Ranked #30 in popularity, communication sciences is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 6 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 101 doctor's degrees in communication sciences to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Communication Sciences School for Your Doctor's Degree
The communication sciences doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality communication sciences program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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 include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's 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 many resources a school devotes to communication sciences students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of communication sciences students who choose to seek a doctor's 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 easy is it for communication sciences to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
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 doctor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Arizona State University - Tempe is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in communication sciences. Located in the city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a very large student population.
Doctorate recipients from the communication sciences program at Arizona State University - Tempe earn $7,748 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
University of Arizona is a good choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in communication sciences. University of Arizona is a very large public university located in the large city of Tucson.
Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the communication sciences program make an average of $71,044 in the first couple years of working.
The University of Texas at Dallas is a great choice for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in communication sciences. UT Dallas is a very large public university located in the city of Richardson.
Students who graduate with their doctorate from the communication sciences program state that they receive average early career wages of $79,413.
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).
The communication sciences doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality communication sciences program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
