Best programs to become a public relations specialist in Pennsylvania
76 Pennsylvania schools offer programs that train public relations specialists, graduating 1,406 people a year. Public relations specialists in Pennsylvania earn a median of $57,460 across about 11,180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for public relations specialists. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Pennsylvania are Speech Communication and Rhetoric; Communication; and Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (IPEDS completions).
Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media.
9 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (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 Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speech Communication and Rhetoricmain feeder CIP 09.0101In Pennsylvania → | 704 | 50.1% | 36 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Communication, Generalmain feeder CIP 09.0100In Pennsylvania → | 338 | 24.0% | 22 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 09.0900In Pennsylvania → | 128 | 9.1% | 10 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 4 | Public Relations/Image Managementmain feeder CIP 09.0902In Pennsylvania → | 83 | 5.9% | 6 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 5 | Business/Corporate Communications, Generalmain feeder CIP 52.0501In Pennsylvania → | 74 | 5.3% | 14 | $41,000 | $26,000 |
| 6 | Sports Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0906In Pennsylvania → | 64 | 4.6% | 8 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 7 | CIP 09.0907In Pennsylvania → | 11 | 0.8% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 8 | Health Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0905In Pennsylvania → | 3 | 0.2% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 9 | Political Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0904In Pennsylvania → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 25 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 32 of the 76 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova University Villanova, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 154 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $52,294 | 92% | $33,774 | 27% |
| 2 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 74 | Communication, General | $35,840 | 66% | — | 71% |
| 3 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 72 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,181 | 86% | — | 61% |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State University - World Campus University Park, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 72 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $50,587 | 34% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 60 | Public Relations/Image Management | $41,165 | 75% | — | 80% |
| 6 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 56 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $29,858 | 56% | — | 91% |
| 7 | Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 55 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,024 | 79% | $34,418 | 89% |
| 8 | Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 49 | Communication, General | $31,419 | 54% | — | 93% |
| 9 | Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 43 | Communication, General | $35,957 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 10 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 42 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $37,125 | 78% | $36,004 | 79% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania Western University California, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 38 | Communication, General | $31,298 | 52% | — | 94% |
| 12 | Grove City College Grove City, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 32 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 83% | — | 72% |
| 13 | Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 31 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $35,999 | 58% | — | 86% |
| 14 | Montgomery County Community College Blue Bell, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 31 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 28% | — | — |
| 15 | La Salle University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 28 | Communication, General | $36,037 | 57% | $21,997 | 97% |
| 16 | Susquehanna University Selinsgrove, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 28 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $36,632 | 82% | $23,620 | 81% |
| 17 | Delaware County Community College Media, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 26 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 24% | — | — |
| 18 | Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 26 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $33,275 | 77% | $32,060 | 84% |
| 19 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Abington Abington, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 25 | Business/Corporate Communications, General | — | 20% | — | 97% |
| 20 | Point Park University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 24 | Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | $32,495 | 59% | $23,704 | 97% |
| 21 | East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $29,963 | 43% | — | 92% |
| 22 | Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Communication, General | $25,889 | 69% | $21,124 | 62% |
| 23 | Northampton County Area Community College Bethlehem, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 19 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $30,471 | 24% | — | — |
| 24 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Harrisburg Middletown, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 19 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 26% | — | 98% |
| 25 | Lehigh Carbon Community College Schnecksville, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 18 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 30% | — | — |
All 76 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villanova University | Villanova | Private not-for-profit | 154 | 2 |
| Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | Slippery Rock | Public | 74 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus | University Park | Public | 72 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State University - World Campus | University Park | Public | 72 | 3 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Public | 60 | 2 |
| Indiana University of Pennsylvania | Indiana | Public | 56 | 1 |
| Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 55 | 1 |
| Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania | Bloomsburg | Public | 49 | 1 |
| Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | Kutztown | Public | 43 | 2 |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 42 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania Western University | California | Public | 38 | 3 |
| Grove City College | Grove City | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| Millersville University of Pennsylvania | Millersville | Public | 31 | 1 |
| Montgomery County Community College | Blue Bell | Public | 31 | 2 |
| La Salle University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 28 | 1 |
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What public relations specialists earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,750. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
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 and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Public Relations Specialists page.
How to become a public relations specialist
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania.
What degree do you need to become a public relations specialist?+
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for public relations specialists. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Pennsylvania are Speech Communication and Rhetoric; Communication; and Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a public relations specialist?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Pennsylvania are Speech Communication and Rhetoric; Communication; and Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (IPEDS completions). In all, 9 feeder programs graduate about 1,406 people a year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions).
How much do public relations specialists earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $57,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 23.1% 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 Pennsylvania?+
76 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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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