Photojournalism

Types of Degrees Photojournalism Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	89
Master’s Degree	41
Associate Degree	10
Undergraduate Certificate	4

What Photojournalism Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to photojournalism 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 Photojournalism Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

Skills for Photojournalism Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to photojournalism:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Photojournalism Majors

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

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 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.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

What Can You Do With a Photojournalism Major?

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

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Film and Video Editors	17.0%	$62,650

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Photojournalism?

This major is dominated by women with about 66% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	6
Hispanic or Latino	9
White	63
International Students	5
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Photojournalism, too. About 5.6% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Photojournalism

Some careers associated with photojournalism require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	13.8%
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)	5.2%
Some College Courses	16.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	48.1%
Master’s Degree	1.3%
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.	1.3%

Online Photojournalism 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)	2	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	4	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Photojournalism

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Journalism	10,073
Other Journalism	1,208
Broadcast Journalism	848
Science/Health/Environmental Journalism	7
Cultural Journalism	0

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 Jfurrer under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.