Communication and Media Studies at Brown University

Brown's Communication and Media Studies program shows surprisingly weak early earnings despite the university's elite reputation—just $23,738 one year after graduation. That's $10,000 below Rhode Island's median for communication programs and lands in the bottom 5th percentile nationally. Even the lowest-ranked program in your comparison set (Salve Regina at $33,230) produces earnings 40% higher.

The bright spot is manageable debt at $10,500, well below both state and national medians. With a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.44, graduates aren't drowning financially. Still, the earnings gap is striking: Bryant University communication graduates earn nearly double what Brown graduates make in that first year. This likely reflects different career paths—Brown graduates may pursue graduate school, unpaid internships, or creative fields that pay off later—but that's speculation with a dataset this small.

The critical caveat here: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so these numbers could swing dramatically with just a few students' choices. One graduate attending law school while working part-time could skew the entire median. Before dismissing Brown outright, recognize you're looking through a very narrow window. If your child is set on media studies and Brown admits them (a 5% shot), the low debt and institutional prestige may create long-term opportunities these first-year numbers don't capture. But if maximizing early earning power matters, Rhode Island offers several stronger alternatives in this field.