Communications

Types of Degrees Communications Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many communication & media studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	44,674
Associate Degree	4,796
Master’s Degree	4,685
Basic Certificate	1,528
Doctor’s Degree	573
Graduate Certificate	300
Undergraduate Certificate	64

What Communications Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to communications were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Communications Majors

Communications majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Skills for Communications Majors

communications majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Communications Majors

A major in communications will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Communications Major?

People with a communications degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Copy Writers	7.6%	$62,170
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers	7.6%	$62,170
Public Address System and Other Announcers	2.6%	$27,720
Public Relations Specialists	8.9%	$60,000

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications?

This is one of the most frequently chosen undergraduate majors. It is the 5th most popular in the country with 53,796 students graduating with a bachelor’s in communications in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 63% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of communications majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,125
Black or African American	4,949
Hispanic or Latino	7,456
White	24,791
International Students	1,910
Other Races/Ethnicities	3,443

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Communications. About 4.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Communications

Some careers associated with communications require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to communications have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	6.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	6.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.5%
Some College Courses	6.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	56.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.8%
Master’s Degree	13.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.3%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.5%
Doctoral Degree	2.5%
Post-Doctoral Training	1.2%

Online Communications Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	36	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	328	42
Bachelor’s Degree	63	24
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	343	51
Post-Master’s	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	98	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Communications

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to communications.

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations & Advertising	20,666
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	18,257
Journalism	12,280
Communication & Journalism (Other)	1,238
Publishing	371

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.