Speech Communication

Types of Degrees Speech Communication Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many speech communication graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	2,257
Doctor’s Degree	314
Graduate Certificate	167

What Speech Communication Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, speech communication majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Speech Communication Majors

Speech Communication majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Skills for Speech Communication Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to speech communication:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Speech Communication Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a speech communication student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Speech Communication Major?

People with a speech communication degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Copy Writers	7.6%	$62,170
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers	7.6%	$62,170
Public Address System and Other Announcers	2.6%	$27,720
Public Relations Specialists	8.9%	$60,000

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Speech Communication?

The major attracts more women than men. About 75% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of speech communication majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	83
Black or African American	214
Hispanic or Latino	273
White	1,162
International Students	368
Other Races/Ethnicities	157

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Speech Communication, too. About 16.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Speech Communication

Some degrees associated with speech communication may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for speech communication careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	8.9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	8.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.9%
Some College Courses	8.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	48.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.8%
Master’s Degree	14.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	3.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	1.6%

Online Speech Communication Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	16	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	210	24
Bachelor’s Degree	30	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	167	21
Post-Master’s	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	48	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Speech Communication

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to speech communication.

Major	Number of Grads
Communications	11,269
Communication & Media Studies	9,221
Other Communication & Media Studies	2,831

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.