If you pursue a master's degree in communication sciences, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #24 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 3 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Communication Sciences Master's Degree Schools in District of Columbia ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 102 master's degrees in communication sciences to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Communication Sciences School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of communication sciences for getting your master's degree school matters. 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 make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on communication sciences students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other communication sciences students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt communication sciences students go into to obtain their master's 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 sciences related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for communication sciences students working on their master's degree.
The communication sciences 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 the Best Communication Sciences Master's Degree Schools in District of Columbia.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Communication Sciences in District of Columbia
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in communication sciences.
Top District of Columbia Schools for a Master's in Communication Sciences
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in communication sciences needs to look into George Washington University. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.
Students who graduate with their master's from the communication sciences program report average early career income of $56,033.
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in communication sciences needs to check out Gallaudet University. Located in the city of Washington, Gallaudet is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Soon after graduating, communication sciences master's recipients generally earn around $54,272 at the beginning of their careers.
University of the District of Columbia is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in communication sciences. University of the District of Columbia is a small public university located in the city of Washington.
Master's students who receive their degree from the communication sciences program make about $57,901 in the first couple years of their career.
It is difficult to beat Howard University if you want to pursue a master's degree in communication sciences. Located in the large city of Washington, Howard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the communication sciences degree program at Howard University get $2,832 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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).