Bachelor's · Chicago, Illinois
Is Radio, Television, and Digital Communication at Columbia College Chicago worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 11.1 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $36,023
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $58,386
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $25,000
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $155k (likely $155k – $192k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $19k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IL
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 11.1 years (likely 9.1–15.0)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- −$182k (likely −$269k – −$126k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $69k (likely −$81k – $216k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 47%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 10%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Radio, Television, and Digital Communication at other schools
🎬 Getting ready in high school
Students heading toward media & storytelling majors like this one often take these classes. Every school offers a different mix, so check with your counselor.
AP classes
- AP English Language and Composition
- AP English Literature and Composition
- AP Seminar
IB Higher Level
- Language A: Literature HL or Language and Literature HL
- Film HL
Build my roadmap 🗺️ Middle school to career, plus high schools near you that offer these classes.
Other majors at Columbia College Chicago
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's)$66,798
- Marketing (Bachelor's)$65,686
- Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management (Master's)$60,136
- Movement and Mind-Body Therapies and Education (Master's)$59,340
- Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (Master's)$57,240
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's)$56,482
- Film/Video and Photographic Arts (Master's)$53,147
- Journalism (Bachelor's)$51,639
- Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management (Bachelor's)$50,592
- Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's)$49,593
- Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's)$48,601
- American Sign Language (Bachelor's)$45,619
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication at other schools in Illinois
- Lewis University$52,722
- Northwestern University$51,471
- Loyola University Chicago$48,479
- Western Illinois University$46,966
- North Central College$45,838
- Southern Illinois University-Carbondale$42,113
- Bradley University$42,006
- Chicago State University$36,016
- Eastern Illinois University$30,331