2023 Best Value Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Journalism is the 69th most popular major in the country with 13,552 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $32,953 and had an average of $23,734 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 170 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,859 and $23,438 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in journalism. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great journalism programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the journalism program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Journalism Schools

The journalism 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 Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia journalism students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

1

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$9,871 Average Net Price

$69,885 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Georgetown University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k. Georgetown University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 19 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.

Georgetown also made our “Best Journalism Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Georgetown is $9,871 for District of Columbia Journalism students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Journalism at Georgetown

2

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$14,889 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Washington University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k list. This large school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 53 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our district of columbia journalism students whose families make $30-$48k list, GWU has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Journalism Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend George Washington University is $14,889 for district of columbia journalism students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Journalism at George Washington University

3

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$20,965 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #3 spot on the list. The American University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 98 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our district of columbia journalism students whose families make $30-$48k list, The American University has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Journalism Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for American University is $20,965 for District of Columbia Journalism students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full The American University Journalism Report

• Best Value Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k)

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 Jfurrer.