Communications & media

Graphic Communications

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University · Blacksburg, VA

Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · related subjectsSee the evidence

The degree in numbers

Cost & earnings.

Annual tuition$36,694Institution-level tuition; programme fees may differ · before aid
Annual credentials awarded3Average of available recent award years; not the earnings sample size.

Earnings context

One career stage.
A clearer comparison.

USD · Master's · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.

Selected degree estimate$53,984
Communications & media · national$52,107

Behind the number

Your comparison group.

Medium evidence

Related subjects at 12 matched peer institutions · master's

Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $50,581–$60,794.

Historical earnings archive. College Scorecard legacy FOS archive (file dated 2022-01-19; cohorts vary). Do not interpret this as today's graduate salary. Further study and career changes are not modelled by this early-career figure.

Master's outcomes · 2 years after completion
Institution & subjectReported earnings
University of Massachusetts-AmherstCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$59,726
Pennsylvania State University-Main CampusCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$52,464
University of ConnecticutCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$64,990
Ohio State University-Main CampusCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$48,600
Purdue University-Main CampusCommunication and Media Studies$63,997
University of South Carolina-ColumbiaCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services, Journalism$50,788
Florida International UniversityCommunication and Media Studies$49,962
Auburn UniversityCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$55,151
University of Maryland-College ParkCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services, Journalism$48,142
University of VermontCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$54,361
University of Washington-Seattle CampusCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services, Radio, Television, and Digital Communication$65,900
University of Wisconsin-MadisonCommunication Disorders Sciences and Services$53,608
How matching & uncertainty work

We first look for the same subject code (or exact subject name), qualification, country, currency, source release and earnings horizon. Peer institutions are matched using admissions selectivity, completion rates, undergraduate size and institution type, with a small preference for the same region. These are institutional proxies, not a ranking of programme quality.

If subject-matched peers are sparse, we try related subjects at closely matched universities, related degrees at this university, then an explicitly labelled national reference. We never multiply a salary by a university prestige score.

Peer and national estimates give each reporting institution one vote, after taking the median of its related programmes. Shared branch-campus outcomes count once. The middle-half range describes variation between reporting institutions. It is not an individual salary range or a statistical confidence interval.

Evidence labels describe match quality and coverage, not validated prediction accuracy. Admissions and size are undergraduate institutional measures, so graduate-degree comparisons are especially approximate.

Historical cohort outcomes are not promised salaries or a causal effect of attending this programme. College Scorecard earnings cover eligible federal-aid recipients, not every graduate or international student. Source definitions ↗