Best Media programs in California, ranked by enrollment
All media and communication workers not listed.
155 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 8,676 people a year. The job pays a median of $102,630 in California across about 9,940 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (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 California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 09.0101In California → | 8,056 | 92.9% | 143 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0702In California → | 620 | 7.1% | 19 | $29,112 | $23,836 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 30 of the 155 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 548 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,120 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 507 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $47,651 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 351 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,172 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 4 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 350 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $37,773 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 5 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 336 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,304 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 6 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 244 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $30,794 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 7 | Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 242 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 34% | — | — |
| 8 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 198 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 9 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 171 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,790 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 10 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 166 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 36% | — | — |
| 11 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 165 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 53% | — | 91% |
| 12 | Long Beach City College Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 162 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 30% | — | — |
| 13 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 139 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $32,408 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 14 | Bakersfield College Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 136 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 21% | — | — |
| 15 | Cerritos College Norwalk, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 130 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 31% | — | — |
| 16 | California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 122 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $36,310 | 55% | — | 95% |
| 17 | Chaffey College Rancho Cucamonga, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 122 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 36% | — | — |
| 18 | Saddleback College Mission Viejo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 122 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 48% | — | — |
| 19 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 118 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $32,852 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 20 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 111 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $41,113 | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 21 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 104 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $62,183 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 22 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 103 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $51,720 | 88% | $44,094 | 48% |
| 23 | California State University - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 98 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 50% | — | 94% |
| 24 | California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 92 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $35,722 | 48% | — | 97% |
| 25 | Allan Hancock College Santa Maria, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 26% | — | — |
All 155 schools in California
Every school in California 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 548 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 507 | 2 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 351 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 350 | 1 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 336 | 1 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 244 | 1 |
| Santa Barbara City College | Santa Barbara | Public | 242 | 1 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 198 | 1 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | Public | 171 | 1 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 166 | 1 |
| California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 165 | 1 |
| Long Beach City College | Long Beach | Public | 162 | 1 |
| California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Public | 139 | 1 |
| Bakersfield College | Bakersfield | Public | 136 | 1 |
| Cerritos College | Norwalk | Public | 130 | 1 |
What media and communication workers, all other earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,620. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 Media and Communication Workers, All Other page.
How to become a Media
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Media and Communication Workers, All Other3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
- 09.0702Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia
- 10.0105Communications Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing media and communication workers, all other programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Media?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Speech Communication and Rhetoric, which awarded 8,056 degrees in California in 2024-25, 92.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Media?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Radio. Together they graduate about 8,676 people a year in California.
How much do media and communication workers, all other earn in California?+
The median is $102,630 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 39.4% above the U.S. median of $73,620. 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 media and communication workers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +2.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
155 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Short-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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