Communications Technology/Support

Types of Degrees Communications Technology/Support Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many communications technologies and support graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	533
Graduate Certificate	52

What Communications Technology/Support Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to communications technologies and support were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Communications Technologies & Support Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills for Communications Technologies & Support Majors

A major in communications technologies and support prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Communications Technologies & Support Majors

A major in communications technologies and support will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• 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.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

What Can You Do With a Communications Technology/Support Major?

People with a communications technologies and support degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Audio and Video Equipment Technicians	12.8%	$43,770
Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Motion Picture	7.2%	$54,570
Film and Video Editors	17.0%	$62,650
Media and Communication Workers	10.0%	$48,330
Multimedia Artists and Animators	8.4%	$72,520
Sound Engineering Technicians	6.5%	$52,390

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Communications Technology/Support?

Roughly 47% of the graduates are women, and 53% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of communications technologies and support majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	19
Black or African American	48
Hispanic or Latino	47
White	153
International Students	221
Other Races/Ethnicities	45

Geographic Diversity

Communications Technologies & Support appeals to people across the globe. About 41.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Communications Technology/Support Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that communications technologies and support students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree made a median starting salary of $37,192 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $26,645 (25th percentile) and $47,429 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a communications technologies and support degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $38,470 to $61,750 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to communications technologies and support. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Communications Technology/Support

Some degrees associated with communications technologies and support 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 communications technologies and support careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	4.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	30.3%
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)	11.8%
Some College Courses	16.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	17.7%
Master’s Degree	0.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.1%

Online Communications Technology/Support Programs

In 2020-2021, 648 schools offered a communications technologies and support program of some type. 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)	382	10
Certificate (2-4 Years)	15	1
Associate’s Degree	507	14
Bachelor’s Degree	8	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	37	3
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Communications Technology/Support Worth It?

The median salary for a communications technologies and support grad is $46,770 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 17% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $137,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Communications Technology/Support

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to communications technologies and support.

Major	Number of Grads
Engineering	61,791
Computer & Information Sciences	60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences	28,851
Mathematics & Statistics	15,127
Physical Sciences	12,705
Engineering Technologies	7,672
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations	7,531
Architecture & Related Services	6,944
Natural Resources & Conservation	5,744
Science Technologies / Technicians	79

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 {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.