Quick answer:Communications degrees usually cover writing, media, audience analysis and campaign strategy at bachelor’s and master’s level, under CIP 09.0101. The two occupations they feed most directly pay a median $74,750 for public relations specialists and $146,910 for public relations managers (BLS OEWS, May 2025). It is a broad degree, and this page is about making it specific.
What the Coursework Usually Covers
Writing across formats - the core of the degree, from news style to briefings to long-form
Communication theory - how messages move through audiences, and why intent and reception differ
Media and channel strategy - earned, owned and paid channels, and matching a message to the right one
Research and audience analysis - surveys, segmentation, and testing whether a message landed
Ethics and law - disclosure, defamation, and the rules around representing an organization publicly
Organizational and internal communication - most programs include a course on communicating inside a company rather than outward
At master’s level the emphasis usually shifts from producing communication to directing it: strategy, measurement, crisis planning and managing a function rather than staffing one.
Why This Page Exists Separately From the Public Relations Page
CIP 09.0101, communication and media studies, is a distinct program code from CIP 09.0902, public relations. The supply difference between them is the fastest way to see what separates them: 912 institutions award the communications code at degree level, against 162 for public relations (IPEDS Completions, 2024).
That ratio is the whole story. Communications is the general credential, offered nearly everywhere, designed to be flexible. Public relations is the specialist version, offered in far fewer places, designed around one function. Someone searching for a communications degree is usually asking a broader question - what is the writing-and-people degree, and will it open doors across industries - while someone searching for a public relations degree has already picked the function.
The two degrees also share the same wage data, because federal wage reporting is organized by occupation rather than by major, and both routes lead into the same public relations occupations. That is worth knowing so the identical wage tables on the two pages are not mistaken for the degrees being interchangeable. They are not. The public relations degree page is the right page for someone certain about the function. This one is the right page for someone who wants the broader credential and intends to make it specific through the industry they already know.
Before you request information anywhere, ask how much of the program is graded writing rather than discussion, and whether an internship or applied project is required. With that filter set, compare online communications programs enrolling now:
Colleges Offering This Degree
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Each of these institutions holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor. Verify a school’s current standing directly before you commit to it.
The General-Degree Problem, Stated Honestly
The standing objection to this degree is that it is too broad to mean anything, and there is something to it. A communications graduate with no industry knowledge is competing against every other communications graduate, and there are a lot of them: 912 institutions award the credential.
The counter-argument is not that the objection is wrong. It is that the objection describes a graduate who has only the degree. The degree is a multiplier on domain knowledge rather than a substitute for it, and that is precisely why it can work well for someone arriving from a trade.
Consider what an organization actually needs when it hires a communications person for a construction firm, a utility, a manufacturer or a contractor association. It needs someone who can write clearly, brief a room, handle a reporter and plan a campaign - and who also understands what a change order is, why a shutdown schedule matters, and what the field crews will think of the message. The first half is teachable in two to four years. The second half takes a decade in the industry, and someone leaving a trade already has it.
That is the case for this degree over any of the more specialized ones on this site: it is the credential that converts existing industry knowledge into a role that pays for communication rather than for physical work.
Who This Suits
Tradespeople moving off the tools who already do the talking. Foremen, project leads, shop stewards, safety leads and estimators spend a large share of the week explaining things to people who did not want to hear it. That is the job.
People already in an adjacent role. Marketing coordinators, sales support, internal training and administrative staff who have drifted into writing responsibility and want the credential to match it.
People aiming at a management track. The master’s level is oriented toward running a function, and the manager occupation below pays a median $146,910 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
Bachelor’s or Master’s?
Both levels sit under this CIP and they answer different questions.
The bachelor’s is the entry credential. It is the right level for someone without a four-year degree who wants to move into communications work, and it is where the writing volume is highest. It is also the level most specialist job postings treat as the floor.
The master’s is a redirection credential more than an entry one. It suits someone who already holds a bachelor’s in something else - engineering technology, business, a trade-adjacent field - and wants to convert into a communications function without starting over. It is also the level that maps onto the manager occupation rather than the specialist one, and the wage gap between those two rows in the table below is large.
Cost differs mainly in time to completion, which is the expensive input for a working adult. Is college worth it works through that tradeoff in general terms.
What These Careers Pay
Public relations specialists earn a median $74,750 across 283,380 jobs, and public relations managers a median $146,910 across 74,850 jobs (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Communications Careers at a Glance
Metric
Detail
Source
Median annual wage (specialists)
$74,750 ($35.94 per hour)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Median annual wage (managers)
$146,910 ($70.63 per hour)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Specialist wage range
$44,110 (10th pct) - $135,150 (90th pct)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Manager wage range
$82,410 (10th pct) - $284,990 (90th pct)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Employment
283,380 specialists; 74,850 managers
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Projected change (2024-34)
4.8% specialists, 5% managers
BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34
Annual openings
About 27,600 specialists; about 6,600 managers
BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34
Typical credential
Bachelor’s, with master’s common for the manager track
Program catalogs
Institutions awarding
912
IPEDS Completions, 2024
SOC codes covered
27-3031 public relations specialists; 11-2032 public relations managers
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Specialist and Manager Compared
Role
Median
25th percentile
75th percentile
Employment
Projected change
Public relations specialists
$74,750
$56,260
$100,370
283,380
4.8%
Public relations managers
$146,910
$106,580
$204,520
74,850
5%
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
The gap between those two rows is the most useful number on this page. The manager median is roughly double the specialist median, and the 75th percentiles are further apart still, at $100,370 against $204,520. But the employment column shows why: there are 283,380 specialist jobs and 74,850 manager jobs, so the manager row is a smaller pool reached by a minority of the people in the first row.
Both projections are modest. Specialist employment is projected to change by 4.8 percent and manager employment by 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, on about 27,600 and 6,600 annual openings respectively (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). This is a stable field rather than a fast-expanding one, and most of those openings come from turnover rather than new positions. Plan around the specialist row and treat the manager row as the ceiling rather than the expectation. Individual outcomes may vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can you do with a communications degree?
The two occupations it feeds most directly are public relations specialists, at a median $74,750 across employment of 283,380, and public relations managers, at a median $146,910 across employment of 74,850 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Beyond those, it is a general credential that turns up across internal communications, corporate training, marketing, and operations roles that involve writing and briefing people.
Is a communications degree too general to be useful?
That is the fair criticism, and it depends entirely on what is paired with it. On its own it is a writing and audience-analysis credential. Paired with an industry a person already knows - construction, manufacturing, utilities, healthcare - it is a specific and hard-to-hire-for combination. This page is written for the second case.
How many schools offer this degree?
912 institutions awarded CIP 09.0101 at bachelor's or master's level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). It is one of the largest program categories in the country, which means the school list below rewards hard filtering rather than browsing.
What is the difference between a communications degree and a public relations degree?
Different program codes and very different supply. Communications is CIP 09.0101 with 912 institutions awarding it; public relations is CIP 09.0902 with 162. Communications is the broad degree covering theory, writing, media and audience across contexts. Public relations is the focused version aimed at reputation, media relations and campaign work.
How much do communications careers pay?
Public relations specialists earn a median $74,750, with the bottom 10 percent at $44,110 or less and the top 10 percent at $135,150 or more. Public relations managers earn a median $146,910, with a 10th percentile of $82,410 and a 90th percentile of $284,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Is the field growing?
Public relations specialist employment is projected to change by 4.8 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 27,600 openings a year. Manager employment is projected to change by 5 percent, with about 6,600 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Both are modest, steady growth rather than a boom.
Does a strategic communications degree count as the same thing?
For most purposes on this page, yes. Programs marketed as strategic communications usually sit under the same broad communication studies code and cover the same core with a heavier campaign and stakeholder emphasis. Check the program code and the course list rather than the marketing name.
Is this a realistic move from a trade?
It can be, and the pairing is the whole argument. Someone who has run crews, dealt with inspectors and explained a change order to an angry client already has the harder half. The degree supplies the writing discipline and the audience framework. Individual outcomes may vary.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Public Relations Specialists (SOC 27-3031), Public Relations Managers (SOC 11-2032)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions, 2024 - CIP 09.0101
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
