2025 Best Colleges for Advertising

February 27, 2025

best colleges for advertising

AMC鈥檚 classic drama聽Mad Men聽glorified the advertising scene in 1950s and ’60s Manhattan. The field may look different in the 2010s and ’20s with the fall of traditional media and the takeover of smart phones, the internet and on-demand programming, but this profession is anything but on the decline. The expects 6% job growth in the advertising sector through 2032 and the profession remains a rare space where corporate and creative interests can coexist symbiotically. Be prepared to learn everything from psychology to copyediting, graphic design, and marketing. Our list of Best Colleges for Advertising predominately features public universities which offer affordable and accessible degree programs while also allowing entry into the highest levels of this often high-paying and exciting career.

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Click here to read our methodology for the Best Colleges in Advertising.

Best Colleges for Advertising

Here鈥檚 a quick preview of the first ten advertising institutions that made our list. Detailed profiles and stats for these and many other ranked instiutions can be found when you scroll below.

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All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top advertising & PR firms in the country. For each of the best accounting colleges, 国产第一福利影院草草 will provide you with鈥攚hen available鈥攅ach school鈥檚:

  • Enrollment
  • Cost of Attendance
  • Acceptance Rate
  • Median SAT
  • Median ACT
  • Graduation Rate
  • Retention Rate

We will also include a longer write-up of each college鈥檚:

  • Academic Highlights 鈥 Includes facts like student-to-faculty ratio, average class size, number of majors offered, and most popular majors.
  • Professional Outcomes 鈥 Includes info on the rate of positive outcomes, companies employing alumni, and graduate school acceptances.

Salary Information

Want to know how much money graduates of the best advertising colleges make when they begin their careers? For each college listed (and hundreds of additional schools), you can view the starting salaries for advertising & public relations majors.

Rankings of Related Programs

After reviewing our list of best advertising programs (below), you may also be interested in our rankings for other related fields:

 

#1 Best College for Advertising
The University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin

  • Austin, TX

Academic Highlights: UT Austin offers over 170 majors. Sn encouraging 36% of course sections enroll nineteen or fewer students. Opportunities for undergraduate research vary by school, and many student must compete for slots in programs such as Summer聽Research Scholars or use the Eureka database to find individual professors offering research assistantships. A robust study abroad program boasts 400 offerings in 100+ foreign countries; 4,600+ students participate each year, the third-largest number in the country.

Professional Outcomes:聽 Over 1000 alumni work in the offices of Dell, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Deloitte; IBM, Meta, Oracle, and AMD employ over 500 each. Graduates early in their careers earn a median salary of $77,400, with median mid-career pay reaching $141,100. Roughly one-quarter of University of Texas at Austin undergraduates go on to pursue advanced degrees after completing their bachelor鈥檚. Many pursue advanced study at UT Austin itself, which offers more than one hundred graduate programs. Many alumni stay in Texas after graduation, settling in Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

  • Enrollment: 42,444
  • Cost of Attendance: $31,572 (In-State); $62,672 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1370
  • Median ACT: 31
  • Acceptance Rate: 29%
  • Retention Rate: 96%
  • Graduation Rate: 88%

#2 for Advertising
University of Southern California

University of Southern California

  • Los Angeles, CA

Academic Highlights: Aided by a favorable 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school does an excellent job facilitating undergraduate research opportunities. Each school/college has a course entitled Directed Research 490 in which students work closely with a faculty supervisor and earn between two and eight credits, countless other opportunities exist to get one鈥檚 hands dirty in academic research. Each department has its own slate of study abroad offerings and Maymester programs, which are short-term intensive courses held stateside and abroad.

Professional Outcomes: 93% of undergrads experience positive postgraduation outcomes within six months of earning their degree. The median salary across all majors is an astounding $85k. Presently, between 500 and 2,500 alumni are employed at each of Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA, and Oracle. Graduate/professional schools enrolling the greatest number of 2023 USC grads include Columbia, UCLA, Pepperdine, and Harvard, with most remaining at USC for their advanced studies.

  • Enrollment: 21,023
  • Cost of Attendance: $90,453
  • Median SAT: 1510
  • Median ACT: 33
  • Acceptance Rate: 10%
  • Retention Rate: 97%
  • Graduation Rate: 92%

#3 for Advertising
Boston University

Boston University

  • Boston, MA

Academic Highlights: In total, the university offers more than 300 programs of study, 100+ of which are distinct undergraduate degrees spread across 12 schools/colleges. Many classes at BU are reasonably small鈥59% contain fewer than twenty students; only 20% contain more than forty. The student-to-faculty ratio is 10:1. The Research Opportunities Program (UROP) funds 650 students per year, and many additional students participate in BU鈥檚 research for credit, volunteer, work-study, and other independent opportunities.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduation, 94% of recent BU grads have found their way into the world of employment or full-time graduate study. Across all graduating years, companies employing more than 350 BU alums include Google, Oracle, Accenture, IBM, and Amazon Web Services. Of the one-third of grads who move directly into graduate school, many are welcomed onto the campuses of elite graduate programs, such as those at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, John Hopkins, and Columbia.

  • Enrollment: 18,656
  • Cost of Attendance: $86,363
  • Median SAT: 1470
  • Median ACT: 33
  • Acceptance Rate: 11%
  • Retention Rate: 95%
  • Graduation Rate: 90%

#4 for Advertising
University of Florida

University of Florida

  • Gainesville, FL

Academic Highlights: With 16 colleges and 100 undergraduate majors to choose from, educational experiences are exceptionally diverse. UF impressively offers 50% of sections with an enrollment of fewer than 20 students. The Center for Undergraduate Research offers a University Research Scholars program as well as summer opportunities, hosts its own Undergraduate Research Symposium, and publishes its own UF Journal of Undergraduate Research. Forty percent of all undergrads have such an experience. The school has connections to 1,100 study abroad programs that are taken advantage of by more than 2,900 undergrads each year.

Professional Outcomes: The University of Florida demonstrates exceptional career preparation, with 83% of the Class of 2024 securing employment by graduation day. Gator alumni have established a strong presence at leading tech giants, with 200+ graduates currently working at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, and Oracle. The class achieved an impressive average starting salary of $68,000. For those continuing their education, popular graduate destinations include the University of South Florida, Nova Southeastern University, and Georgia Tech, showcasing UF’s strong pipeline to both immediate employment and advanced academic opportunities.

  • Enrollment: 34,924
  • Cost of Attendance: $22,601 (In-State); $44,879 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1390
  • Median ACT: 31
  • Acceptance Rate: 24%
  • Retention Rate: 97%
  • Graduation Rate: 91%

#5 for Advertising
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • Champaign-Urbana, IL

Academic Highlights: Eight of UIUC’s fifteen schools cater to undergraduate students. Illinois鈥 student-to-faculty ratio of 20:1 is high even for a public institution, but the school still manages to keep 39% of sections capped at 19 students. Further, 40% of undergraduates participate in research; over 800 students each year present at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Unique opportunities for experiential learning abound at Research Park, an on-campus technology hub and business incubator that hosts more than 120 major corporations and 800 student interns.

Professional Outcomes: 91% of recent UIUC grads landed at their next destination within six months of graduation, with 35% matriculating directly into an advanced degree program. 56% were employed full-time. Corporations landing the most recent Illinois grads were Amazon, Deloitte, Epic, KPMG, and PwC. The average salary across all majors was an extremely solid $76,000. Two-thirds of graduates remained in the Land of Lincoln; California and New York commandeer the next greatest percentages of migrating alumni.

  • Enrollment: 35,564
  • Cost of Attendance: $33,642 (In-State); $52,139 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1410
  • Median ACT: 32
  • Acceptance Rate: 44%
  • Retention Rate: 94%
  • Graduation Rate: 85%

#6 for Advertising
University of Georgia

University of Georgia

  • Athens, GA

Academic Highlights: UGA boasts seventeen distinct colleges and schools that offer 125+ majors. 49% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students compared with 12% of sections that enroll 50 or more. No matter your major, UGA encourages you to conduct research with a member of the school鈥檚 faculty. The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) awards grants to 500 students per year, and in 2024, a robust 620+ students presented at the CURO Symposium. Meanwhile, the Office of Global Engagement helps 3,000 students annually find which of the 100+ study abroad programs (many of which are led by UGA faculty) is right for them

Professional Outcomes: 95% of the Class of 2023 was employed or continuing their education six months after graduation. Popular employers include Accenture, the CDC, Deloitte, KPMG, Lockheed Martin, PwC, and Bank of America. Salaries vary between colleges; however, the median hovers around 60k. In 2023, 23% of graduates enrolled directly into a graduate/professional degree program, with the most commonly attended schools including Duke, Emory, Georgetown, UNC Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt.

  • Enrollment: 31,514
  • Cost of Attendance: $28,106 (In-State); $47,146 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1270
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 37%
  • Retention Rate: 95%
  • Graduation Rate: 87%

#7 for Advertising
University of Miami

University of Miami

  • Coral Gables, FL

Academic Highlights: Over 100 undergrad programs are offered across nine schools, A noteworthy 92% of graduates report being satisfied with their education while 82% were satisfied with their major. Fifty-two percent of all course sections contain fewer than 20 students, and only 7% of sections sport enrollments of more than 50 undergrads. Study abroad opportunities are vast and include university-run programs in sixteen locations; roughly 40% of undergrads participate each year. Undergraduate research posts are available, with many facilitated by the Office of Research and Community Outreach.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 99% of the Class of 2023 had positive outcomes, with 62% employed full-time and 36% in graduate school. Companies employing 2023 grads included Citi, Bank of America, Jackson Memorial Hospital, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs. Across all majors, the median starting salary was an impressive $62k. 100+ Canes also can be found in the offices of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The most frequently attended graduate school is typically Miami itself.

  • Enrollment: 12,883
  • Cost of Attendance: $88,440
  • Median SAT: 1400
  • Median ACT: 32
  • Acceptance Rate: 19%
  • Retention Rate: 92%
  • Graduation Rate: 84%

#8 for Advertising
Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

  • Dallas, TX

Academic Highlights: In total, SMU offers 120+ majors and 85 minors. Thanks in part to an 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio, 55% of classes enroll fewer than 20 students. Opportunities for personal connection and guidance extend beyond the聽classroom as 1,000 current SMU students have participated in undergraduate research or apprenticeships. The 150 study abroad programs in 50 countries attract about one-quarter of Mustangs at some point during their four years of study.

Professional Highlights: On graduation day, over 88% of recent grads already had their first jobs or graduate school destinations in hand. Major corporations employing the greatest number of Mustangs are Lockheed Martin, JP Morgan Chase, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, Raytheon, Amazon, AT&T, and Goldman Sachs. In 2023, the average starting salary was $90k across all majors ($99k for Cox School of Business grads). Ten percent of seniors elected to immediately pursue an advanced degree, matriculating at prestigious institutions such as the University of Notre Dame, NYU, Vanderbilt, Columbia, and Boston University.

  • Enrollment: 7,115
  • Cost of Attendance: $86,090
  • Median SAT: 1410
  • Median ACT: 32
  • Acceptance Rate: 61%
  • Retention Rate: 90%
  • Graduation Rate: 83%

#9 for Advertising
University of Oregon

University of Oregon

  • Eugene, OR

Academic Highlights: Over 300 degree programs are offered at UO. The student-to-faculty ratio is 19:1, which leads to a mix of class sizes. The median class size is 20 students. 28% of a recent graduating class engaged in research, and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program excels at connecting students to mentor professors on campus as well as external research opportunities. Over 500 students present at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Ducks study abroad in 60 countries, and roughly one-fifth of students do so at some point during their undergraduate years.

Professional Outcomes: Members of the Class of 2023 already had their next destination lined up at graduation with 85% already employed or entering graduate school. Nike, KPMG, Deloitte, Amazon, and Thermo Fisher Scientific employed recent grads. Hundreds of others occupy offices at Intel, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Adidas, and Salesforce. Of the 19% that pursued further education, 93% of the Class of 2023 remained at the University of Oregon.

  • Enrollment: 19,963
  • Cost of Attendance: $35,721 (In-State); $63,354 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1240
  • Median ACT: 27
  • Acceptance Rate: 85%
  • Retention Rate: 85%
  • Graduation Rate: 71%

#10 Best College for Advertising
Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University

  • Malibu, CA

Academic Highlights: Pepperdine offers 46 majors and 47 minors. A 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio is solid, and faculty are fully deployed with the aim of creating an intimate liberal arts classroom setting. The average class contains 18 students, and 23% of courses will contain fewer than ten students. There are three formal programs for undergraduate research: the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, the Cross-disciplinary/Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program, and the Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative. Close to 80% of Seaver students study abroad and build global experience in locations such as Buenos Aires, Florence, London, and Shanghai.

Professional Outcomes: 92% of the Class of 2023 landed at their next destination within six months, with 65% employed full-time, 26% admitted to graduate school, and 1% in a full-time service or military role. Of those employed, 81% were in the for-profit sector, 19% were with nonprofit/government entities, and less than 1% were pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Amazon, Deloitte, Fulbright, JP Morgan, and NBC Universal have hired the most recent grads. Other companies employing fifty or more alumni include The Walt Disney Company, Apple, and Google.

  • Enrollment: 3,629
  • Cost of Attendance: $93,512
  • Median SAT: 1360
  • Median ACT: 30
  • Acceptance Rate: 50%
  • Retention Rate: 86%
  • Graduation Rate: 85%

#11 for Advertising
Ithaca College

Ithaca College

  • Ithaca, NY

Academic Highlights: Twenty-three percent of sections enroll fewer than 10 students, a reality made possible by an enviable 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Students consistently rate professors as being of high quality and committed to undergraduate instruction and Ithaca rates very well nationally according to these qualities. The college is committed to facilitating undergraduate research in all disciplines, and hosts the National Conference on Undergraduate Research which is attended by 3,000 students and their mentors from around the country.

Professional Outcomes: Within nine months of graduating, 52% of one recent graduating cohort had already found their first post-college job and 22% were still seeking employment. Media companies like NBCUniversal Media and Netflix are among the largest employers of Ithaca alumni along with corporations like Fidelity Investments, Deloitte, Amazon, and Apple. More than five recent grads enrolled at nearby Cornell University and multiple grads traveled to Syracuse University, Columbia University, and Northwestern University. The Greater New York City Area houses the highest number of Ithaca diploma-holders followed by Boston, Ithaca itself, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

  • Enrollment: 4,368
  • Cost of Attendance: $68,716
  • Median SAT: 1270
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 70%
  • Retention Rate: 83%
  • Graduation Rate: 74%

#12 for Advertising
Pennsylvania State University 鈥 University Park

Pennsylvania State University 鈥 University Park

  • State College, PA

Academic Highlights: Penn State offers 275 majors and a number of top-ranked programs in a host of disciplines. Unlike some public research universities that can have student-to-faculty ratios greater than 20:1, PSU boasts a solid 15:1 ratio. That level of support allows 61% of classes to have an enrollment below thirty students.聽 Even at such a large institution, it is possible to get involved in undergraduate research. Eberly College of Science professors are running upwards of 3,000 research projects per year, and the school has a well-maintained and up-to-date database of undergraduate research positions. All told, 16% of graduates report having engaged in undergraduate research. 22% of a recent graduating class availed themselves of study abroad opportunities in one of 300+ programs in 50+ countries each year.

Professional Outcomes: By graduation, 79% of Nittany Lions have found their next employment or graduate school home. Over a hundred alumni work at Tesla; Deloitte, Amazon, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Accenture each employ over 500 alumni. Three-quarters of recent graduates employed full-time earned starting salaries of greater than $50k. Penn State graduates mostly settle in the Greater Philadelphia area, with New York City and the Washington DC-Baltimore area also proving popular with alumni.

  • Enrollment: 42,223
  • Cost of Attendance: $39,892 (In-State); $59,846 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1310
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 54%
  • Retention Rate: 92%
  • Graduation Rate: 86%

#13 for Advertising
Michigan State University

Michigan State University

  • East Lansing, MI

Academic Highlights: This highly regarded state institution boasts over 400 areas of study鈥攗ndergraduate, graduate, and professional鈥攁cross 17 degree-granting colleges. A 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio rates in the average range for public universities of MSU鈥檚 size and scope. Class sizes are a genuine mix of small seminars and giant lecture halls. In one recent year, 55% percent of undergraduate course sections contain fewer than 30 students; just 23% enrolled more than 50. Undergraduate research opportunities do exist for those bold enough to pursue them; 36% of recent grads completed one such experience. Around 25% of undergrads study abroad at one of 260 programs located in 60+ countries.

Professional Outcomes: Within months of strutting across the graduation stage, 63% of Class of 2023 members had landed full-time employment, 25% were pursuing advanced degrees, and 4% were still looking for a job. The top employers of this group included big names like the State of Michigan, General Motors, the US Federal Government, Ford Motor Company, and PepsiCo. The median starting salary earned was $64,149. Among the grad schools favored by recent alumni are the University of Michigan, New York University, Columbia University, and Northwestern University.

  • Enrollment: 40,483
  • Cost of Attendance: $32,668 (In-State); $60,052 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1250
  • Median ACT: 28
  • Acceptance Rate: 84%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 83%

#14 for Advertising
Syracuse University

Syracuse University

  • Syracuse, NY

Academic Highlights: Despite a high number of graduate students also studying at SU, class sizes are kept reasonably low; 61% contain 20 students or fewer. The Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Engagement (The SOURCE) supports student participation in faculty-guided research via a number of short- and long-term opportunities, many of which are funded. As a result, 250 students engaged in research last summer alone. The university鈥檚 office of study abroad programs arranges for 46% of undergrads to spend a semester in a foreign land.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after exiting the Carrier Dome for the final time in 2023, 63% of Orangemen and women found employment (93% related to their career goals) and 26% continued to graduate school. The companies employing the most 鈥楥use grads include major companies like ESPN, Bloomberg, and Creative Artists Agency as well as big-name corporations like GE, KPMG, EY, Lockheed Martin, and Morgan Stanley. The average starting salary for 2023 grads was a solid $63k.

  • Enrollment: 15,739
  • Cost of Attendance: $85,147
  • Median SAT: 1340
  • Median ACT: 30
  • Acceptance Rate: 42%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 81%

#15 for Advertising
American University

American University

  • Washington, D.C.

Academic Highlights: All undergrads are exposed to a recently adopted core curriculum that focuses on enhancing students鈥 metacognitive abilities. Requirements include more than thirty credits of study in courses such as Complex Problems, Quantitative Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Creative-Aesthetic Inquiry, and Written Communication Undergraduate research opportunities are taken advantage of by nearly half of all AU students.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduation, 91% of AU grads have found employment, are enrolled in grad school, or both. Employers include the U.S. House of Representatives, City Teaching Alliance, the U.S. Department of State, and the District of Columbia Public Schools, with graduates earning an average salary of $65,909 within six months. Many of the most popular grad school destinations are only a Metro stop away. George Washington, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and American itself head the list.

  • Enrollment: 7,817
  • Cost of Attendance: $76,175
  • Median SAT: 1380
  • Median ACT: 31
  • Acceptance Rate: 47%
  • Retention Rate: 86%
  • Graduation Rate: 78%

#16 for Advertising
Tulane University

Tulane University

  • New Orleans, LA

Academic Highlights: Tulane offers 75 majors within five colleges. The average undergraduate class size is 21 students and a solid 21% of courses have single-digit enrollments, providing a seminar-style environment. The overwhelming majority of undergraduate courses, even introductory ones, are taught by full-time professors. Exiting student surveys indicate that this focus on undergraduate education is noted; 94% rated their educational experience at Tulane as either 鈥渆xcellent鈥 or 鈥済ood.鈥 30% of students take advantage of Tulane鈥檚 expansive study abroad program, which offers more than 110 programs in 40 countries.

Professional Outcomes: Over three-fifths of Tulane grads find employment within six months of graduation. Significant numbers of alumni can be found working in the Louisiana-based Ochsner Health System or at corporations such as Deloitte, EY, Google, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs. 31% of recent grads enrolled in graduate or professional school鈥攖he most common destinations are Tulane itself, Louisiana State University, Columbia University, and New York University.

  • Enrollment: 8,077
  • Cost of Attendance: $87,446
  • Median SAT: 1450
  • Median ACT: 32
  • Acceptance Rate: 15%
  • Retention Rate: 94%
  • Graduation Rate: 89%

#17 for Advertising
Elon University

Elon University

  • Elon, NC

Academic Highlights: Elon鈥檚 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio leads to an average class size of 20 students; 49% of sections contain fewer than 20 students. A whopping 88% of students elect to study abroad, the highest participation rate in the country among master鈥檚-granting institutions. There are limitless options for overseas study including official Elon Centers Abroad in Shanghai, Dunedin, London, and Florence. Chances for working closely with faculty on research projects are also plentiful; 23% of students participate in faculty-mentored research.

Professional Outcomes: Results of a survey administered nine months after graduation found that 96% of the Class of 2023 had found employment, a graduate school, or an internship. Top employers of recent Elon graduates include Bloomberg, Deloitte, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Oracle, and Wells Fargo. Fourteen percent of recent grads attended prestigious grad schools, including Boston University, Columbia, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Vanderbilt.

  • Enrollment: 6,402
  • Cost of Attendance: $62,514
  • Median SAT: 1210
  • Median ACT: 26
  • Acceptance Rate: 67%
  • Retention Rate: 90%
  • Graduation Rate: 83%

#18 for Advertising
Temple University

Temple University

  • Philadelphia, PA

Academic Highlights: Temple offers 160+ undergraduate programs. Forty-four percent of classes have an enrollment of 19 or fewer students, and 72% of courses contain no more than 29 undergraduates. Undergraduate research positions are available across all 12 undergraduate schools and colleges, including a seven-month-long funded research experience called the Diamond Research Scholars program. The school offers plenty of study abroad opportunities, including its own programs in Spain, Japan, and Italy. A touch over 10% of undergrads take a semester in a foreign country.

Professional Outcomes: Fifty-one percent of recent grads quickly secured employment and another 18% were enrolled in graduate school. Top employers included the School District of Philadelphia, Vanguard, SEI, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin. Hundreds of Owl alumni can be found at Merck, Comcast, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, and Bristol Myers Squibb. The highest percentage of grads reside in Philadelphia, with New York City and Washington, DC, next in popularity.

  • Enrollment: 21,720
  • Cost of Attendance: $44,756 (In-State); $60,136 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1260
  • Median ACT: 28
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Retention Rate: 83%
  • Graduation Rate: 75%

#19 for Advertising
University of Colorado Boulder

University of Colorado Boulder

  • Boulder, CO

Academic Highlights: Forty percent of classes actually have fewer than 20 students, while 19% of courses enroll 50 or more students. Opportunities to connect with faculty for research opportunities span all majors and fields of study. The school also offers the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship Program, which enables engineering students to conduct paid faculty-mentored research. Over 2,200 students per year participate in the credit- bearing Education Abroad program that offers hundreds of destinations within 60 countries around the world.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of leaving CU Boulder, 83% of recent grads were working or in graduate school. 47% of graduates earned between $50k and $75k, with the greatest number working at Lockheed Martin, Charles Schwab, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and RS&H. More than 100 alumni can also be found at Google, Amazon, Apple, Oracle, and Microsoft. 25% of new grads immediately jumped into an advanced degree program, and 93% were accepted into their first-choice school.

  • Enrollment: 32,105
  • Cost of Attendance: $37,684 (In-State); $63,197 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1330
  • Median ACT: 31
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Retention Rate: 89%
  • Graduation Rate: 75%

#20 Best College for Advertising
Howard University

Howard University

  • Washington, D.C.

Academic Highlights: A strong 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio allows for generally small class sizes, even with over 3,000 graduate students also in attendance. Forty-four percent of undergraduate course sections enroll fewer than 20 students, and just 10% enroll more than 50 students. Undergraduate opportunities are available in all disciplines,聽both internally and externally.

Professional Outcomes: If you name a desirable company in the tech, banking, or consulting industries, chances are it will employ more than a handful of Bison. In fact, over 100 alumni presently work for Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, Wells Fargo, and Apple. Large numbers of Bison also roam the corporate offices of JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Facebook, and Goldman Sachs. It is similarly easy to locate Howard grads in just about any major American city. The heaviest concentrations can be found in Washington, DC; New York City; Atlanta; Los Angeles; Baltimore; Philadelphia; Chicago; San Francisco; and Houston. Howard graduates also typically earn fantastic results when applying to graduate and professional schools. Emory, Tulane, Harvard, Penn, and NYU are some of the most common destinations.

  • Enrollment: 10,190
  • Cost of Attendance: $54,630
  • Median SAT: 1200
  • Median ACT: 25
  • Acceptance Rate: 35%
  • Retention Rate: 90%
  • Graduation Rate: 69%

#21 for Advertising
Butler University

Butler University

  • Indianapolis, IN

Academic Highlights: At Butler, undergrads can select from over 90 academic majors. An excellent 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio translates to very few large lecture halls; just 3% of class sections contain more than 50 students. Known for the quality of its undergraduate teaching, Butler delivers a quality education without a harrowing admissions process.

Professional Outcomes: Butler grads enjoyed a 98% placement rate in 2023. The median starting salary is a solid $65,497 and prominent employers of last year’s grads include NBCUniversal, Eli Lilly, USA Today, Cleveland Clinic, Pfizer,聽 Ascension Health, and The Walt Disney Company. Butler alumni enter all types of graduate institutions including the likes of Purdue, NYU, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Northwestern.

  • Enrollment: 4,519
  • Cost of Attendance: $67,210
  • Median SAT: 1260
  • Median ACT: 28
  • Acceptance Rate: 86%
  • Retention Rate: 88%
  • Graduation Rate: 79%

#22 for Advertising
University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina

  • Columbia, SC

Academic Highlights: UofSC is a massive enterprise, with 15 colleges/schools within the larger university. Even so, 70% of all sections contain 29 or fewer students聽 The South Carolina Honors College is extremely hard to get into and is one of the finest in the entire country. The Office of Undergraduate Research will help ambitious students locate a mentor professor in their discipline, pursue funding sources, and compete for school-based undergraduate research awards; roughly one-third of students work with a faculty member on research. Study abroad opportunities are also there for all who seek them; close to 2,000 students study abroad in 65+ countries each year.

Professional Outcomes: More than 1000 UofSC alumni work at Prisma Health; hundreds are employed at Wells Fargo, Amazon, and Microsoft. Within the School of Business, the average salary was $93k and recent employers include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, PwC, EY, and Deloitte. College of Arts and Sciences graduates secured employment at Greenville Health Systems, BlueCross BlueShield SC, the State of South Carolina, and Amazon, earning an average salary of $86,046.

  • Enrollment: 28,470
  • Cost of Attendance: $31,977 (In-State); $54,223 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1270
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 61%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 78%

#23 for Advertising
Florida State University

Florida State University

  • Tallahassee, FL

Academic Highlights: The student-to-faculty is a 17:1, which translates into somewhat larger class sizes. Ten percent of sections contain more than fifty students, and 4% have more than 100. However, that is balanced by the 66% of sections that contain fewer than twenty students. Undergraduate research is taken advantage of by one-quarter of students, and the school plans to greatly expand such offerings in the coming years. An abundance of study abroad choices include special summer programs in Panama, Florence, London, and Valencia, Spain. FSU has 60 academic programs available in 20 locations throughout the world; 2,500+ students per year participate.

Professional Outcomes: Eighty-three percent of job-seeking Seminole grads receive at least one offer of employment within three months of graduation. Thirty percent of seniors found employment through Career Center services at FSU. Employers hiring the greatest number of FSU alumni include Apple, Northrop Grumman, EY, General Motors, and Deloitte. Roughly one-third of recent Florida State grads elected to immediately pursue admission into an advanced degree program; 84% of those who apply receive at least one acceptance.聽Geographically, the greatest number of alumni remain in Florida but large numbers also relocate to Massachusetts, Georgia, Texas, New York, and California.

  • Enrollment: 32,217
  • Cost of Attendance: $25,952 (In-State); $39,082 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1310
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 25%
  • Retention Rate: 96%
  • Graduation Rate: 83%

#24 for Advertising
University of Minnesota鈥揟win Cities

University of Minnesota鈥揟win Cities

  • Minneapolis, MN

Academic Highlights: There are 150 majors available across eight freshman-admitting undergraduate colleges. A 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio is deployed effectively so that 65% of sections enroll 29 or fewer students. No matter your field of study, you can utilize UM鈥檚 well-maintained database of upcoming faculty research projects as a way to connect directly with the professor of your choice; more than 2,000 undergraduates participate in a research or creative project every year. An outstanding 30% of UMTC students study abroad during their academic career with the most popular destinations being Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Professional Outcomes: Over 1000 alumni work at Target, Medtronic, 3M, and U.S. Bank; Amazon, Google, Cargill, and Microsoft employ 500+ UMN graduates each. The average starting salary across all majors is approximately 60k and recent employers include Boeing, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Abbott, IBM, EcoLab, Boston Scientific, Wells Fargo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft and Epic. With 130 graduate programs, the University of Minnesota retains many of its graduates as they pursue their next degrees.

  • Enrollment: 39,556
  • Cost of Attendance: $32,866 (In-State); $52,780 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1400
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 77%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 85%

#25 for Advertising
University of Alabama

University of Alabama

  • Tuscaloosa, AL

Academic Highlights: Alabama manages to keep classes on the smaller side, with 48% enrolling under 20 students and 64% enrolling under 30.聽Each year, more UA students choose to pursue research opportunities; participation in the annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity conference has increased by over 30% since 2022.聽Historically, only a small percentage of undergrads study abroad鈥攁bout 5% each year鈥攂ut hundreds of options are available, and the university directly partners with nearly 30 programs in 13 countries.

Professional Outcomes:聽Within six months of graduating, 92% of alumni have already achieved a positive result; 58% go into the working world and one-third enter graduate/professional school. Top employers include Amazon, AT&T, Capital One, Dell Technologies, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. The average salary for a Class of 2023 grad was $61,738. For grad school, the highest number of students stay at Alabama while many others enroll at Vanderbilt, LSU, and the University of Mississippi.

  • Enrollment: 33,435
  • Cost of Attendance: $33,382 (In-State); $54,682 (Out-of-State)
  • Median SAT: 1280
  • Median ACT: 27
  • Acceptance Rate: 76%
  • Retention Rate: 86%
  • Graduation Rate: 74%

#26 for Advertising
Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University

  • Forth Worth, TX

Academic Highlights: TCU offers 117 undergraduate majors. With a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, classes at TCU are not all tiny, but the school manages to keep enrollment below 20 students in 41% of its class sections, and only 5% of courses seat more than 50. Of equal importance, 98% of faculty members teach undergraduate students, so you will have access to the best and brightest professors the school has to offer. The study abroad program makes international study readily accessible, and two-fifths of undergrads enjoy a semester overseas.

Professional Outcomes: Upon graduating, 81% of recent diploma-earners were employed or had their graduate school placement lined up. Deloitte, American Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs employ the greatest number of alumni. Other companies hiring recent TCU grads include Microsoft, IBM, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Cerner, PWC, and AT&T. The most recent median starting salary was $65,000.

  • Enrollment: 10,937
  • Cost of Attendance: $77,060
  • Median SAT: 1270
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 43%
  • Retention Rate: 94%
  • Graduation Rate: 85%

#27 for Advertising
DePaul University

DePaul University

  • Chicago, IL

Academic Highlights:聽There are more than 130 undergraduate majors at the nation’s largest Catholic research university. The student-to-faculty ratio is 17:1 and 38% of courses enroll fewer than 20 students. Special study abroad initiatives like FY@broad cater to first-year students, while Identities Abroad programs focus on diversity and inclusion, providing scholarships to support underrepresented students. The university rates well in the areas of overall value and facilitating social mobility.

Professional Outcomes:聽90% of recent graduates found their next positive step in life within six months of being awarded their diploma. 78% were employed earning a modest median salary of $45,000. Sample employers included JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Discover, AbbVie, Amazon, and United Airways, as well as a number of nonprofit entities. Less than 10% of DePaul graduates directly enter graduate or professional school right after completing their undergraduate education.

  • Enrollment: 14,374
  • Cost of Attendance: $66,798
  • Median SAT: 1230
  • Median ACT: 28
  • Acceptance Rate: 74%
  • Retention Rate: 87%
  • Graduation Rate: 70%

#28 for Advertising
Marquette University

Marquette University

  • Milwaukee, WI

Academic Highlights: With a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the university keeps 47% of class sections at 19 or fewer students. Marquette offers more than 75 majors and 80+ minors across seven colleges.聽 Opportunities for hands-on training are available via the Office of Research and Innovation聽or via other discipline-specific postings available each semester. With 80+ partnerships throughout the world, 30% of Golden Eagles study abroad.

Professional Outcomes: Fifty-six percent of recent grads enjoyed full-time employment within six months of graduation, although that figure varied widely by discipline. The largest employers of Golden Eagle alumni include GE Healthcare, Northwestern Mutual, Rockwell Automation, Baird, Johnson Controls, and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Other Midwestern powerhouses, including Kohl鈥檚 Medtronic and Milwaukee Tool, also employ hundreds of Marquette graduates. Slightly over half of 2023 grads stayed put in the state of Wisconsin while 24% went south to Illinois, and 6% settled in another Midwestern state.

  • Enrollment: 7,652
  • Cost of Attendance: $68,430
  • Median SAT: 1280
  • Median ACT: 28
  • Acceptance Rate: 87%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 80%

#29 for Advertising
Chapman University

Chapman University

  • Orange, CA

Academic Highlights:聽Chapman offers 50+ majors in STEM, humanities, communication, the arts, and business. Overall, 43% of classes enroll fewer than 20 students and the student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1. Students can engage in faculty-mentored projects, apply for funding via programs like the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), and present their work at the annual Student Scholar Symposium. The school regularly receives acclaim for its innovation and the quality of undergraduate teaching.

Professional Outcomes: The Walt Disney Company, Amazon, Deloitte, Microsoft, NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Circle Advertising are the most common employers of Chapman graduates. In 2023. 62% of that cohort had already secured employment by graduation day. Most graduates remain in the state of California, with Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Irvine attracting particularly high numbers of alumni.

  • Enrollment: 7,874
  • Cost of Attendance: $85,080
  • Median SAT: 1300
  • Median ACT: 29
  • Acceptance Rate: 56%
  • Retention Rate: 90%
  • Graduation Rate: 80%

#30 Best College for Advertising
Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

  • Provo, UT

Academic Highlights: Required coursework for BYU undergraduates includes a number of courses in the Mormon faith as well as an extensive core curriculum that supports BYU鈥檚 larger mission 鈥渢o provide an education that is (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, and (3) character building, leading to (4) lifelong learning and service.鈥澛 A 21:1 student-to-faculty ratio translates to some undergraduate sections being a bit large. However, those lecture hall courses are balanced with classes of more modest size; 46% of courses have nineteen or fewer students. The聽school does an excellent job getting undergraduate students involved in hands-on research.

Professional Outcomes: By a wide margin, the two largest employers of BYU alums are the university itself and Intermountain Healthcare. However, there are hundreds of Cougars working at major corporations including Deloitte, Raytheon Technologies, Goldman Sachs, and Amazon. The median salary of a 2023 grad was $64,000. Brigham Young is in the same league with Berkeley, Cornell, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin in terms of producing future PhDs. Over the past decade, more than 3,000 alumni have gone on to earn doctoral degrees.

  • Enrollment: 32,221
  • Cost of Attendance: $22,992
  • Median SAT: 1360
  • Median ACT: 30
  • Acceptance Rate: 69%
  • Retention Rate: 89%
  • Graduation Rate: 82%

We hope you have found our list of the Best Colleges for Advertising to be useful and informative as you continue your college search process. We also invite you to check out some of our other resources and tools including: