Arkansas·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-3023

Best News Analyst programs in Arkansas, ranked by enrollment

Narrate or write news stories, reviews, or commentary for print, broadcast, or other communications media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television.

13 schools in Arkansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 371 people a year. The job pays a median of $37,450 in Arkansas across about 260 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAnchorReporterNews AnchorNews ReporterCriticBloggerLeg ManAnchorman
Graduates / yr
371
in Arkansas
Median pay · Arkansas
$37,450
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
260
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
50%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,423
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arkansas that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Arkansas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arkansas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arkansas page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 09.0100In Arkansas
193
52.0%
6$34,858$25,000
2
Journalismmain feeder
CIP 09.0401In Arkansas
149
40.2%
8$34,515$24,250
3
CIP 09.0102In Arkansas
14
3.8%
2$34,858$25,000
4
CIP 09.0701In Arkansas
7
1.9%
1$29,112$23,836
5
CIP 09.0402In Arkansas
5
1.3%
1$34,515$24,250
6
CIP 09.0499In Arkansas
3
0.8%
1$34,515$24,250

Top 13 schools in Arkansas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Southeast Arkansas College
Pine Bluff, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
121Communication, General28%
2University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
70Journalism$38,35471%74%
3Arkansas State University
Jonesboro, AR Public · 4 feeder programs
32Communication, General$40,19255%82%
4Ouachita Baptist University
Arkadelphia, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
30Communication, General$34,57461%$21,32268%
5Arkansas Tech University
Russellville, AR Public · 3 feeder programs
27Journalism$32,18349%96%
6University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR Public · 2 feeder programs
25Journalism$31,91154%89%
7University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Little Rock, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
24Journalism42%59%
8University of the Ozarks
Clarksville, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Mass Communication/Media Studies51%$13,60860%
9University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
11Journalism$27,25940%41%
10Harding University
Searcy, AR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Journalism69%$19,42371%
11University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
Fort Smith, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
6Communication, General$28,95138%80%
12Southern Arkansas University Main Campus
Magnolia, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
4Journalism49%75%
13Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR Public · 1 feeder programs
3Communication, General37%

All 13 schools in Arkansas

Every school in Arkansas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arkansas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Southeast Arkansas CollegePine BluffPublic1211
University of ArkansasFayettevillePublic701
Arkansas State UniversityJonesboroPublic324
Ouachita Baptist UniversityArkadelphiaPrivate not-for-profit301
Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellvillePublic273
University of Central ArkansasConwayPublic252
University of Arkansas at Little RockLittle RockPublic241
University of the OzarksClarksvillePrivate not-for-profit121
University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine BluffPublic111
Harding UniversitySearcyPrivate not-for-profit61
University of Arkansas - Fort SmithFort SmithPublic61
Southern Arkansas University Main CampusMagnoliaPublic41
Henderson State UniversityArkadelphiaPublic31

What news analysts, reporters, and journalists earn in Arkansas

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arkansas
$37,450
Mean annual
$40,310
Jobs in state
260
What the range looks like
10th pct$29,430Median$37,45090th pct$65,490
Versus the national median
-39.8%

U.S. median $62,200. Arkansas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.77×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Arkansas

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
$37,750median
90 jobs
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
$34,570median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-3.9%
Decline
Openings per year
4,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,900
49,300 → 47,400
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists page.

How to become a News Analyst

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

SpeakingReading ComprehensionWritingActive ListeningCritical ThinkingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arkansas

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 14 majors mapped to News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists13 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 01.0802Agricultural Communication/Journalism
  • 09.0100Communication, General
  • 09.0102Mass Communication/Media Studies
  • 09.0401Journalism
  • 09.0402Broadcast Journalism
  • 09.0404Photojournalism
  • 09.0405Business and Economic Journalism(no graduates reported)
  • 09.0406Cultural Journalism
  • 09.0407Science/Health/Environmental Journalism
  • 09.0499Journalism, Other
  • 09.0701Radio and Television
  • 09.0904Political Communication
  • 09.0906Sports Communication
  • 09.0907International and Intercultural Communication

Common questions

Answers for people weighing news analysts, reporters, and journalists programs in Arkansas.

What degree do you need to become a News Analyst?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Communication, General, which awarded 193 degrees in Arkansas in 2024-25, 52.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a News Analyst?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Journalism, Radio. Together they graduate about 371 people a year in Arkansas.

How much do news analysts, reporters, and journalists earn in Arkansas?+

The median is $37,450 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 39.8% below the U.S. median of $62,200. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for news analysts, reporters, and journalists growing?+

BLS projects a -3.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 4,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arkansas?+

13 institutions in Arkansas reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do news analysts, reporters, and journalists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Anchor, Reporter, News Anchor, News Reporter among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3023.

News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaPennsylvaniaNorth CarolinaIllinoisMassachusetts

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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