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2025 Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools

52 Colleges in the United States
3,154 Bachelor's Degrees
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #105 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 52 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,154 bachelor's degrees in public relations, advertising, & applied communication to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools Your choice of public relations, advertising, & applied communication for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality public relations, advertising, and applied communication program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this 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.

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 public relations, advertising, & applied communication students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The public relations, advertising, and applied communication school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication

1
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
27 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Michigan State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication. Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of East Lansing.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Michigan State University

2
68 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication needs to look into Washington State University. Wazzu is a fairly large public university located in the town of Pullman.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Washington State University

3
11 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication has to take a look at Pepperdine University. Pepperdine is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Malibu.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Pepperdine University

4
154 Annual Graduates

University of Nebraska - Lincoln is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication. Located in the large city of Lincoln, UNL is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
150 Annual Graduates

TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Texas Christian University

6
Ithaca crest
Ithaca College
Ithaca, NY
58 Annual Graduates

Located in the small suburb of Ithaca, Ithaca is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Ithaca College

7
Emerson crest
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
10 Annual Graduates

Emerson is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Boston.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Emerson College

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
411 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Boulder, CU - Boulder is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from University of Colorado Boulder

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from Ball State University

10
130 Annual Graduates

UH is a fairly large public university located in the city of Houston.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication from University of Houston

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Chapman University Orange, CA
12 Bradley University Peoria, IL
13 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
14 Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI
15 Susquehanna University Selinsgrove, PA
16 University of South Florida - Main Campus Tampa, FL
17 University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR

Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication by Region

View the Best Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication is one of 10 different types of Public Relations & Advertising programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Advertising 3,873
Public Relations 3,855
General Organizational Communication 1,289
Communication Management and Strategic Communications 1,270
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication 1,215
Sports Communication 758
Health Communication 122
Political Communication 67
Technical & Scientific Communication 60
International & Intercultural Communication 52

Notes and References

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