Communication and Media Studies at Ashland University

The $2,625 debt figure at Ashland is exceptional—among the lowest in the nation for communications programs—but the earnings data reveals a serious problem. At $25,465, first-year earnings rank in just the 5th percentile nationally and sit nearly $10,000 below Ohio's median for this major. Even compared to Ashland's own in-state peers, where Ohio State grads earn $41,232 and Cincinnati grads make $41,138, this program significantly underperforms. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.10 looks attractive on paper, but that's primarily because students are graduating with minimal loans, not because they're commanding competitive salaries.

For Ohio families, this creates a difficult calculation. While your child would avoid the debt burden that plagues many communications graduates nationally (where $25,000 in loans is typical), they'd be starting their career earning 29% less than the typical Ohio communications graduate. That $10,000 annual earnings gap compounds quickly—it's roughly $50,000 in lost income over five years compared to state averages.

The low debt makes this less risky than high-debt, low-earning programs, but parents should recognize that Ashland's communications program isn't positioning graduates competitively in Ohio's job market. If your child is set on communications and needs to minimize debt, this won't create a financial crisis. But if career earnings matter, stronger Ohio programs deliver substantially better outcomes.