Best Media programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment
All media and communication workers not listed.
16 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 591 people a year. The job pays a median of $39,050 in Kentucky across about 40 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Kentucky that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Kentucky that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Kentucky (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 Kentucky page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 09.0101In Kentucky → | 567 | 95.9% | 13 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0702In Kentucky → | 24 | 4.1% | 5 | $29,112 | $23,836 |
Top 16 schools in Kentucky
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 16 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 246 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,311 | 71% | — | 93% |
| 2 | University of Louisville Louisville, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,219 | 61% | — | 79% |
| 3 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,637 | 52% | — | 68% |
| 4 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY Public · 2 feeder programs | 40 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $33,955 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 5 | Bellarmine University Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 37 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,858 | 64% | $22,542 | 86% |
| 6 | University of the Cumberlands Williamsburg, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $27,754 | 50% | $11,672 | 99% |
| 7 | Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,429 | 50% | — | 78% |
| 8 | Transylvania University Lexington, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 71% | $21,881 | 87% |
| 9 | Lindsey Wilson University Columbia, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $25,549 | 44% | $14,471 | — |
| 10 | University of Pikeville Pikeville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 42% | $13,886 | — |
| 11 | Morehead State University Morehead, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $26,803 | 52% | — | 77% |
| 12 | Kentucky Wesleyan College Owensboro, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 47% | $36,525 | 72% |
| 13 | Kentucky State University Frankfort, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 32% | — | 96% |
| 14 | Asbury University Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $25,879 | 65% | $19,816 | 63% |
| 15 | Murray State University Murray, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $28,041 | 61% | — | 86% |
| 16 | Spalding University Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 52% | $23,661 | 99% |
All 16 schools in Kentucky
Every school in Kentucky 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Kentucky | Lexington | Public | 246 | 1 |
| University of Louisville | Louisville | Public | 101 | 1 |
| Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green | Public | 40 | 2 |
| Bellarmine University | Louisville | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 2 |
| University of the Cumberlands | Williamsburg | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Transylvania University | Lexington | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| Lindsey Wilson University | Columbia | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| University of Pikeville | Pikeville | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 1 |
| Morehead State University | Morehead | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Kentucky Wesleyan College | Owensboro | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Kentucky State University | Frankfort | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Asbury University | Wilmore | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Murray State University | Murray | Public | 1 | 1 |
What media and communication workers, all other earn in Kentucky
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,620. Kentucky pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 Kentucky
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 Kentucky.
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 567 degrees in Kentucky in 2024-25, 95.9% 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 591 people a year in Kentucky.
How much do media and communication workers, all other earn in Kentucky?+
The median is $39,050 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 47.0% below 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 Kentucky?+
16 institutions in Kentucky 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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