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 Northern Illinois University. We’ve gathered data and other essential information about the bachelor’s degree program in communications, such as diversity of students, how many students graduated in recent times, and more.
If there’s something special you’re looking for, you can use one of the links below to find it:
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 NIU was ranked #250 on College Factual's Best Schools for communications list. It is also ranked #9 in Illinois.
Here are some of the other rankings for NIU.
In 2019-2020, the average part-time undergraduate tuition at NIU was $348 per credit hour for both in-state and out-of-state students. The average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates are shown in the table below.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $9,466 | $9,466 |
| Fees | $4,926 | $4,926 |
| Books and Supplies | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $10,880 | $10,880 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $2,870 | $2,870 |
Learn more about NIU 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 NIU took out an average of $27,000 in student loans. That is 10% higher than the national average of $24,445.
The median early career salary of communications students who receive their bachelor’s degree from NIU is $36,344 per year. That is 15% higher than the national average of $31,626.
Online degrees for the NIU communications bachelor’s degree program are not available at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the NIU Online Learning page.
Women made up around 48.8% of the communications students who took home a bachelor’s degree in 2019-2020. This is less than the nationwide number of 64.0%.
Around 41.5% of communications bachelor’s degree recipients at NIU in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is higher than the nationwide number of 36%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 5 |
| Black or African American | 34 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 22 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
| White | 93 |
| International Students | 1 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 9 |
Communication & Media Studies students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Speech Communication | 164 |
You may also be interested in one of these majors related to communication and media studies.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Journalism | 28 |
View All Communication & Media Studies Related Majors >
*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.
