2025 Best Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in California
Communication & Journalism is about average in terms of popularity for master's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #15 out of the 37 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 12 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,236 master's degrees in communication & journalism during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Communication & Journalism School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of communication & journalism 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
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 for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
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
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to communication & journalism students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of communication & journalism students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
- 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 much debt communication & journalism students go into to obtain their master's 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 & journalism related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for communication & journalism students working on their master's 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 & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.