by our College Data Analytics TeamPublic Relations & Advertising is a major offered under the communication and journalism program of study at Western Michigan University. We’ve pulled together some essential information you should know about the bachelor’s degree program in public relations, 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.
BA in Communication - Public Relations
Prepare to develop your skills in building mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their public audiences.
Each year, we produce a number of different types of college rankings to help students decide which school is the best fit for them. The bachelor's program at WMU was ranked #113 on College Factual's Best Schools for public relations list. It is also ranked #6 in Michigan.
Here are some of the other rankings for WMU.
Out-of-state part-time undergraduates at WMU paid an average of $630 per credit hour in 2019-2020. The average for in-state students was $504 per credit hour. The average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates are shown in the table below.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $12,094 | $15,118 |
| Fees | $923 | $923 |
| Books and Supplies | $987 | $987 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $10,567 | $10,567 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $2,500 | $2,500 |
Learn more about WMU tuition and fees.
One factor in determining the overall cost in a degree is to consider how much in student loans you’ll have to take out. Public Relations students who received their bachelor’s degree at WMU took out an average of $27,000 in student loans. That is 16% higher than the national average of $23,348.
public relations who receive their bachelor’s degree from WMU make an average of $37,748 a year during the early days of their career. That is 9% higher than the national average of $34,735.
Online degrees for the WMU public relations bachelor’s degree program are not available at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the WMU Online Learning page.
Women made up around 71.2% of the public relations students who took home a bachelor’s degree in 2019-2020. This is in the same ballpark of the nationwide number of 72.2%.
Around 23.1% of public relations bachelor’s degree recipients at WMU in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 29%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 2 |
| Black or African American | 10 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 8 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
| White | 76 |
| International Students | 3 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 5 |
Public Relations & Advertising students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Organizational Communication | 20 |
| Advertising | 36 |
| Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication | 48 |
You may also be interested in one of these majors related to public relations and advertising.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Communication & Media Studies | 51 |
| Journalism | 5 |
View All Public Relations & Advertising 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.
