Student Success Rates
As a nationally accredited program, the School of Communications monitors four indicators of student success: enrollment, retention, graduation and employment.
Enrollment
The School of Communications is home to about 20 percent of Elon’s student body. The school offers six undergraduate majors: Journalism, Strategic Communications, Cinema & Television Arts, Communication Design, Media Analytics, and Sport Management.
| Program | Fall 2021 | Fall 2020 | Fall 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate Programs |
|||
| Journalism | 167 | 178 | 160 |
| Strategic Communications | 474 | 496 | 518 |
| Cinema & Television Arts | 251 | 249 | 237 |
| Communication Design | 214 | 192 | 187 |
| Media Analytics | 117 | 104 | 97 |
| Sport Management | 200 | 189 | 175 |
| Undergraduate Total |
1,423 | 1,410 | 1,374 |
| Graduate Program |
|||
| M.A. in Interactive Media | 14 | 20 | 30 |
Retention
Retention refers to the number of students who return to school the following year. One method of determining retention in a major is based on the entering first-year class. Another method is based on the last declared major of all students at the university. This section provides data for both methods of calculation. The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications specifies that retention, graduation and employment data be provided for an accredited Communications program.
Retention and Growth Based on Entering First-Year Class
When students are admitted to Elon, they are free to enter the major of their choice, unlike some journalism and communications programs that have their own admission process or restrict students from declaring a major until the junior year. As a result, high school students who express an interest in Communications in their application process to Elon become the entering first-year cohort in Communications.
The chart below shows that 193 students expressed an interest in Communications when they applied and were admitted to Elon in fall 2017. Three years later, 163 of them (84%) had become seniors at Elon, with 129 (67%) as Communications majors. This means 28 seniors remained at Elon but had switched to other majors since their first year. Meanwhile, an additional 135 students from that first-year class became Communications majors after they began at Elon, resulting in 71 more students being Communications majors in the senior year (264) than in the entering first-year cohort.
Source: Elon’s Office of Institutional Research
These tables reflect full-time first-year students entering Elon. They do not include transfer students and count a student (for instance, those who double major) only once. The technical description is “unduplicated, first-time, full-time and first-year students enrolling at the university.” These tables and later ones do not include Sport Management, which is a separate department in the school and not part of the accreditation process.
Retention Based on Last Declared Major
A second method of determining retention in a major is based on the last declared major of all students at the university – both those who eventually graduate from Elon as well as those who leave the university with Communications as their last declared major. This method is used to describe enrollment and retention of Communications majors within the university over time and to calculate graduation rates, as shown in the next section.
The chart below shows retention of students in this cohort in comparison with students in the university overall. Of all first-time, full-time students who entered Elon in 2017, 298 students ultimately declared Communications as their last major in the university. Some entered Elon as first-year students having expressed an interest in Communications, some became Communications majors after starting at Elon, and others were Communications majors when they left the university.
Of the 298 last declared COM major students in entering cohort 2017, 275 (92%) returned to Elon the following year, 259 (87%) returned to the university by their junior year, and 261 (88%) remained and had declared a major in Communication by the end of the senior year.
Of those, 248 (83%) graduated in 4 years or less and 256 (86%) graduated in 5 years.
| Class of 2021 | Cohort | Sophomore Year | Junior Year | Senior Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 298 | 275 (92.3%) | 259 (86.9%) | 261 (87.6%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,572 | 1,414 (89.9%) | 1,340 (85.2%) | 1,309 (83.3%) |
| Class of 2020 | Cohort | Sophomore Year | Junior Year | Senior Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 301 | 279 (93%) | 268 (89%) | 265 (88%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,553 | 1,386 (89.2%) | 1,324 (85.3%) | 1,286 (82.8%) |
| Class of 2019 | Cohort | Sophomore Year | Junior Year | Senior Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 285 | 268 (94%) | 258 (91%) | 253 (89%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,524 | 1,387 (91%) | 1,325 (86.9%) | 1,280 (84%) |
Source: Elon’s Office of Institutional Research
University retention rates reflect full-time, first-year students in all majors who remain at Elon at the time of fall enrollment each year. Because students may change majors at any time, retention data for Communications majors are based on their declared major at the time of fall enrollment each year.
Graduation
A four-year graduation is the norm for Communications students at Elon.
In the graduating Class of 2021, 248 students graduated as Communications majors in four years. This is 83% of all Elon students whose last declared major was Communications.
| Graduating Class of 2021 | Cohort | 4-Year Graduation | 5-Year Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 298 | 248 (83.2%) | +8 = 256 (85.9%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,572 | 1,229 (78.2%) | N/A |
| Graduating Class of 2020 | Cohort | 4-Year Graduation | 5-Year Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 301 | 258 (86%) | +3 = 261 (87%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,533 | 1,226 (78.9%) | N/A |
| Graduating Class of 2019 | Cohort | 4-Year Graduation | 5-Year Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Majors | 288 | 242 (84.0%) | +7 = 249 (86.5%) |
| All Elon Students | 1,524 | 1,206 (79.1%) | +55 = 1,261 (82.7%) |
Employment
Each year the university conducts a survey of the most recent graduating class, nine months following graduation, to ascertain employment or graduate school status, type of employer, and salary. The report on the Class of 2021 was released by the Student Professional Development Center in spring 2022.
Employment and Graduate School Status, Nine Months After Graduation
| Graduating Class | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communications Graduates Employed | 88.3% | 74.6% | 86.9% |
| Entering Graduate School | 3.9% | 6.4% | 4.2% |
A few graduates each year indicate they fit in both categories.
Employment by Organization Type
Communications graduates who are employed are asked each year to indicate the type of organization where they work.
| Organization Type | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate For Profit | 93% | 79% | 78.7% |
| Not For Profit | 2% | 5% | 10.9% |
| Educational | 2% | 3% | 4.6% |
| Government | 0% | 2% | 2.3% |
| Entrepreneurial/Self-employed/Start-up | 3% | 10% | 3.4% |
2021 percentages were based on 125 employed graduates (of 226 total respondents) who reported their organization type; 2020 percentages were based on 200 responses; 2019 percentages were based on 246 responses.
Employment Related to Career Goals
In 2021, 96% of the employed Communications graduates who responded to this survey said their work was related to their career goals.
Average Salaries
2021 Elon Communications graduates reported an average starting salary of $44,741.
— Last updated Aug. 2, 2022