Political Communication

Types of Degrees Political Communication Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	91
Bachelor’s Degree	67
Basic Certificate	56
Graduate Certificate	7

What Political Communication Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to political communication 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 Political Communication Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in political communication should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Political Communication Majors

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

• 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.
• 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 Political Communication Majors

As a political communication major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Political Communication Major?

People with a political communication degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Public Relations Specialists	8.9%	$60,000

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Communication?

The major attracts more women than men. About 66% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	4
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	5
White	47
International Students	4
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Political Communication, too. About 6.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Political Communication

Some degrees associated with political communication may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for political communication careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.5%
Some College Courses	2.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	62.2%
Master’s Degree	21.4%
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.	0.2%
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.	1.2%
Doctoral Degree	4.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.6%

Online Political Communication 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	3	0
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Political Communication

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

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations	4,566
Advertising	4,315
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	4,239
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	2,031
General Organizational Communication	1,835
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	1,470
Sports Communication	1,161
Health Communication	416
International & Intercultural Communication	245
Technical & Scientific Communication	167

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 Bill Koplitz under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.