the highest first-year pay ($50,556), and University of Michigan the lowest median debt ($20,376).

Median first-year pay$36,017National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$48,259National $52,771

Median federal debt$26,875National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings78%National 69%

All 18 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 MichiganAnn Arbor · public	$50,556	$81,316	$20,376	40%
2	Albion CollegeAlbion · private nonprofit	$39,209	$58,781	$27,000	69%
3	Hope CollegeHolland · private nonprofit	$38,956	$54,579	$27,000	69%
4	Oakland UniversityRochester Hills · public	$37,795	$52,793	$24,125	64%
5	Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti · public	$36,717	$51,724	$29,102	79%
6	Wayne StateDetroit · public	$36,595	$46,281	$30,500	83%
7	Michigan StateEast Lansing · public	$36,390	$66,407	$26,750	74%
8	Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Center · public	$36,348	$46,666	$28,000	77%
9	Rochester Christian UniversityRochester Hills · private nonprofit	$36,051	$43,825	$26,166	73%
10	UM-FlintFlint · public	$35,982	$48,504	$30,250	84%
11	Grand Valley StateAllendale · public	$32,755	$46,747	$26,000	79%
12	Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette · public	$32,091	$34,105	$27,000	84%
13	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant · public	$31,913	$59,377	$27,000	85%
14	Aquinas CollegeGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$31,817	$48,014	$22,232	70%
15	UM-DearbornDearborn · public	$31,735	$52,201	$27,200	86%
16	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo · public	$31,169	$46,081	$26,000	83%
17	Cornerstone UniversityGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$30,615	Not reported	$25,125	82%
18	Calvin UniversityGrand Rapids · private nonprofit	$30,071	$39,062	$23,250	77%

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan communications program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 18 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

$65,300

Median pay in Michigan. 7,510 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $38,560Top 10%: $117,290

Fundraisers

$66,130

Median pay in Michigan. 3,170 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $43,620Top 10%: $106,100

Editors

$63,090

Median pay in Michigan. 1,690 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $33,230Top 10%: $99,980

Public Relations Managers

$117,900

Median pay in Michigan. 1,720 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $70,680Top 10%: $213,360

Common questions

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,556. Its median federal debt is $20,376.

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 Michigan 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