Which Virginia communications program has the lowest debt?

Virginia Tech reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,613, with first-year pay of $44,309.

How much do communications graduates earn in Virginia?

The median across 14 Virginia communications bachelor's programs is $36,141 in the first year after graduating and $54,416 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Virginia?

14 Virginia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

14 programs report first-year pay
14 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 Virginia communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,141 in their first year, $1,567 more than the national median. UVA reports the highest first-year pay ($47,368), and Virginia Tech the lowest median debt ($20,613).

Median first-year pay$36,141National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$54,416National $52,771

Median federal debt$25,125National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings67%National 69%

All 14 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	UVACharlottesville · public	$47,368	$79,620	$21,230	45%
2	Virginia TechBlacksburg · public	$44,309	$65,239	$20,613	47%
3	JMUHarrisonburg · public	$42,769	$66,067	$21,502	50%
4	Randolph-Macon CollegeAshland · private nonprofit	$40,328	$62,066	$27,000	67%
5	Radford UniversityRadford · public	$38,038	$53,692	$25,250	66%
6	Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News · public	$36,953	$58,422	$25,000	68%
7	Roanoke CollegeSalem · private nonprofit	$36,220	Not reported	$26,975	74%
8	Longwood UniversityFarmville · public	$36,062	$55,140	$26,000	72%
9	VCURichmond · public	$35,808	$56,586	$24,000	67%
10	Liberty UniversityLynchburg · private nonprofit	$35,392	$45,741	$23,250	66%
11	Bridgewater CollegeBridgewater · private nonprofit	$29,477	$47,450	$26,000	88%
12	Regent UniversityVirginia Beach · private nonprofit	$29,313	$41,955	$23,750	81%
13	Virginia StatePetersburg · public	$23,897	$45,992	$28,000	117%
14	Virginia Union UniversityRichmond · private nonprofit	$18,076	$31,507	$31,000	171%

Debt and first-year pay at every Virginia communications program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Virginia Tech$20,613
UVA$21,230
JMU$21,502
Liberty University$23,250
Regent University$23,750

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

$80,380

Median pay in Virginia. 9,990 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $46,840Top 10%: $162,050

Fundraisers

$72,610

Median pay in Virginia. 4,010 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $46,810Top 10%: $122,140

Editors

$80,590

Median pay in Virginia. 2,720 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $45,760Top 10%: $144,810

Public Relations Managers

$176,340

Median pay in Virginia. 2,610 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $106,880Top 10%: $312,040

Common questions

UVA in Charlottesville reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,368. Its median federal debt is $21,230.

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 Virginia 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