Best Colleges for Journalism 2025

20 schools ranked by graduate earnings — real data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Journalism graduates are well-positioned for careers across multiple industries. The rankings below are based on actual graduate earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Earnings shown are median graduate earnings 4 years after graduation (or 1 year if 4-year data is unavailable), sourced from the College Scorecard.See full major data

Top 20 Journalism Programs by Graduate Earnings

#	School	Earnings	Tuition	Accept Rate	Enrollment
1	George Washington University Washington, DC	$66,907	$64,990	44%	10,848
2	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	$63,740	$65,997	7%	8,960
3	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	$62,752	$63,061	42%	15,245
4	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	$62,737	$41,943	83%	31,578
5	Chapman University Orange, CA	$60,210	$62,784	56%	7,629
6	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	$59,071	$68,237	10%	20,817
7	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	$58,676	$41,997	43%	31,588
8	Boston University Boston, MA	$58,645	$65,168	11%	17,850
9	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	$58,169	$34,338	77%	23,118
10	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	$57,180	$40,306	45%	30,246
11	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	$56,877	$19,304	96%	20,033
12	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	$56,761	$43,034	54%	19,147
13	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	$56,761	$40,130	87%	464
14	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	$56,761	$40,120	86%	1,473
15	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	$56,761	$40,140	80%	2,177
16	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	$56,761	$40,130	87%	746
17	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	$56,265	$40,603	43%	35,665
18	Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT	$55,623	$53,090	77%	6,208
19	Northeastern University Boston, MA	$55,306	$63,141	6%	15,719
20	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	$55,193	$36,402	77%	30,469