The 50 colleges that score highest for Journalism on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $74,709 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $79,776 · 88 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | Boston University | MA | Median earnings $65,617 · 90 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | Washington and Lee University | VA | Median earnings $94,810 (college-wide) · 14 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | Lehigh University | PA | Median earnings $81,935 · 25 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $71,466 · 23 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $57,492 · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $75,967 · 190 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Denison University | OH | Median earnings $66,730 (field-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | Median earnings $70,829 · 86 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $67,539 · 36 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | University of Florida | FL | Median earnings $58,150 · 135 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | Median earnings $68,128 · 112 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | Median earnings $61,145 · 146 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | San Diego State University | CA | Median earnings $53,997 · 121 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | University of Georgia | GA | Median earnings $60,729 · 165 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $64,153 (field-wide) · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | George Washington University | DC | Median earnings $81,927 · 48 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | The University of Tampa | FL | Median earnings $60,052 (field-wide) · 13 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | Syracuse University | NY | Median earnings $70,404 · 152 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | Stony Brook University | NY | Median earnings $65,535 · 44 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $62,670 · 103 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Loyola Marymount University | CA | Median earnings $69,144 (field-wide) · 32 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $62,336 · 183 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | Median earnings $52,663 · 125 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | California State University-Long Beach | CA | Median earnings $55,192 · 75 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | MA | Median earnings $52,011 · 88 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Fordham University | NY | Median earnings $72,475 · 35 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | Southern Methodist University | TX | Median earnings $89,330 (field-wide) · 38 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Emerson College | MA | Median earnings $63,337 · 67 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Auburn University | AL | Median earnings $44,704 · 44 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $51,280 · 52 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $59,604 · 36 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Baylor University | TX | Median earnings $63,622 · 63 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | American University | DC | Median earnings $66,635 · 60 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Texas Christian University | TX | Median earnings $58,738 · 25 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras | PR | Median earnings $32,524 · 21 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Universidad del Sagrado Corazon | PR | Median earnings $29,511 · 39 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | University of Central Florida | FL | Median earnings $60,887 · 55 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | Brigham Young University | UT | Median earnings $50,338 · 54 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Chapman University | CA | Median earnings $79,135 · 30 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | NY | Median earnings $54,425 · 39 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | SC | Median earnings $53,294 · 55 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | University of Colorado Boulder | CO | Median earnings $57,079 · 89 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | Indiana University-Bloomington | IN | Median earnings $59,151 · 105 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | Hofstra University | NY | Median earnings $61,609 · 36 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | OK | Median earnings $54,031 · 231 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | University of Missouri-Columbia | MO | Median earnings $69,016 · 438 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Drake University | IA | Median earnings $62,969 · 18 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Ithaca College | NY | Median earnings $61,317 · 28 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees |
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