Communication and Media Studies at Saint Johns University

Saint John's communication graduates face a reality that many parents won't expect: their first-year earnings of $40,423 exactly match Minnesota's median for the field, despite the program ranking in the 79th percentile nationally. This tells you more about Minnesota's competitive communications market than about the program's exceptional performance. More concerning, Saint John's trails significantly behind the top five Minnesota programs—Gustavus Adolphus and several others place graduates earning $45,000 to $50,000, a difference of roughly $5,000 to $10,000 annually that compounds over a career.

The financial picture looks manageable at first glance: $27,000 in debt against $40,000+ earnings gives your child a reasonable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.67. That's actually better than most communications programs nationally, where graduates often leave with $25,000 in debt but earn only $35,000. However, the small sample size here (under 30 graduates) means a few high earners could be skewing these numbers upward—there's real uncertainty about whether your child would hit this median.

If your student is set on communications and prefers Saint John's campus culture, the debt load won't be crushing. But if maximizing early-career earnings matters, the gap between Saint John's and Minnesota's top-performing programs suggests looking at those alternatives first. At a 90% admission rate, Saint John's is accessible, but that accessibility doesn't translate into standout employment outcomes in this particular major.