Which Missouri public relations and advertising program has the lowest debt?

Drury University reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,250, with first-year pay of $33,862.

How much do public relations and advertising graduates earn in Missouri?

The median across 7 Missouri public relations and advertising bachelor's programs is $39,401 in the first year after graduating and $48,750 five years after.

Public Relations and Advertising (Bachelor's) Programs in Missouri, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many public relations and advertising bachelor's programs are in Missouri?

7 Missouri programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

7 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Missouri public relations and advertising bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,401 in their first year, $276 less than the national median. Webster University reports the highest first-year pay ($42,421), and Drury University the lowest median debt ($23,250).

Median first-year pay$39,401National $39,677

Median pay after 5 years$48,750National $58,304

Median federal debt$25,000National $24,693

Debt-to-earnings66%National 62%

All 7 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	Webster UniversitySaint Louis · private nonprofit	$42,421	$48,750	Not reported	Not reported
2	Missouri StateSpringfield · public	$40,178	$62,059	$23,329	58%
3	Southeast Missouri StateCape Girardeau · public	$40,127	$67,273	$25,000	62%
4	University of Central MissouriWarrensburg · public	$39,401	$47,415	$26,000	66%
5	Evangel UniversitySpringfield · private nonprofit	$36,585	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Drury UniversitySpringfield · private nonprofit	$33,862	Not reported	$23,250	69%
7	Lindenwood UniversitySaint Charles · private nonprofit	$32,000	$40,468	$27,000	84%

Webster University and Evangel University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri public relations and advertising program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Webster University$42,421
Missouri State$40,178
Southeast Missouri State$40,127
University of Central Missouri$39,401
Evangel University$36,585

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 public relations and advertising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Training and Development Specialists

$58,670

Median pay in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $31,720Top 10%: $100,670

Public Relations Specialists

$61,130

Median pay in Missouri. 4,820 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $38,490Top 10%: $102,850

Human Resources Managers

$130,680

Median pay in Missouri. 3,510 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $81,730Top 10%: $225,160

Fundraisers

$63,860

Median pay in Missouri. 1,670 people work in this job in Missouri. 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%: $44,290Top 10%: $100,090

Common questions

Webster University in Saint Louis reports the highest median first-year pay, $42,421.

Public Relations and Advertising (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked179 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 Missouri rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the public relations and advertising 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