Best Media programs in Wisconsin, ranked by enrollment
All media and communication workers not listed.
16 schools in Wisconsin run programs that feed this job, graduating 818 people a year. The job pays a median of $69,780 in Wisconsin across about 80 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Wisconsin (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 Wisconsin page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 09.0101In Wisconsin → | 540 | 66.0% | 14 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0702In Wisconsin → | 275 | 33.6% | 6 | $29,112 | $23,836 |
| 3 | CIP 10.0105In Wisconsin → | 3 | 0.4% | 1 | $24,790 | $13,494 |
Top 16 schools in Wisconsin
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 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 Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 500 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $37,286 | 90% | — | 45% |
| 2 | University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 93 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,040 | 49% | — | 91% |
| 3 | University of Wisconsin - La Crosse La Crosse, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 80 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,293 | 71% | — | 76% |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 40 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,673 | 46% | — | 87% |
| 5 | University of Wisconsin - River Falls River Falls, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,309 | 57% | — | 82% |
| 6 | University of Wisconsin - Superior Superior, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $41,371 | 42% | — | 93% |
| 7 | Northcentral Technical College Wausau, WI Public · 3 feeder programs | 15 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 45% | — | — |
| 8 | Carthage College Kenosha, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $33,580 | 64% | $22,844 | 87% |
| 9 | Saint Norbert College De Pere, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,287 | 71% | $23,319 | 86% |
| 10 | Ripon College Ripon, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 63% | $19,267 | 80% |
| 11 | Wisconsin Lutheran College Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 64% | $19,138 | 78% |
| 12 | Mount Mary University Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 43% | $18,836 | 62% |
| 13 | University of Wisconsin - Parkside Kenosha, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $37,107 | 40% | — | 75% |
| 14 | Alverno College Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 49% | $17,221 | 86% |
| 15 | University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 59% | — | 86% |
| 16 | Marian University Fond Du Lac, WI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 44% | $22,627 | 75% |
All 16 schools in Wisconsin
Every school in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin - Madison | Madison | Public | 500 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee | Milwaukee | Public | 93 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | La Crosse | Public | 80 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh | Oshkosh | Public | 40 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - River Falls | River Falls | Public | 18 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Superior | Superior | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Northcentral Technical College | Wausau | Public | 15 | 3 |
| Carthage College | Kenosha | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Saint Norbert College | De Pere | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Ripon College | Ripon | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Wisconsin Lutheran College | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Mount Mary University | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Parkside | Kenosha | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Alverno College | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Whitewater | Whitewater | Public | 2 | 1 |
What media and communication workers, all other earn in Wisconsin
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,620. Wisconsin pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin.
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 540 degrees in Wisconsin in 2024-25, 66.0% 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 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Radio, Communications Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 818 people a year in Wisconsin.
How much do media and communication workers, all other earn in Wisconsin?+
The median is $69,780 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.2% 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 Wisconsin?+
16 institutions in Wisconsin reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card