Washington Communications Degrees

Click to see more online programs that are taking applications for 2024.

The University of Washington in Seattle is the lone institution that has received accreditation for their undergraduate programs from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) in the state of Washington. The Department of Communication offers a Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Sciences under the Journalism Program.

An average of 18 scholarships have been given out by the university since the 2010-11 academic year, which aids in one of the requirements needed in the accreditation criteria set by the ACEJMC. Other requirements include full disclosure on retention and graduation information from the school, and ensuring that the faculty members are experienced in the field and providing the best education, both academically and through professional skill set development within journalism.

Top Locations for Communications Schools and Job Opportunities in Washington

The Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area represents over 446,000 residents in the state of Washington, and is recognized as the 13th-highest television market according to Nielsen. Many broadcast networks are based within Seattle and, in addition to Tacoma, also cover Bellevue, Bellingham, Everett, and this market stretches into the British Columbia province in Canada.

Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tenga Inc. are the two popular media groups to own broadcast networks, with some networks like KCPQ (Fox), KSTW (The CW), and KTBW (Trinity Broadcasting Network) being owned and operated. The Seattle Times is the location's largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area. Alternatives include the online-exclusive Seattle Post-Intelligencer and economic newspaper Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.

Public Relations in Washington

Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications is a public relations service based in Seattle, Washington, and Washington, DC. They offer services to those who work in the technology sector, public sector, or health care. Succeeding in the public sector means that clients must have deep roots within government, and the experienced professionals at this agency have been former spokespeople and researchers at various levels of the government.

They also work with startups and disruptive technological companies in order to simplify their product to explain how this revolutionizes the industry and makes it more attractive to many audiences. There are routinely opportunities open in Seattle and at the nation's capital.

Click to for more online communications degrees that are taking applications for 2024.

Campus-based and online Communications programs in Washington

Washington Journalism and Communications Careers, Salaries, and Associations

Having one of the top media markets in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area, there are high salaries across the board for many media positions in the state of Washington. Here’s a sampling of annual mean salary estimates for advertising and journalism within the communications sector from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Reporters and correspondents: $53,980
• Editors: $73,760
• Broadcast news analysts: $122,060
• Advertising sales agents: $65,660
• Advertising and promotional managers: $148,580 (third-highest state in US)

The state of Washington is one of the top states for public relations opportunities in the Western half of the country with over 6,100 employed. Around two-thirds of this employment is based in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area, and a rate of 2.1 per 1,000 workers are in the PR field. Colorado has a similar estimate of PR specialists in their workforce and they are the top two states in the country’s western portion with the exception of California.

When compared to the rest of the region, Washington has the overall best salary figures with an annual mean wage of $76,950. It ranks fifth overall in the country, only being beaten by some of the more prominent media locations such as Washington DC, New York, and Virginia.

Public Relations Society of America – Puget Sound Chapter

The Public Relations Society of America has a Puget Sound Chapter that includes the Seattle metropolitan area and was established back in 1957. In addition to having an area where members can look at job opportunities, there are events and other programs that help build professional skill sets in the marketing sector and provide networking potential for incoming or experienced workers.

The Puget Sound Chapter has implemented diversity and inclusion initiatives. They survey what members would like to see and bring in various guest speakers at events to spread awareness of disability limitations and cultural differences.