Communication Sciences at Northern Illinois University

If you plan to study communication sciences, take a look at what Northern Illinois University has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and approximately 16,769 students attend the school each year. In 2021, 33 communication sciences majors received their bachelor's degree from NIU.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Communication Sciences section at the bottom of this page.

NIU Communication Sciences Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences
• Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences
• Doctorate Degree in Communication Sciences

NIU Communication Sciences Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks communication sciences programs across the country. The following shows how NIU performed in these rankings.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The communication sciences major at NIU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Communication Sciences. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Value Communication Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools	3
Best Value Communication Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	24
Best Value Communication Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	25
Best Communication Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools	60
Most Popular Communication Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools	63
	93
Best Communication Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	130
Most Popular Communication Sciences Schools	147
Best Communication Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	156
Best Communication Sciences Schools	175
Most Focused Communication Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	210
Most Focused Communication Sciences Schools	219
Most Popular Communication Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	222

In 2021, 20 students received their master’s degree in communication sciences from NIU. This makes it the #222 most popular school for communication sciences master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 7 students who received their doctoral degrees in communication sciences, making the school the #63 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

How Much Do Communication Sciences Graduates from NIU Make?

The median salary of communication sciences students who receive their bachelor's degree at NIU is $24,927. This is great news for graduates of the program, since this figure is 2% higher than the national average of $24,407 for all communication sciences bachelor's degree recipients.

Communication Sciences Student Demographics at NIU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the communication sciences majors at Northern Illinois University.

NIU Communication Sciences Bachelor’s Program

For the most recent academic year available, 6% of communication sciences bachelor's degrees went to men and 94% went to women. The typical communication sciences bachelor's degree program is made up of only 5% men. So male students are more repesented at NIU since its program graduates 1% more men than average.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 30% more racial-ethnic minorities in its communication sciences bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's in communication sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	9
White	14
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

NIU Communication Sciences Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 20 students earned a master's degree in communication sciences from NIU. About 100% of these graduates were women and the other 0% were men.

Of the students who received a communication sciences master's degree from NIU, 80% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a master's in communication sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	2
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	16
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

NIU also has a doctoral program available in communication sciences. In 2021, 7 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Communication Sciences

If you plan to be a communication sciences major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Northern Illinois University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General Communication Sciences & Disorders	53
Audiology/Audiologist	7

Related Majors

• Other Health Professions
• Allied Health Professions
• Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science
• Mental & Social Health Services
• Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions

Careers That Communication Sciences Grads May Go Into

A degree in communication sciences can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for IL, the home state for Northern Illinois University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
Health Specialties Professors	10,070	$105,140
Speech-Language Pathologists	6,820	$77,120
Audiologists	520	$86,990

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Andy McMurray under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.