Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at American University
Federal outcomes for bachelor's degree graduates of American University. 100 completers in the most recent 4-year window (105 in the latest year alone). Median earnings 5 years after completion: $94,957.
What this program's debt costs its graduates
Annual debt service as a share of median 5-year-post-completion earnings, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation.
This program at American University
3.7%Median federal debt $26,442 amortized over 10 years vs. median 5-year earnings $94,957.
Statewide CIP-4 peer median
3.6%Same debt against the District of Columbia CIP 0909 peer-median earnings $98,321.
How this program has shifted
Federal Field-of-Study history covers 2014–15 onward. Vintage-by-vintage values for earnings, debt, and completers.
Estimate the financial outcome of this program
Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. Selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. This is an outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
- Cost per year
- $23,477
- HS-only baseline · DC
- $47,200
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 09
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication across District of Columbia institutions
Same CIP-4 code and credential level, all District of Columbia Title-IV institutions where Scorecard publishes outcomes. Cohort floor is 30 students.
What this page tells you, and what it doesn't
Earnings are median annual earnings of federally aided students who completed this program at this institution, drawn from federal tax records. They describe cohorts. They do not predict your earnings, and they do not claim that this program caused those outcomes — selection effects (who enrolls, who finishes, what fields they enter) dominate cross-program differences. Em-dashes mean the federal data was suppressed because the cohort was below the 30-student floor.