Communication and Media Studies at Louisiana State University-Shreveport

Starting at $26,536, this program's first-year earnings land in the bottom 5% nationally for communication degrees—a concerning position that only looks marginally better within Louisiana, where it ranks at the 40th percentile. Even the state's median of $27,375 isn't encouraging, and LSU-Shreveport falls slightly below that despite competing against 18 other Louisiana programs. For context, LSU's main Baton Rouge campus produces communication grads earning $38,426, a 45% premium that suggests location and institutional resources matter significantly in this field.

The $20,299 debt load is more reasonable than the national median, but paired with such modest earnings, graduates face real financial pressure early on. That 0.76 debt-to-earnings ratio means nearly their entire first year's salary would go toward debt if they followed aggressive repayment schedules. The relatively high debt percentile (81st nationally) indicates this program leaves students with more borrowing than most peer institutions despite the lower absolute figure.

The critical caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so individual circumstances could heavily skew results. However, the pattern is hard to ignore. Unless family resources can offset early-career earnings gaps or a student has specific local connections in Shreveport's media market, more established Louisiana programs offer measurably better starting positions for similar or slightly higher debt.