Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$37,091

Avg. Earnings

5 yrs

Best Payback

17,408

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$52,107	5 yrs
2	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private	$12,676	$44,276	5.5 yrs
3	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$43,114	5.7 yrs
4	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$40,089	6.5 yrs
5	Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY · Public	$12,228	$42,458	6.6 yrs
6	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$40,089	6.6 yrs
7	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$43,404	7.2 yrs
8	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$43,680	7.4 yrs
9	National University San Diego, CA · Private	$23,427	$47,260	7.6 yrs
10	Assumption University Worcester, MA · Private	$26,074	$47,846	8.1 yrs
11	American University Washington, DC · Private	$27,374	$48,432	8.2 yrs
12	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	$11,506	$40,635	8.2 yrs
13	North Central College Naperville, IL · Private	$21,783	$45,584	8.2 yrs
14	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private	$29,892	$49,344	8.3 yrs
15	Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public	$13,612	$41,193	8.8 yrs
16	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$41,937	8.8 yrs
17	Gonzaga University Spokane, WA · Private	$26,473	$46,620	9.1 yrs
18	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$45,249	9.2 yrs
19	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$44,711	9.4 yrs
20	Otterbein University Westerville, OH · Private	$21,572	$44,170	9.4 yrs
21	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$44,934	9.5 yrs
22	Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL · Private	$18,435	$42,682	9.6 yrs
23	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$41,379	10.9 yrs
24	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private	$33,018	$46,924	11.1 yrs
25	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	$15,394	$40,532	11.1 yrs
26	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	$15,287	$40,453	11.2 yrs
27	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA · Private	$32,267	$46,156	11.6 yrs
28	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	$12,127	$39,153	11.7 yrs
29	Carthage College Kenosha, WI · Private	$26,106	$43,798	11.9 yrs
30	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA · Private	$36,818	$47,260	12 yrs
31	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$41,416	12 yrs
32	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$41,833	12 yrs
33	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	$14,641	$39,559	12.8 yrs
34	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	$18,131	$40,608	12.9 yrs
35	University of Oregon Eugene, OR · Public	$16,014	$39,789	13.4 yrs
36	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine Media, PA · Public	$21,599	$41,416	13.5 yrs
37	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$39,729	13.6 yrs
38	School of Visual Arts New York, NY · For-Profit	$47,965	$48,823	13.9 yrs
39	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg Middletown, PA · Public	$22,395	$41,416	14 yrs
40	Chapman University Orange, CA · Private	$38,525	$45,767	14.3 yrs
41	Drake University Des Moines, IA · Private	$26,088	$41,870	15.2 yrs
42	Capital University Columbus, OH · Private	$19,203	$40,068	15.2 yrs
43	Manhattan University Riverdale, NY · Private	$29,420	$42,682	15.3 yrs
44	University of Scranton Scranton, PA · Private	$29,844	$42,682	15.5 yrs
45	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$38,424	15.6 yrs
46	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	$20,325	$39,937	16.5 yrs
47	Point Park University Pittsburgh, PA · Private	$20,671	$40,017	16.5 yrs
48	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$41,416	16.9 yrs
49	Northwest University Kirkland, WA · Private	$18,754	$39,369	17.2 yrs
50	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private	$38,999	$43,575	18.2 yrs

Top Earners in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

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Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.