Best Public Relations Specialist programs in Washington, 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.
14 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 852 people a year. The job pays a median of $87,470 in Washington across about 6,430 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Washington that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speech Communication and Rhetoricmain feeder CIP 09.0101In Washington → | 642 | 75.4% | 10 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Public Relations/Image Managementmain feeder CIP 09.0902In Washington → | 94 | 11.0% | 4 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 3 | CIP 09.0900In Washington → | 61 | 7.2% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 4 | Communication, Generalmain feeder CIP 09.0100In Washington → | 43 | 5.0% | 3 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 5 | Health Communicationmain feeder CIP 09.0905In Washington → | 12 | 1.4% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 14 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 307 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $44,638 | 85% | — | 39% |
| 2 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 4 feeder programs | 142 | Public Relations/Image Management | $45,820 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 3 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 106 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $37,782 | 43% | — | 91% |
| 4 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,857 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 5 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 43 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $37,799 | 86% | $30,006 | 82% |
| 6 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $33,970 | 69% | $19,944 | 78% |
| 7 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Communication, General | $35,820 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 8 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,316 | 76% | $31,900 | 77% |
| 9 | University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $29,477 | 68% | $35,057 | 72% |
| 10 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,305 | 71% | $23,510 | 90% |
| 11 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $32,260 | 62% | $24,653 | 83% |
| 12 | Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Communication, General | — | 52% | $22,131 | 90% |
| 13 | Northwest University Kirkland, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Communication, General | — | 71% | $21,433 | 83% |
| 14 | Walla Walla University College Place, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Public Relations/Image Management | — | 60% | $22,260 | — |
All 14 schools in Washington
Every school in Washington 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 Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle | Public | 307 | 1 |
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 142 | 4 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 106 | 1 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 101 | 1 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 2 |
| Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 1 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 27 | 2 |
| Seattle University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| University of Puget Sound | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Whitworth University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 1 |
| Seattle Pacific University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Saint Martin's University | Lacey | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 1 |
| Northwest University | Kirkland | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 1 |
| Walla Walla University | College Place | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
What public relations specialists earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,750. Washington pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Washington
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 Washington
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 Washington.
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 642 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 75.4% 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 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 852 people a year in Washington.
How much do public relations specialists earn in Washington?+
The median is $87,470 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.0% above 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 Washington?+
14 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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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