Communication & Media Studies is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #24 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 793 associate degrees in communication & media studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Communication & Media Studies School for Your Associate Degree
The communications associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on communication & media studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of communication & media studies students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How much debt communication & media studies students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized communication & media studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for communication & media studies students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Featured Communication & Media Studies Programs
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.
Effective communicators are always in demand, no matter the industry. The Master's in Communication degree from Southern New Hampshire University is a cutting-edge program designed for forward-thinking professionals.
It is hard to beat LaGuardia Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in communication & media studies. LaGuardia is a large public college located in the city of Long Island City.
Communication & Media Studies associate degree recipients from LaGuardia Community College earn a boost of around $2,303 above the average earnings of communication & media studies majors.
Borough of Manhattan Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in communication & media studies. Located in the large city of New York, BMCC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, communications associate recipients typically earn about $23,387 at the beginning of their careers.
Nassau Community College is a good choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in communication & media studies. Nassau Community College is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of Garden City.
Students who graduate with their associate from the communications program report average early career earnings of $24,426.
Community College of Philadelphia is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in communication & media studies. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Community College of Philadelphia is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the communications program earn an average of $23,596 in their early career salary.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).