Mississippi·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-1122

Best Communications Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Mississippi, ranked by enrollment

Teach courses in communications, such as organizational communications, public relations, radio/television broadcasting, and journalism.

16 schools in Mississippi run programs that feed this job, graduating 698 people a year. The job pays a median of $61,290 in Mississippi across about 180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProfessorInstructorCommunication ProfessorCommunication InstructorLecturerSpeech TeacherAdjunct LecturerSpeech Professor
Graduates / yr
698
in Mississippi
Median pay · Mississippi
$61,290
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
180
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
48%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,069
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Mississippi that lead to this job

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

10 programs in Mississippi that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Mississippi (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 Mississippi page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1306
43.8%
2$29,112$23,836
2181
25.9%
6$34,858$25,000
380
11.5%
4$34,515$24,250
452
7.4%
3$34,858$25,000
549
7.0%
2$39,658$24,500
614
2.0%
3$39,658$24,500
711
1.6%
2$34,858$25,000
83
0.4%
1$39,658$24,500
91
0.1%
1$29,112$23,836
101
0.1%
1$39,658$24,500

Top 16 schools in Mississippi

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Mississippi
University, MS Public · 3 feeder programs
398Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia$41,24772%97%
2Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
119Speech Communication and Rhetoric$31,81267%78%
3University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS Public · 3 feeder programs
52Speech Communication and Rhetoric49%99%
4Mississippi Christian University
Clinton, MS Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs
32Speech Communication and Rhetoric$36,94959%$21,09629%
5Jackson State University
Jackson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
31Mass Communication/Media Studies$24,23551%93%
6Alcorn State University
Alcorn State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
12Mass Communication/Media Studies$27,08757%45%
7Itawamba Community College
Fulton, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
12Journalism50%
8Tougaloo College
Tougaloo, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Mass Communication/Media Studies33%$19,06960%
9Holmes Community College
Goodman, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
7Communication, General39%
10Mississippi University for Women
Columbus, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
6Speech Communication and Rhetoric47%90%
11Mississippi Valley State University
Itta Bena, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
6Public Relations/Image Management27%92%
12Belhaven University
Jackson, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication49%$22,47650%
13Copiah - Lincoln Community College
Wesson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
4Communication, General50%
14East Mississippi Community College
Scooba, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
2Speech Communication and Rhetoric48%
15William Carey University
Hattiesburg, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Speech Communication and Rhetoric60%$17,20560%
16Rust College
Holly Springs, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Journalism$24,97712%$8,71149%

All 16 schools in Mississippi

Every school in Mississippi 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 Mississippi that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of MississippiUniversityPublic3983
Mississippi State UniversityMississippi StatePublic1191
University of Southern MississippiHattiesburgPublic523
Mississippi Christian UniversityClintonPrivate not-for-profit325
Jackson State UniversityJacksonPublic311
Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn StatePublic121
Itawamba Community CollegeFultonPublic122
Tougaloo CollegeTougalooPrivate not-for-profit91
Holmes Community CollegeGoodmanPublic71
Mississippi University for WomenColumbusPublic61
Mississippi Valley State UniversityItta BenaPublic61
Belhaven UniversityJacksonPrivate not-for-profit51
Copiah - Lincoln Community CollegeWessonPublic41
East Mississippi Community CollegeScoobaPublic21
William Carey UniversityHattiesburgPrivate not-for-profit21

What communications teachers, postsecondary earn in Mississippi

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

Median annual in Mississippi
$61,290
Mean annual
$61,510
Jobs in state
180
What the range looks like
10th pct$31,600Median$61,29090th pct$78,730
Versus the national median
-22.0%

U.S. median $78,580. Mississippi pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.84×

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

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.1%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
2,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
800
35,800 → 36,600
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional 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 Communications Teachers, Postsecondary page.

How to become a Communications Teacher, Postsecondary

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

Active ListeningReading ComprehensionSpeakingActive LearningLearning StrategiesWriting

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Mississippi

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 23 majors mapped to Communications Teachers, Postsecondary22 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0100Communication, General
  • 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
  • 09.0102Mass Communication/Media Studies
  • 09.0401Journalism
  • 09.0402Broadcast Journalism
  • 09.0405Business and Economic Journalism(no graduates reported)
  • 09.0406Cultural Journalism
  • 09.0407Science/Health/Environmental Journalism
  • 09.0499Journalism, Other
  • 09.0701Radio and Television
  • 09.0702Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia
  • 09.0900Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
  • 09.0902Public Relations/Image Management
  • 09.0903Advertising
  • 09.0904Political Communication
  • 09.0905Health Communication
  • 09.0906Sports Communication
  • 09.0907International and Intercultural Communication
  • 09.0908Technical and Scientific Communication
  • 09.9999Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other
  • 50.0607Documentary Production
  • 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
  • 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing communications teachers, postsecondary programs in Mississippi.

What degree do you need to become a Communications Teacher, Postsecondary?+

Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia, which awarded 306 degrees in Mississippi in 2024-25, 43.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Communications Teacher, Postsecondary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 10 programs to this occupation. The largest are Radio, Communication and Media Studies, Journalism, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 698 people a year in Mississippi.

How much do communications teachers, postsecondary earn in Mississippi?+

The median is $61,290 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.0% below the U.S. median of $78,580. 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 communications teachers, postsecondary growing?+

BLS projects a +2.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

16 institutions in Mississippi reported graduates from at least one of the 10 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 communications teachers, postsecondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Communication Professor, Communication Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1122.

Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaPennsylvaniaIllinoisArizonaOhio

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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