Best Public Relations Specialist programs in Minnesota, ranked by enrollment
Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media.
28 schools in Minnesota run programs that feed this job, graduating 474 people a year. The job pays a median of $68,620 in Minnesota across about 8,260 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Minnesota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
8 programs in Minnesota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Minnesota (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 Minnesota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speech Communication and Rhetoricmain feeder CIP 09.0101In Minnesota → | 262 | 55.3% | 14 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Communication, Generalmain feeder CIP 09.0100In Minnesota → | 157 | 33.1% | 13 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 09.0900In Minnesota → | 26 | 5.5% | 3 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 4 | Health Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0905In Minnesota → | 10 | 2.1% | 2 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 5 | Political Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0904In Minnesota → | 8 | 1.7% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 6 | Public Relations/Image Managementmain feeder CIP 09.0902In Minnesota → | 4 | 0.8% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 7 | Business/Corporate Communications, Generalmain feeder CIP 52.0501In Minnesota → | 4 | 0.8% | 2 | $41,000 | $26,000 |
| 8 | Sports Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0906In Minnesota → | 3 | 0.6% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 25 schools in Minnesota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 19 of the 28 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN Public · 3 feeder programs | 89 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,798 | 54% | — | 88% |
| 2 | University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,706 | 65% | — | 89% |
| 3 | Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Communication, General | $46,320 | 44% | — | 99% |
| 4 | Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $50,074 | 77% | $21,607 | 61% |
| 5 | University of Minnesota - Crookston Crookston, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Communication, General | $42,458 | 50% | — | 88% |
| 6 | Hamline University Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $42,201 | 60% | $20,981 | 88% |
| 7 | Walden University Minneapolis, MN Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Communication, General | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $45,702 | 77% | $22,583 | 92% |
| 9 | Rochester Community and Technical College Rochester, MN Public · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Communication, General | $27,798 | 29% | — | — |
| 10 | Bethany Lutheran College Mankato, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Health Communication | — | 55% | $16,550 | 39% |
| 11 | Bethel University Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Communication, General | $40,019 | 71% | $25,225 | 88% |
| 12 | University of St Thomas Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $45,100 | 76% | $28,888 | 85% |
| 13 | Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, MN Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $36,172 | 57% | — | 59% |
| 14 | Winona State University Winona, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,197 | 57% | — | 75% |
| 15 | Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $36,604 | 52% | $23,585 | 82% |
| 16 | Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Communication, General | $40,279 | 40% | — | 95% |
| 17 | Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,423 | 75% | $19,900 | 91% |
| 18 | Crown College Saint Bonifacius, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Communication, General | — | 45% | $26,706 | 23% |
| 19 | University of Northwestern - St Paul Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 10 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,330 | 68% | $23,114 | 93% |
| 20 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Political Communication | — | 85% | — | 80% |
| 21 | Concordia College at Moorhead Moorhead, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Communication, General | $42,431 | 61% | $23,425 | 63% |
| 22 | Concordia University - Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 7 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | — | 46% | $17,328 | 79% |
| 23 | Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 45% | — | 62% |
| 24 | St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Communication, General | $44,606 | 61% | $21,042 | 92% |
| 25 | The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Communication, General | — | 71% | $21,150 | 93% |
All 28 schools in Minnesota
Every school in Minnesota 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota State University - Mankato | Mankato | Public | 89 | 3 |
| University of Minnesota - Duluth | Duluth | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University | Saint Paul | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Gustavus Adolphus College | Saint Peter | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| University of Minnesota - Crookston | Crookston | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Hamline University | Saint Paul | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 2 |
| Walden University | Minneapolis | Private for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| College of Saint Benedict | Saint Joseph | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 1 |
| Rochester Community and Technical College | Rochester | Public | 18 | 2 |
| Bethany Lutheran College | Mankato | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 2 |
| Bethel University | Saint Paul | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| University of St Thomas | Saint Paul | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 1 |
| Minnesota State University Moorhead | Moorhead | Public | 14 | 2 |
| Winona State University | Winona | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Augsburg University | Minneapolis | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
What public relations specialists earn in Minnesota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,750. Minnesota pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Minnesota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Minnesota
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 Public Relations Specialists page.
How to become a Public Relations Specialist
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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Minnesota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 11 majors mapped to Public Relations Specialists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0100Communication, General
- 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
- 09.0900Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- 09.0902Public Relations/Image Management
- 09.0904Political Communication
- 09.0905Health Communication
- 09.0906Sports Communication
- 09.0907International and Intercultural Communication
- 19.0202Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Communication
- 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
- 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing public relations specialists programs in Minnesota.
What degree do you need to become a Public Relations Specialist?+
Bachelor's degree 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 262 degrees in Minnesota in 2024-25, 55.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Public Relations Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Public Relations, Business/Corporate Communications. Together they graduate about 474 people a year in Minnesota.
How much do public relations specialists earn in Minnesota?+
The median is $68,620 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.2% below the U.S. median of $74,750. 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 public relations specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 27,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Minnesota?+
28 institutions in Minnesota reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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 public relations specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Communications Specialist, Public Affairs Specialist, Public Information Officer, Public Relations Specialist (PR Specialist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3031.
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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