Ranked #24 in popularity, communication & media studies is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for communication & media studies students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 108 associate degrees in communication & media studies during the 2021-2022 academic year.
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to communication & media studies students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other communication & media studies students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for communication & media studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
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 colleges for communication & media studies students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Communication & Media Studies Schools
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 Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Communication & Media Studies in the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in communication & media studies.
Top Great Lakes Region Schools for an Associate in Communications
It is difficult to beat Sinclair Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in communication & media studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Dayton, Sinclair Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, communications associate recipients typically earn about $32,284 at the beginning of their careers.
It is difficult to beat University of Cincinnati - Blue Ash College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in communication & media studies. Located in the suburb of Blue Ash, UC Blue Ash College is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.
Associate recipients from the communication & media studies major at University of Cincinnati - Blue Ash College make $2,161 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
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