Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at Lindenwood University

Lindenwood's communications program starts graduates at $32,000—roughly $8,000 below the Missouri median and $20,000 below what similar grads earn at Webster University down the road. That 5th percentile national ranking isn't a typo: this program lands near the bottom for first-year earnings among 461 schools offering this degree. While earnings do grow 20% to $38,249 by year four, graduates still trail the Missouri median by that point.

The debt picture offers a thin silver lining. At $27,000, it's manageable relative to earnings (0.84 ratio), and actually sits above both state and national medians for this field. But graduating with average debt into below-average earnings creates a squeeze: these graduates are earning less than peers across Missouri while carrying comparable or slightly higher loan burdens. Every other major public university in Missouri delivers better starting salaries in this field, most by $7,000-$8,000.

For a communications degree, this represents a weak starting position in the job market. Unless Lindenwood offers specific connections or opportunities your child can't access elsewhere—and you've verified those claims with recent alumni—Missouri's public universities deliver substantially better value in this major, with similar admission profiles and lower price tags.