2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Southwest Region

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Communication & Media Studies is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 9th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 68,079 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, communication and media studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,728 and had an average of $24,931 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 6,313 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,423 and $24,273 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 294 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,605 and $16,886 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in communication and media studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality communication and media studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the communication and media studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The communications school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region associate degree communications students whose families make $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Southwest Region

#1

Central New Mexico Community College

Albuquerque, New Mexico

#1 in overall quality

$7,646 Average Net Price

$29,685 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Central New Mexico Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. Central New Mexico Community College is a large public school situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It awarded 82 associates’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

CNM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $7,646 for southwest region associate degree communications students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend CNM.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at Central New Mexico Community College

#2

Tulsa Community College

Tulsa, Oklahoma

#2 in overall quality

$10,064 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Tulsa Community College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. Tulsa, Oklahoma is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s communications degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Tulsa Community College, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $10,064 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Communications students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Tulsa Community College.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at Tulsa Community College

#3

Cameron University

Lawton, Oklahoma

#3 in overall quality

$13,619 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Cameron University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Communications Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. This small school is located in Lawton, Oklahoma, and it awarded 10 associates’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

Cameron University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Cameron University is $13,619 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Communications students whose families make $75-$110k.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at Cameron University

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies (Income $75-$110k)

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

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