Communication and Media Studies at Randolph College

In Virginia, communication and media studies programs span a remarkable range—from DeVry's $47,622 first-year median down to the $36,220 state average that serves as the baseline for Randolph's estimated outcomes. That's where the challenge becomes clear: the estimated $26,488 in debt represents about nine months of first-year earnings, which isn't catastrophic but leaves little margin for error when competing programs in the state appear to place graduates at significantly higher starting salaries.

The 0.73 debt-to-earnings ratio sits right at the threshold of manageable, assuming those estimated figures hold true. But without actual graduate data from Randolph's program specifically, parents are essentially betting that this small liberal arts college can match the typical Virginia outcomes despite serving a different student population (41% Pell-eligible, 95% admission rate) than some of the comparison schools. The estimated earnings do slightly exceed the national median of $34,959, but they trail the top-performing Virginia programs by $10,000 or more annually—a gap that compounds over a career.

The practical question is whether Randolph's smaller environment and personal attention justify accepting estimated outcomes at the state median level when larger public universities in Virginia appear to produce stronger employment results in this field. For families taking on over $26,000 in debt, the lack of program-specific data means you're making this decision without knowing how Randolph's graduates actually fare.