Communication & Media Studies is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #24 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 555 associate degrees in communication & media studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The communications associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on communication & media studies students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of communication & media studies students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt communication & media studies students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized communication & media studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for communication & media studies students working on their associate degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Communication & Media Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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