Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Radio, Television, and Digital Communication

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

50

Schools Ranked

$30,549

Avg. Earnings

2.6 yrs

Best Payback

12,530

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	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	$15,415	$58,673	2.6 yrs
2	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY · Private	$29,788	$63,005	4.3 yrs
3	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$41,205	6.1 yrs
4	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$41,205	6.5 yrs
5	University of Baltimore Baltimore, MD · Public	$17,685	$45,852	6.5 yrs
6	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	$10,515	$41,205	6.8 yrs
7	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$45,696	8.8 yrs
8	New York University New York, NY · Private	$31,355	$49,019	8.9 yrs
9	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$41,205	9.8 yrs
10	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	$14,583	$39,729	12.3 yrs
11	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$41,205	13.1 yrs
12	St. John Fisher University Rochester, NY · Private	$26,544	$42,908	13.4 yrs
13	Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA · Private	$24,182	$41,565	14.7 yrs
14	Saint Edward's University Austin, TX · Private	$24,710	$41,193	16 yrs
15	Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA · Private	$44,631	$44,817	18.2 yrs
16	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY · Private	$27,131	$39,369	24.8 yrs
17	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	$20,325	$37,748	29.6 yrs
18	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY · Private	$33,635	$39,467	30.1 yrs
19	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$36,668	36.1 yrs
20	Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN · Private	$21,256	$37,208	38.5 yrs
21	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA · Private	$32,267	$38,289	39.2 yrs
22	Webster University Saint Louis, MO · Private	$22,524	$37,208	40.8 yrs
23	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private	$38,999	$36,992	78.3 yrs
24	Marywood University Scranton, PA · Private	$19,734	$35,954	82.7 yrs
25	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	$14,233	$35,546	104.3 yrs
26	University of Maine Orono, ME · Public	$14,886	$35,416	143.1 yrs
27	Ithaca College Ithaca, NY · Private	$31,694	$35,877	144.6 yrs
28	St Bonaventure University Saint Bonaventure, NY · Private	$16,736	$35,274	244.3 yrs
29	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$35,131	563.6 yrs
30	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	$13,192	$35,060	879.5 yrs
31	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	$7,521	$32,925	N/A
32	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$29,995	N/A
33	University of Mississippi University, MS · Public	$15,351	$34,348	N/A
34	Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ · Private	$30,127	$33,138	N/A
35	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$33,382	N/A
36	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$33,382	N/A
37	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private	$33,018	$32,467	N/A
38	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	$11,506	$32,439	N/A
39	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	$15,458	$34,942	N/A
40	Biola University La Mirada, CA · Private	$30,789	$30,228	N/A
41	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$34,157	N/A
42	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	$21,649	$29,350	N/A
43	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI · Private	$25,377	$31,581	N/A
44	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	$13,769	$28,236	N/A
45	Baker College Owosso, MI · Private	$12,281	$26,121	N/A
46	Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL · Private	$26,626	$27,222	N/A
47	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	$21,568	$31,423	N/A
48	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$32,450	N/A
49	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	$21,716	$34,230	N/A
50	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	$20,523	$34,230	N/A

Top Earners in Radio, Television, and Digital Communication

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

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.