Ranking of Communication Graduate Schools

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Your Ranking of Communication PhD Programs

Programs 1–30
RankProgramRegres QualitySurvey QualityStudent OutcomesJobs at GradDiversityFemale StudentsFemale Faculty
1-12Cornell University Communication1-612-1021-6891%4-15 75% 31%
1-12Michigan State University Communication3-492-123-2980%19-49 67% 50%
1-12University of Georgia Mass Communication4-558-221-795%15-40 59% 51%
1-15University of Pennsylvania Communication (Annenberg)2-481-59-4972%15-38 68% 30%
1-17University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Speech Communication3-595-1411-6482%20-48 65% 46%
2-20Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Communication Arts and Sciences1-445-158-3969%25-54 79% 38%
1-32Stanford University Communication1-681-318-7171%60-78 59% 11%
2-21University of California-Santa Barbara Communication3-576-198-6489%60-79 68% 43%
1-24University of Nebraska-Lincoln Communication Studies7-7620-541-2495%12-34 72% 62%
3-32Syracuse University Mass Communications3-7115-353-3280%22-57 63% 64%
4-37University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Communication Studies1-715-1846-7971%2-11 77% 31%
6-37University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Journalism and Mass Communication5-7811-271-1577%25-55 60% 54%
5-32University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism7-746-192-2683%4-15 45% 56%
4-36University of South Florida-Main Campus Communication3-7633-584-3495%22-52 63% 57%
8-39University of Kansas Communication Studies5-7528-515-2980%26-56 60% 65%
RankProgramRegres QualitySurvey QualityStudent OutcomesJobs at GradDiversityFemale StudentsFemale Faculty
8-39University of Missouri-Columbia Communication12-7516-476-3983%40-68 69% 58%
9-38Purdue University-Main Campus Communication7-6013-299-5370%36-65 71% 46%
7-41University of Wisconsin-Madison Mass Communications4-752-645-7373%35-58 46% 40%
8-39Arizona State University Communication9-6723-463-3773%11-30 72% 53%
6-41Indiana University-Bloomington Mass Communications4-7317-383-4382%27-54 61% 35%
9-44Ohio State University-Main Campus Communication9-784-1221-6470%44-67 62% 39%
7-44Indiana University-Bloomington Mass Communications (Tel)3-695-186-7182%25-52 49% 24%
9-39University of Oregon Communication and Society13-6436-651-1393%42-69 58% 50%
7-47University of Georgia Speech Communication3-819-3031-7195%17-45 59% 47%
11-48Washington State University Edward R. Murrow School of Communication7-6723-4822-5376%*15-44 69% 50%
11-44University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Communication Studies4-5613-317-4277%53-73 55% 36%
13-43The University of Texas at Austin Communication Studies6-6516-3236-6973%15-38 70% 47%
8-44The University of Texas at Austin Journalism1-6213-3012-5373%8-23 61% 38%
12-50University of Arizona Communication8-728-2551-7479%63-81 79% 30%
12-50University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Communications5-7128-5218-6882%5-14 55% 47%

Item Descriptions

Rank
A range indicating how this program ranked in 500 simulated rankings based on your priorities. Programs are sorted by their median rank. Learn more.
NRC regression-based quality measure (Regres Quality)
The NRC's measurements of overall program quality are based on 20 key variables (19 in the humanities) such as GRE scores, student support and faculty publications. To calculate the regression-based quality measure, the relative importance, or weight, of a variable was set by the extent that it correlated with programs viewed most favorably by evaluators in each field. Learn more. Your weight = 3. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
NRC survey-based quality measure (Survey Quality)
The NRC's measurements of overall program quality are based on 20 key variables (19 in the humanities) such as GRE scores, student support and faculty publications. To calculate the survey-based quality measure, evaluators in each field identified the variables that they considered to be the most important indicators of program quality. Learn more. Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Student support and outcomes (Student Outcomes)
This variable is a composite of other measures of student support and outcomes, including 6-year or 8-year graduation rates (for non-humanities programs and humanities programs, respectively), time to degree, job placement within academia, percentage of first-year students with full financial support, and whether a program collects data about the employment outcomes of its graduates. The relative importance of these variables was determined by the direct assessments of some 50 faculty in each field. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Placement Rate (Jobs at Grad)
This variable shows the percentage of students with definite plans at graduation (either a job or a postdoctoral position), based on data from the student questionnaire. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: SED, 2000–2004)
Diversity in the academic environment (Diversity)
This variable shows a composite measure of diversity generated by the National Research Council. It includes data on percent of faculty and students from underrepresented minorities, percent of female faculty and students, and percent of international faculty and students. The relative importance of these variables was determined by the direct assessments of some 50 faculty in each field. Your weight = 1. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Percentage of female students (Female Students)
The percentage of female doctoral students Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)
Percentage of female faculty (Female Faculty)
This measure reports the percentage of female faculty members, based on data from a 2006 program questionnaire. Faculty allocations were not considered in the calculation. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (Source: NRC, 2010)

Data Sources

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
IPEDS is an annual, comprehensive set of surveys of all colleges and universities in the United States. The surveys are conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.   Learn more
National Research Council
The National Research Council conducts periodic assessments of doctoral programs in the United States. Our data comes from the most recent assessment in 2010.   Learn more
Survey of Earned Doctorates
The NSF/NIH/NEH/USED/USDA/NASA Survey of Earned Doctorates is an annual survey of all new recipients of doctorates from US universities at graduation. The average of the response rates for the 2000–2004 surveys was 92%.   Learn more
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
The Survey is an annual assessment of the number and characteristics of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in science, engineering, and health-related fields It is conducted by the National Science Foundation.   Learn more
* Value is missing. The value shown is based on the average for other programs in the same field. Learn more.

The graduate school rankings on PhDs.org have been made possible by grants from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and The Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
The National Postdoctoral Association and The Center for Science and the Media have served as the project's fiscal sponsors.