Which New York communications program has the lowest debt?

Baruch College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,892, with first-year pay of $36,367.

How much do communications graduates earn in New York?

The median across 48 New York communications bachelor's programs is $31,699 in the first year after graduating and $54,761 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in New York?

48 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 45 of them also report federal debt.

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

48 programs report first-year pay
45 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 New York communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $31,699 in their first year, $2,875 less than the national median. Cornell University reports the highest first-year pay ($62,182), and Baruch College the lowest median debt ($7,892).

Median first-year pay$31,699National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$54,761National $52,771

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

Debt-to-earnings72%National 69%

All 48 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	Cornell UniversityIthaca · private nonprofit	$62,182	$89,715	$14,418	23%
2	CUNY Graduate CenterNew York · public	$57,782	$61,361	$14,125	24%
3	Hobart William Smith CollegesGeneva · private nonprofit	$50,750	$70,320	$27,000	53%
4	Fordham UniversityBronx · private nonprofit	$46,405	$72,537	$25,700	55%
5	Manhattan UniversityRiverdale · private nonprofit	$44,016	$68,181	$26,000	59%
6	City College of New YorkNew York · public	$42,734	$59,593	$15,827	37%
7	Marist UniversityPoughkeepsie · private nonprofit	$41,818	$72,563	$26,000	62%
8	Clarkson UniversityPotsdam · private nonprofit	$41,745	$50,076	Not reported	Not reported
9	SUNY College at GeneseoGeneseo · public	$41,070	$56,074	$21,000	51%
10	Hofstra UniversityHempstead · private nonprofit	$39,782	$75,038	$25,000	63%
11	SUNY PlattsburghPlattsburgh · public	$39,749	$41,566	$25,150	63%
12	University at BuffaloBuffalo · public	$39,226	$57,140	$22,251	57%
13	SUNY BrockportBrockport · public	$37,910	$49,145	$23,200	61%
14	Syracuse UniversitySyracuse · private nonprofit	$36,767	$64,144	$27,000	73%
15	Baruch CollegeNew York · public	$36,367	Not reported	$7,892	22%
16	Pace UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$35,992	$72,510	$26,000	72%
17	St Lawrence UniversityCanton · private nonprofit	$35,414	$69,299	$25,000	71%
18	Canisius UniversityBuffalo · private nonprofit	$35,264	$52,088	$23,766	67%
19	SUNY College at PotsdamPotsdam · public	$34,933	$50,187	$26,001	74%
20	SUNY CortlandCortland · public	$34,683	$57,625	$23,874	69%
21	Le Moyne CollegeSyracuse · private nonprofit	$34,050	$51,213	$25,000	73%
22	Lehman CollegeBronx · public	$32,484	$53,336	$14,623	45%
23	Queens CollegeQueens · public	$31,918	$54,368	$9,875	31%
24	SUNY Purchase CollegePurchase · public	$31,881	$49,750	$24,000	75%
25	Molloy UniversityRockville Centre · private nonprofit	$31,517	$62,905	$26,000	82%
26	Mercy UniversityDobbs Ferry · private nonprofit	$31,079	$43,540	$27,000	87%
27	New York Institute of TechnologyOld Westbury · private nonprofit	$30,993	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
28	University at AlbanyAlbany · public	$30,792	Not reported	$24,332	79%
29	St. John Fisher UniversityRochester · private nonprofit	$30,233	$54,651	$23,328	77%
30	Iona UniversityNew Rochelle · private nonprofit	$29,911	$61,436	$26,954	90%
31	SUNY New PaltzNew Paltz · public	$29,860	$53,859	$22,750	76%
32	College of Staten IslandStaten Island · public	$29,702	$58,907	$13,500	45%
33	SUNY Old WestburyOld Westbury · public	$29,256	$41,918	$19,900	68%
34	Hunter CollegeNew York · public	$29,054	$58,558	$11,000	38%
35	University of Mount Saint VincentBronx · private nonprofit	$28,842	$59,327	$25,822	90%
36	St. Thomas Aquinas CollegeSparkill · private nonprofit	$28,480	$71,055	Not reported	Not reported
37	Nazareth UniversityRochester · private nonprofit	$28,341	$55,806	$26,000	92%
38	SUNY OneontaOneonta · public	$27,973	$51,278	$23,250	83%
39	Manhattanville UniversityPurchase · private nonprofit	$27,488	$53,405	$25,729	94%
40	Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn · public	$27,262	$54,761	$11,750	43%
41	St. John's UniversityQueens · private nonprofit	$27,234	$61,647	$26,350	97%
42	Buffalo StateBuffalo · public	$26,344	$45,478	$25,000	95%
43	Marymount Manhattan CollegeNew York · private nonprofit	$24,962	$63,333	$25,500	102%
44	Utica UniversityUtica · private nonprofit	$23,890	Not reported	$27,000	113%
45	St. Francis CollegeBrooklyn · private nonprofit	$23,811	$45,902	$26,125	110%
46	Vassar CollegePoughkeepsie · private nonprofit	$23,270	Not reported	$18,250	78%
47	The New SchoolNew York · private nonprofit	$22,365	$54,079	$23,241	104%
48	Adelphi UniversityGarden City · private nonprofit	$16,178	$52,133	$24,949	154%

Clarkson University, New York Institute of Technology, and St. Thomas Aquinas College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York communications program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 45 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

$81,250

Median pay in New York. 28,250 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $51,730Top 10%: $157,610

Fundraisers

$80,540

Median pay in New York. 11,600 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $53,670Top 10%: $132,510

Editors

$101,480

Median pay in New York. 16,800 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $57,910Top 10%: $179,370

Public Relations Managers

$180,880

Median pay in New York. 7,710 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $108,180Top 10%: $323,190

Common questions

Cornell University in Ithaca reports the highest median first-year pay, $62,182. Its median federal debt is $14,418.

Communications (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked577 programs by pay and debt Communications (Associate's) programs in New York, ranked6 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 New York 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