Communication & Media Studies at Northwestern University

Every communication and media studies school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the communications program at Northwestern University stacks up to those at other schools.

Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and has a total student population of 22,603. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 111 students received a bachelor's degree in communications from Northwestern.

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

Northwestern Communication & Media Studies Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communications
• Master’s Degree in Communications
• Doctorate Degree in Communications

Northwestern Communication & Media Studies Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks communications programs across the country. The following shows how Northwestern 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 communications major at Northwestern is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Communication & Media Studies. 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
Most Focused Communication & Media Studies Undergraduate Certificate Schools	9
Most Popular Communication & Media Studies Undergraduate Certificate Schools	9
	10
Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools	297
Most Focused Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	700

In 2021, 92 students received their master’s degree in communications from Northwestern. This makes it the #10 most popular school for communications master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 3 students who received their doctoral degrees in communications, making the school the #50 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Earnings of Northwestern Communications Graduates

The median salary of communications students who receive their bachelor's degree at Northwestern is $48,590. This is 50% higher than $32,435, which is the national average for all communications bachelor's degree recipients.

Communications Student Demographics at Northwestern

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the communications majors at Northwestern University.

Northwestern Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 111 students graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications from Northwestern. About 35% were men and 65% were women.

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	11
Black or African American	14
Hispanic or Latino	13
White	52
International Students	10
Other Races/Ethnicities	11

Northwestern Communication & Media Studies Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 92 students earned a master's degree in communications from Northwestern. About 82% of these graduates were women and the other 18% were men.

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	7
White	16
International Students	22
Other Races/Ethnicities	39

Northwestern also has a doctoral program available in communications. In 2021, 3 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Public Relations & Advertising
• Radio, Television & Digital Communication

Careers That Communications Grads May Go Into

A degree in communications 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 Northwestern University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
Public Relations Specialists	7,360	$66,220
Editors	3,830	$62,590
Writers and Authors	1,880	$68,710
Communications Professors	1,810	$78,810
Reporters and Correspondents	1,260	$53,610

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 Madcoverboy at en.wikipedia under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.