Bachelor's · Berkeley, California
Is Communication and Media Studies at University of California-Berkeley worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.1 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $55,982
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $81,216
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $11,132
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $62k (likely $62k – $66k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $41k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 3.1 years (likely 2.8–3.5)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $151k (likely $88k – $203k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $649k (likely $499k – $813k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 94%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 10%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Communication and Media Studies at other schools
Other majors at University of California-Berkeley
- Law (First professional)$226,996
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (First professional)$226,351
- Information Science/Studies (First professional)$209,391
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$204,379
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's)$200,543
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's)$191,069
- Physics (Doctoral)$177,589
- Chemistry (Doctoral)$168,396
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Master's)$162,352
- Mechanical Engineering (Master's)$147,475
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's)$144,599
- Mechanical Engineering (First professional)$140,788
Communication and Media Studies at other schools in California
- Santa Clara University$84,206
- Northeastern University Oakland$80,191
- University of Southern California$75,864
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$75,223
- Chapman University$73,461
- University of California-Santa Barbara$72,976
- University of California-Davis$72,778
- Loyola Marymount University$69,144
- University of San Diego$68,913
- Sonoma State University$68,833