Journalism, Public Relations and Communication

⚠⚠⚠ One family, and the two ends are moving in opposite directions. Journalism is 292 bachelor's a year at 5 Florida institutions into an occupation BLS projects to DECLINE 6%. Public relations, advertising and general communication together produce roughly 2,350 a year into occupations that are growing. ⚠⚠ Same writing, same degree family, very different markets.

The degrees this program covers

⚠⚠ THE SIZE DIFFERENCE IS THE FIRST THING TO SEE. Journalism (09.0401) is 5 Florida public institutions and 292 credentials, every one a bachelor's — UF 176, UCF 55, FAMU 54. ⚠ Against that: Communication General (09.0101) 6 institutions and 1,111 credentials with 1,071 bachelor's; the public relations and advertising family (09.09) 1,241 across its three codes — Public Relations and Applied Communication 601, Advertising 341, Public Relations/Image Management 299. ⚠⚠ Roughly 2,350 communication credentials against 292 journalism ones, and the occupational data points the same way: 314,500 public relations specialists with 23,000 annual openings against 47,100 journalists with 3,400. ⚠⚠⚠ THAT IS NOT AN ARGUMENT AGAINST STUDYING JOURNALISM — the reporting and verification training is the best writing education in this family and it travels — but it is an argument for knowing where the jobs are before choosing the major. ⚠ NUMBERING TO WATCH: Basic Reporting is JOU1100 at 7 institutions, ALL state colleges, while Journalistic Writing and Reporting is JOU2100 at 8 (3 state colleges, 5 universities), with NO overlap. Media Planning is ADV3300 at 4 universities and ADV4300 at 4 others, again with no overlap. ⚠ All are lower or upper division consistently within each pair, so no baccalaureate credit is at risk — the cost is transfer matching. Send syllabi.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Journalist, PR Specialist and Communicator

⚠⚠⚠ Two occupations, one degree family, opposite directions. Journalists: 47,100 jobs, 3,400 openings a year, $62,200, projected to DECLINE 6%. Public relations specialists: 314,500 jobs, 23,000 openings, $74,750, growing. ⚠⚠ PR is nearly SEVEN times the occupation, pays $12,550 more and has nearly seven times the openings — and Florida trains eight communication graduates for every journalism one.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Marketing 21 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ The comparison that matters most on money. Marketing managers reach a $166,790 median against public relations specialists' $74,750, and Census microdata puts COMMUNICATIONS second among the undergraduate fields marketing managers hold, at 88,800 people. ⚠ A communication degree reaches the marketing ladder; it is one of the better-paid exits from this family and almost nobody points at it.

Graphic and Digital Design 41 Florida schools

⚠⚠ A genuine overlap rather than a neighbour: Digital Communication and Media (09.0702) is 29 Florida institutions and 797 credentials, filed in the communication family but doing design work. ⚠ If the visual side of communication is the draw, that is where it lives.

Instructional Design and Educational Technology 10 Florida schools

⚠ A destination for communication graduates that is growing rather than shrinking: training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings against journalism's 3,400. ⚠⚠ The field screens on a portfolio and values exactly the explanatory writing journalism teaches.

Business Administration and Management 45 Florida schools

⚠ Named because corporate communication, internal communication and investor relations are business functions, and a communication degree with business coursework reaches them. ⚠⚠ It is also the portable option if the media industry's contraction continues.

Public Health 14 Florida schools

⚠ Named for a specific and underadvertised route: health communication is a named content area in the CHES credential, county health departments employ communication specialists, and the CHES route is coursework-based rather than major-based.

Florida public institutions offering this program

14 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (1-2 years), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Postbaccalaureate certificate. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Broward College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's

Florida Atlantic University

Bachelor's

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's

Florida International University

Bachelor's

Florida State University

Bachelor's · Master's

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

University of Central Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of Florida

Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks) · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year) · Master's

University of Florida-Online

Bachelor's

University of North Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

University of South Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

University of West Florida

Master's

Valencia College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.