Which Pennsylvania journalism program has the lowest debt?

Lehigh University reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $45,256.

How much do journalism graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 8 Pennsylvania journalism bachelor's programs is $33,591 in the first year after graduating and $51,526 five years after.

How many journalism bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

8 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Journalism (Bachelor's) Programs in Pennsylvania, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Journalism

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania journalism bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,591 in their first year, $925 less than the national median. Lehigh University reports the highest first-year pay ($45,256), and Lehigh University the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$33,591National $34,515

Median pay after 5 years$51,526National $53,282

Median federal debt$26,000National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings74%National 67%

All 8 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	Lehigh UniversityBethlehem · private nonprofit	$45,256	Not reported	$19,500	43%
2	Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana · public	$37,263	$44,882	$26,000	70%
3	Penn StateUniversity Park · public	$36,468	$61,946	$25,000	69%
4	Point Park UniversityPittsburgh · private nonprofit	$34,887	$44,514	$27,000	77%
5	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$32,294	$54,429	$26,000	81%
6	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia · public	$30,959	$54,063	$26,000	84%
7	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$27,620	$41,348	Not reported	Not reported
8	Widener UniversityChester · private nonprofit	$22,058	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Pennsylvania Western University and Widener University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania journalism program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lehigh University$45,256
Indiana University of Pennsylvania$37,263
Penn State$36,468
Point Park University$34,887
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$32,294

Lowest median debt

Lehigh University$19,500
Penn State$25,000
Indiana University of Pennsylvania$26,000
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$26,000
Temple University$26,000

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 journalism, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Editors

$63,460

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,240 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $37,240Top 10%: $114,560

Photographers

$40,520

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,870 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $29,020Top 10%: $75,100

Writers and Authors

$77,410

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,080 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $40,270Top 10%: $178,490

News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists

$62,200

Median pay nationwide. 1,160 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Common questions

Lehigh University in Bethlehem reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,256. Its median federal debt is $19,500.

Journalism (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked170 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 Pennsylvania rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the journalism 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