by our College Data Analytics TeamThe main focus area for this major is Speech Communication. For more details on this concentration, visit its profile page.
Communication & Media Studies is a major offered under the communication and journalism program of study at Grand Valley State University. We’ve pulled together some essential information you should know about the bachelor’s degree program in communications, including how many students graduate each year, the ethnic diversity of these students, and more.
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Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
With an online bachelor's degree in communication you'll have the opportunity to pursue a multitude of career options. From journalism and social media, to public relations, advertising and mass media, earning your BA in communication will allow you to strategize and communicate your ideas.
In order to help students and their parents find the best school for them, we have created several different types of college rankings, which are updated yearly. The bachelor's program at GVSU was ranked #232 on College Factual's Best Schools for communications list. It is also ranked #6 in Michigan.
Here are some of the other rankings for GVSU.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time undergraduate students at GVSU paid an average of $805 per credit hour if they came to the school from out-of-state. In-state students paid a discounted rate of $570 per credit hour. The following table shows the average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $13,576 | $19,168 |
| Books and Supplies | $740 | $740 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $9,732 | $9,732 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $2,040 | $2,040 |
Learn more about GVSU tuition and fees.
One way to think about how much a school will cost is to look at how much in student loans that you have to take out to get your degree. Communications students who received their bachelor’s degree at GVSU took out an average of $25,250 in student loans. That is 3% higher than the national average of $24,445.
The median early career salary of communications students who receive their bachelor’s degree from GVSU is $34,111 per year. That is 8% higher than the national average of $31,626.
GVSU does not offer an online option for its communications bachelor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the GVSU Online Learning page.
Women made up around 62.9% of the communications students who took home a bachelor’s degree in 2019-2020. This is in the same ballpark of the nationwide number of 64.0%.
Of those graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in communications at GVSU in 2019-2020, 22.9% were racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 36%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 3 |
| Black or African American | 6 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 10 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
| White | 79 |
| International Students | 0 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 7 |
Communication & Media Studies students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Speech Communication | 105 |
You may also be interested in one of these majors related to communication and media studies.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Radio, Television & Digital Communication | 30 |
| Public Relations & Advertising | 152 |
| Communication & Journalism (Other) | 20 |
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
