Communication & Journalism at Northern Illinois University

What traits are you looking for in a communication and journalism school? To help you decide if Northern Illinois University is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's communication and journalism program.

NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and approximately 16,769 students attend the school each year. Of the 3,080 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in 2021, 177 of them were communication and journalism majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Communication & Journalism section at the bottom of this page.

NIU Communication & Journalism Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communication & Journalism
• Master’s Degree in Communication & Journalism

NIU Communication & Journalism Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks communication and journalism programs across the country. The following shows how NIU performed in these rankings.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The communication and journalism major at NIU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Communication & Journalism. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools	19

In 2021, 14 students received their master’s degree in communication and journalism from NIU. This makes it the #167 most popular school for communication and journalism master’s degree candidates in the country.

Communication & Journalism Student Demographics at NIU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the communication and journalism majors at Northern Illinois University.

NIU Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Program

For the most recent academic year available, 56% of communication and journalism bachelor's degrees went to men and 44% went to women. The typical communication and journalism bachelor's degree program is made up of only 36% men. So male students are more repesented at NIU since its program graduates 20% more men than average.

About 62% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in communication and journalism at NIU are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's in communication and journalism.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	4
Black or African American	25
Hispanic or Latino	26
White	109
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	11

NIU Communication & Journalism Master’s Program

Of the 14 communication and journalism students who graduated with a master's degree in 2020-2021 from NIU, about 21% were men and 79% were women.

Of the students who received a communication and journalism master's degree from NIU, 79% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a master's in communication and journalism.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	11
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

NIU also has a doctoral program available in communication and journalism. In 2021, 0 student graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Communication & Journalism

Communication & Journalism majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Northern Illinois University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Communication & Media Studies	174
Journalism	17

Related Majors

• History
• Family, Consumer & Human Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Psychology
• Education

Careers That Communication & Journalism Grads May Go Into

A degree in communication and journalism can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for IL, the home state for Northern Illinois University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
Public Relations Specialists	7,360	$66,220
Public Relations and Fundraising Managers	5,160	$119,330
Editors	3,830	$62,590
Producers and Directors	2,950	$77,960
Photographers	2,600	$36,290

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Andy McMurray under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.