Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at Tulane University of Louisiana

At an elite university with a 15% admission rate and median SAT of 1443, you'd expect communications graduates to outperform their peers. Instead, Tulane's program produces first-year earnings of $32,879—below both Louisiana's state median ($34,434) and nearly $7,000 under the national median. That places graduates in just the 11th percentile nationally, meaning 89% of similar programs produce better outcomes. Even within Louisiana's small market, Tulane trails Loyola and matches only the state university option.

The debt burden compounds the concern. With $30,354 in median debt—higher than both state and national medians despite the warning that these numbers come from a small sample—graduates face a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.92. That's nearly a full year's salary just to cover what they borrowed, at a school where only 9% of students receive Pell grants. The families paying full freight here aren't getting the career launch that Tulane's selectivity would suggest.

For a family considering a $300,000+ total investment at Tulane, this program doesn't deliver commensurate returns. If communications is the goal, Loyola offers similar outcomes at lower cost, or your student could pursue this degree at a public institution and save the prestige premium for graduate school where it might matter more.