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2025 Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

12 Colleges in California
715 Bachelor's Degrees
$40,442 Avg Early-Career Salary
Public Relations & Advertising is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #32 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 12 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 715 bachelor's degrees in public relations & advertising to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

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

Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of public relations & advertising for getting your bachelor'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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's 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:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public relations & advertising students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Relations Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Relations & Advertising Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Relations & Advertising in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Relations

1
77 Annual Graduates
$50,041 Median Starting Salary
$46,000 Median Student Debt

University of Southern California is a great decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Those public relations & advertising students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Southern California earn $9,599 more than the average public relations grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from University of Southern California

2
127 Annual Graduates
$45,988 Median Starting Salary
$79,119 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising needs to take a look at Pepperdine University. Located in the suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Public Relations & Advertising bachelor's degree recipients from Pepperdine University earn a boost of approximately $5,546 over the typical earnings of public relations & advertising graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Pepperdine University

3
43 Annual Graduates
$40,141 Median Starting Salary
$61,807 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat Chapman University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising. Chapman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Orange.

Soon after graduating, public relations bachelor's recipients usually earn around $40,141 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Chapman University

4
41 Annual Graduates
$44,197 Median Starting Salary
$22,098 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in public relations & advertising needs to take a look at San Diego State University. SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego.

Bachelor's recipients from the public relations & advertising major at San Diego State University earn $3,755 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from San Diego State University

5
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

USFCA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program state that they receive average early career income of $37,856.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from University of San Francisco

6
33 Annual Graduates

Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Azusa.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Azusa Pacific University

7
33 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Thousand Oaks, CLU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from California Lutheran University

8

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program state that they receive average early career wages of $28,226.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from California State University - Long Beach

9
Biola crest
Biola University
La Mirada, CA

Located in the large suburb of La Mirada, Biola is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program state that they receive average early career income of $36,319.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from Biola University

10

CSUDH is a fairly large public university located in the city of Carson.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public relations program report average early career income of $38,798.

More information about a bachelor’s in public relations & advertising from California State University - Dominguez Hills

Best Public Relations & Advertising Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Public Relations & Advertising Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 358
Oregon 185 621

View All Rankings >

Public Relations & Advertising is one of 5 different types of Communication & Journalism programs to choose from.

Public Relations Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Public Relations 280
Advertising 126
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication 109
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication 58
Communication Management and Strategic Communications 55
Health Communication 43
General Organizational Communication 40
International & Intercultural Communication 3
Political Communication 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 7,332
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 1,225
Journalism 1,039
Communication & Journalism (Other) 10
Publishing 1

Notes and References

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