When it comes to popularity, an associate degree in communication & journalism sits in the middle of the road, ranking #17 out of 38 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 16 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for communication & journalism students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,165 associate degrees in communication & journalism to qualified students.
DEBUG: Checking offer "Communications & Media Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Communications & Media Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Communications & Media Graduate Certificate Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Communications & Media Graduate Certificate Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Communications & Media Masters Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Communications & Media Masters Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Communication" with relevance 0.9
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Communication" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.9)
DEBUG: Checking offer "MA in Communication" with relevance 0.9
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "MA in Communication" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.9)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Communication - New Media" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Communication - New Media" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Communication - Public Relations" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Communication - Public Relations" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "MA in Communication - New Media & Marketing" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "MA in Communication - New Media & Marketing" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "MS in Marketing - New Media & Communications" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "MS in Marketing - New Media & Communications" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 9
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 3 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.5
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 3
DEBUG: ESYOH offers found, rendering ESYOH widget
DEBUG: most_relevant_only = true, filtering for most relevant
DEBUG: Found 3 offers with relevance >= 1.0
Choosing a Great Communication & Journalism School for Your Associate Degree
The communication & journalism 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
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges 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
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
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to communication & journalism students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other communication & journalism students want to attend this school to pursue a associate 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 & journalism 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 & journalism related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for communication & journalism students working on their associate degree.
The communication & 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 the Best Communication & Journalism Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "communication-journalism-media"
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.
Explore the digital frontier as it relates to today's communications strategies with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
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).