This is the ranking of the best colleges for Communications and Media Studies degrees. A major in communications or media studies focuses on how we in a complex society present ourselves to one another via the wide array of media available in the modern world. The top universities in these fields engage their students in analyses of how those media operate within their own organizations and in their outward face to the world. At some universities one or the other of the two names is used for the major – communications, and media studies, and in others the department uses both names.
In recent years, a communications major has become more popular, perhaps because of the growth of segmented forms of communication such as social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and so on), and an increasing array of broadcast channels via streaming services (Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Netflix and so on). In effect, everyone now can become a broadcaster, communicating their thoughts and interests and effectively developing a personal brand for themselves.
Ranking The Best Colleges for Communications and Media Studies Majors
This is our RealRank ranking of the best top colleges for Media Studies and Communications.
| Rank | College | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Texas | Austin | TX |
| 2 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA |
| 3 | The Ohio State University | Columbus | OH |
| 4 | University Of Wisconsin | Madison | WI |
| 5 | Michigan State University | East Lansing | MI |
| 6 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | CA |
| 7 | Northwestern University | Evanston | IL |
| 8 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI |
| 9 | University of Washington | Seattle | WA |
| 10 | University of Illinois | Champaign | IL |
| 11 | Penn State | University Park | PA |
| 12 | Stanford University | Palo Alto | CA |
| 13 | University of Georgia | Athens | GA |
| 14 | Cornell University | Ithaca | NY |
| 15 | University of Florida | Gainesville | FL |
| 16 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | MA |
| 17 | Indiana University | Bloomington | IN |
| 18 | University of Arizona | Tuscon | AZ |
| 19 | University of Maryland | College Park | MD |
| 20 | University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill | NC |
| 21 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh | NC |
| 22 | Wake Forest University | Winston-Salem | NC |
| 23 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta | GA |
| 24 | Purdue University | West Lafayette | IN |
| 25 | Arizona State University | Tempe | AZ |
| 26 | University of California Los Angeles | Los Angeles | CA |
| 27 | Florida State University | Tallahassee | FL |
| 28 | University of Kansas | Lawrence | KS |
| 29 | University of Utah | Salt Lake City | UT |
| 30 | University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa | AL |
| 31 | Columbia University | New York | NY |
| 32 | University of Connecticut | Storrs | CT |
| 33 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | CA |
| 34 | Virginia Polytechnic University (Virginia Tech) | Blacksburg | VA |
| 35 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | CA |
| 36 | Yale University | New Haven | CT |
| 37 | University of Iowa | Iowa City | IA |
| 38 | New York University | New York | NY |
| 39 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | TN |
| 40 | University of Minnesota | Minneapolis | MN |
What is a Media Studies or Communications Major?
A communications major at the top colleges for media studies and communications may cover a wide array of disciplines all related to both the old media and all the new. For examples topics covered in a top tier communications curriculum include:
- Interplay of media, society and culture;
- Personal presentation, including public speaking, nonverbal communication and effective presentation development.
- Logical argument, persuasion and fallacy recognition.
- Journalism, ethics and advocacy.
- Media technology.
- Media economics and business.
- Digital media.
- Communications public policy.
- The interplay of censorship, propaganda and free speech.
- Legal issues in communications and media.
Economic Value of A Communications Degree
Examples of Communications careers include:
- Reporter / journalist.
- Public relations.
- Marketing.
- Media technologies.
- Social media consulting.
- Event planning.
- Brand management.
Communications Has a Mid-Range Earning Potential for Undergraduates
There is a high variability in the entry-level salaries for the the different types of jobs available to students coming out of college with degrees in communications and media studies. Generally speaking these salaries fall in the mid-range for recent college graduates.
