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2025 Best Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in California

9 Colleges in California
579 Master's Degrees
$55,129 Avg Early-Career Salary
Communication & Media Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #44 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of communication & media studies. Combined, these schools handed out 579 master's degrees in communication & media studies to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Communication & Media Studies School for Your Master's Degree

Best Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in California Your choice of communication & media studies for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree 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.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

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 master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Communications Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Communication & Media Studies in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in communication & media studies.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Communications

1

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in communication & media studies. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the communication & media studies major at University of Southern California get $13,458 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from University of Southern California

2
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
28 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in communication & media studies needs to take a look at University of San Francisco. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from University of San Francisco

3

San Diego State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in communication & media studies. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, communications master's recipients usually earn around $50,487 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from San Diego State University

4
10 Annual Graduates

California State University - Sacramento is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in communication & media studies. Sac State is a very large public university located in the large city of Sacramento.More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from California State University - Sacramento

5

Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

Master's students who receive their degree from the communications program make around $46,382 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from California State University - Fullerton

6
14 Annual Graduates

CSUSB is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Bernardino.More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from California State University - San Bernardino

7
21 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from California State University - Los Angeles

8

CSUN is a very large public university located in the city of Northridge.

Soon after graduation, communications master's recipients generally earn around $39,920 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from California State University - Northridge

9
National University crest
National University
San Diego, CA

National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego.

After graduation, communications master's recipients usually make about $55,730 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in communication & media studies from National University

Best Communication & Media Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Communication & Media Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 183 54
Oregon 158 9
Nevada 105 18
Hawaii 85 21
Alaska 52 4

View All Rankings >

One of 5 majors within the Communication & Journalism area of study, Communication & Media Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Communications Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Other Communication & Media Studies 304
Speech Communication 231
Communications 34
Communication & Media Studies 10

Related Major Annual Graduates
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 331
Public Relations & Advertising 253
Journalism 73

Notes and References

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