Which Tennessee communications program has the lowest debt?

Carson-Newman University reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,235, with first-year pay of $28,221.

How much do communications graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 13 Tennessee communications bachelor's programs is $27,380 in the first year after graduating and $44,215 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Tennessee?

13 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
12 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 Tennessee communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $27,380 in their first year, $7,194 less than the national median. Belmont University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,889), and Carson-Newman University the lowest median debt ($20,235).

Median first-year pay$27,380National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$44,215National $52,771

Median federal debt$22,688National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings81%National 69%

All 13 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	Belmont UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$41,889	$64,813	$22,125	53%
2	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$41,258	$57,807	$20,875	51%
3	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$33,082	$48,027	$21,831	66%
4	Lipscomb UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$31,767	Not reported	$21,253	67%
5	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$29,877	$43,823	$24,329	81%
6	Carson-Newman UniversityJefferson City · private nonprofit	$28,221	Not reported	$20,235	72%
7	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$27,380	$41,501	$23,250	85%
8	Lee UniversityCleveland · private nonprofit	$27,365	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	Trevecca Nazarene UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$27,053	Not reported	$21,625	80%
10	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$26,922	$41,952	$23,381	87%
11	UT MartinMartin · public	$26,803	$39,609	$24,481	91%
12	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$25,643	$44,606	$25,000	97%
13	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$25,140	$40,921	$30,625	122%

Lee University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee communications program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 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

$60,900

Median pay in Tennessee. 3,380 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $37,450Top 10%: $98,370

Fundraisers

$61,370

Median pay in Tennessee. 1,930 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $40,500Top 10%: $96,690

Editors

$59,550

Median pay in Tennessee. 1,390 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $37,600Top 10%: $105,010

Public Relations Managers

$127,390

Median pay in Tennessee. 700 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $58,420Top 10%: $192,800

Common questions

Belmont University in Nashville reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,889. Its median federal debt is $22,125.

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 Tennessee 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