Advertising Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Advertising maps to BLS occupations averaging about $98,209, with roughly 423,870 workers nationwide in those roles. About 3,919 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $9,998.
Key Statistics
Advertising: what the data shows
Common questions about advertising degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a advertising degree?
A Advertising program is classified under NCES CIP 09.0903 in the Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication field family (09.09).
A program that focuses on the creation, execution, transmission, and evaluation of commercial messages in various media intended to promote and sell products, services, and brands; and that prepares individuals to function as advertising assistants, technicians, and managers. Includes instruction in advertising theory, marketing strategy, advertising design and production methods, campaign methods and techniques, media management, related principles of business management, and applicable technical and equipment skills
IPEDS counted 3,919 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of advertising degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 09.09 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Communication Management and Strategic Communications (CIP 09.0909)
- Health Communication (CIP 09.0905)
- International and Intercultural Communication (CIP 09.0907)
- Organizational Communication, General (CIP 09.0901)
- Political Communication (CIP 09.0904)
- Public Relations (CIP 09.0902)
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (CIP 09.0902)
- Sports Communication (CIP 09.0906)
- Technical and Scientific Communication (CIP 09.0908)
How long does it take to get a advertising degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 09.0903 in our file:
- 46 Associate (1.1% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 3,919 Bachelor's (93.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 242 Master's (5.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Public Relations Specialists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 09.0903, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a advertising degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Advertising to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Public Relations Specialists | 280,590 | $69,780 |
| Editors | 95,480 | $75,260 |
| Writers and Authors | 47,800 | $72,270 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a advertising degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication bachelor's program family: median debt $44,806, median earnings $63,560 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.12.
About 3.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $9,998 and median net price is $19,376.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Advertising and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$9,998 Median In-State Public
$39,275 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Advertising majors are, on average, $9,998 for in-state public colleges, and $39,275 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Advertising programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Advertising from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Advertising.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Advertising programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irvine Valley College | CA | $1,156 |
| 2 | Santa Monica College | CA | $1,156 |
| 3 | Santa Monica College | CA | $1,156 |
| 4 | Santiago Canyon College | CA | $1,164 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Harbor College | CA | $1,238 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Advertising programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macomb Community College | MI | $1,618 |
| 2 | Macomb Community College | MI | $1,618 |
| 3 | West Virginia University at Parkersburg | WV | $1,807 |
| 4 | Irvine Valley College | CA | $2,090 |
| 5 | Santiago Canyon College | CA | $2,129 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Advertising programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Advertising programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Advertising is in TX (667 completions). That state represents about 17.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is OR (0.55% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 667 | 17.0% | 0.23% |
| MI | 488 | 12.4% | 0.43% |
| FL | 480 | 12.2% | 0.21% |
| OR | 243 | 6.2% | 0.55% |
| NY | 241 | 6.2% | 0.09% |
| IL | 215 | 5.5% | 0.15% |
| MA | 195 | 5.0% | 0.15% |
| PA | 162 | 4.1% | 0.10% |
| GA | 157 | 4.0% | 0.14% |
| TN | 107 | 2.7% | 0.14% |
| UT | 103 | 2.6% | 0.10% |
| AL | 87 | 2.2% | 0.13% |
| NJ | 85 | 2.2% | 0.10% |
| SC | 81 | 2.1% | 0.15% |
| NC | 80 | 2.0% | 0.07% |
| CA | 77 | 2.0% | 0.02% |
| OK | 73 | 1.9% | 0.17% |
| IN | 53 | 1.4% | 0.05% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 09.09 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Communication Management and Strategic Communications CIP 09.0909
- Health Communication CIP 09.0905
- International and Intercultural Communication CIP 09.0907
- Organizational Communication, General CIP 09.0901
- Political Communication CIP 09.0904
- Public Relations CIP 09.0902
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication CIP 09.0902
- Sports Communication CIP 09.0906
- Technical and Scientific Communication CIP 09.0908
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 09.0903 in the survey year used in our extract (4,207 total across levels below).
- 46 Associate (1.1% of IPEDS total)
- 3,919 Bachelor's (93.2% of IPEDS total)
- 242 Master's (5.8% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $98,209. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Advertising graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Public Relations Specialists | $95,096 | 280,590 |
| Editors | $106,703 | 95,480 |
| Writers and Authors | $99,513 | 47,800 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication CIP family (86 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Advertising graduate.
- $44,806 median federal loan debt among completers
- $63,560 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.12 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$98,209 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Advertising majors is $98,209.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Advertising majors.
Occupations by Share
423,870 2023 Workforce
The number of Advertising graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Advertising by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Advertising in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Advertising.
Age distribution for Advertising degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
3,919 Total Degrees Awarded
1,286 Male (32.81%)
2,633 Female (67.19%)
Gender distribution of Advertising degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
2,343 White (59.79%)
683 Hispanic or Latino (17.43%)
236 Asian (6.02%)
231 Black or African American (5.89%)
180 Two or More Races (4.59%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Advertising degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Advertising are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Advertising.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Advertising field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Advertising majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Advertising majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Advertising majors.
About
A program that focuses on the creation, execution, transmission, and evaluation of commercial messages in various media intended to promote and sell products, services, and brands; and that prepares individuals to function as advertising assistants, technicians, and managers. Includes instruction in advertising theory, marketing strategy, advertising design and production methods, campaign methods and techniques, media management, related principles of business management, and applicable technical and equipment skills
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Advertising.
CIP Code
09.0903 - Advertising
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $44,806 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $63,560, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.12. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Advertising graduate.
Women earned 67.8% of 4,308 Advertising completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $98,209. The largest mapped role by headcount is Public Relations Specialists (280,590 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $9,998 in-state at public colleges and $39,275 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.