undergradly.
Major · Communication & Journalism

A residual journalism CIP where the syllabus matters more than the code

Journalism, Other (CIP 09.0499) is the IPEDS catchall used when a journalism program doesn’t fit Journalism (09.0401), Broadcast Journalism (09.0402), Photojournalism (09.0404), or Magazine (09.0405). About 558 students complete it each year across 41 colleges, with bachelor’s graduates earning around $55,282 in five-year tracked wages.

Schools offering
41
Annual completions
558
Typical degree level
Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$55k

About this major

Journalism, Other (CIP 09.0499) is the IPEDS catchall code for journalism programs that don’t fit any of the named 09.04 codes — Journalism (09.0401), Broadcast Journalism (09.0402), Photojournalism (09.0404), or Magazine Journalism (09.0405). The CIP definition is narrow on paper and broad in practice, with Online Journalism the lone listed example; schools file digital-first, multimedia, and innovation-track programs here when those don’t map onto print-and-broadcast Journalism. Coursework typically covers reporting and writing fundamentals, multimedia production across video and audio, basic data and visualization tools, media law and ethics, and a working portfolio of published or broadcast pieces by senior year. Two graduates with the same CIP can have studied substantively different things, so the school choice is unusually load-bearing.

The major fits students drawn to journalism specifically — the discipline of original reporting, source-building, and editorial judgment — rather than communications broadly. Strong writing across formats, comfort interviewing strangers and synthesizing what they say, willingness to file under deadline, and a working interest in some beat (politics, climate, technology, sports, business) are the trait set that holds up against a contracting newsroom job market. Programs that lean into reporting, accountability journalism, and audience strategy age better than those built around general writing skills that generative AI has already absorbed.

At national scale, this is a small CIP with a heavily concentrated distribution: 558 degrees are awarded annually across 41 colleges, dwarfed by the parent Journalism CIP (8,274 completions). Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School alone accounts for 156 of those 558 — about 28% of the national total — and shapes the averages disproportionately. Other top-completion programs include Alabama (88), BYU (53), Syracuse (39), UC Irvine (33), Nebraska-Lincoln (32), Oklahoma State (23), Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (21), Kentucky State (16), and Drake (13). The named BLS destinations — news analysts, reporters, and journalists at $60,280 (-3.9% growth) and postsecondary communications teachers at $77,800 (doctorate required) — anchor the writing-and-reporting landing zone, with most graduates fanning out into corporate communications, content marketing, B2B trade journalism, podcast production, and digital editorial roles. Bachelor’s five-year earnings of $55,282 versus associate’s $48,497 reflect a roughly $6,800 gap that mirrors the credential expectations of the named destinations.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
News analysts, reporters, and journalists $60k -3.9% Bachelor's degree
Communications teachers, postsecondary $78k +2.1% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$55k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$48k

Bachelor's

$55k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if the specific journalism program at a school like Arizona State Cronkite, Alabama, BYU, Syracuse, or UC Irvine has a curriculum and faculty that match how you want to work — digital-first reporting, data journalism, multimedia narrative, or a hybrid track that doesn’t fit the named 09.04 codes. The major rewards students who write well across formats, build sources patiently, treat reporting as a craft to practice rather than a topic to study, and are comfortable producing across writing, audio, and video while a four-year credential is being earned. A real interest in some beat — politics, climate, business, sports, technology, health — and a willingness to start in smaller markets or specialized B2B outlets is the combination most predictive of building a sustainable career rather than peeling off into adjacent fields after graduation. Bachelor’s five-year tracked earnings of about $55,282 align with entry-level professional landings in reporting, corporate communications, content marketing, and trade journalism.

Think twice if you want a credential that signals a specific training clearly to employers and graduate programs — the parent Journalism CIP (09.0401, 8,274 completions) communicates more recognizably than ‘.0499 Other,’ and Broadcast Journalism (09.0402, 672), Photojournalism (09.0404, 65), and Magazine (09.0405) are named tracks for students whose interest is more specific. Reconsider if you’re choosing the major based on the CIP title without verifying the school’s curriculum and recent placement record; the catchall designation hides substantial variation, and a residual program at a regional school may not run the internship pipelines a marquee program does. Pause if you assume reporting jobs will keep growing; news analysts, reporters, and journalists is projected to contract at -3.9%, local newspaper and TV consolidation has trimmed mid-market jobs, and AI has already absorbed rote sports recaps, earnings summaries, and routine aggregation. Pause again if Substack or the creator economy is the plan; the platforms exist for individual monetization, but median income there is low and the top of the distribution is winner-take-most.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Journalism, Other

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ 0 156 156
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL 0 88 88
Brigham Young University Provo, UT 0 53 53
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 0 39 39
University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA 0 33 33
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 0 32 32
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK 0 23 23
University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras San Juan, PR 0 21 21
Kentucky State University Frankfort, KY 0 16 16
Drake University Des Moines, IA 0 13 13
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Communication, General

9,537 completions/yr

Journalism

8,274 completions/yr

Mass Communication/Media Studies

6,797 completions/yr

Radio and Television

4,611 completions/yr

Sports Communication

766 completions/yr

Broadcast Journalism

672 completions/yr

Photojournalism

65 completions/yr

Political Communication

62 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does ‘Journalism, Other’ (09.0499) actually cover?
The CIP is defined narrowly: any instructional program in journalism not listed under the named 09.04 codes — Journalism (09.0401), Broadcast Journalism (09.0402), Photojournalism (09.0404), or Magazine Journalism (09.0405). The single example IPEDS lists is Online Journalism, and in practice schools file digital-first, multimedia, and innovation-track programs here when those don’t map onto print-and-broadcast Journalism. Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School alone accounts for 156 of the 558 annual completions, which suggests one large program is shaping the average; the other 40 schools split the remaining 402 graduates across digital news, online reporting, and hybrid tracks. Two graduates with the same CIP can have studied very different things, so verify what the program actually teaches before assuming the curriculum.
How does 09.0499 compare to Journalism (09.0401) and the other named 09.04 codes?
The named parent CIP is far larger and recognized faster by recruiters. Journalism (09.0401) sits at 8,274 completions across hundreds of programs and signals classical reporting and editorial training. Broadcast Journalism (09.0402) at 672 emphasizes television, radio, and video production craft. Photojournalism (09.0404) at 65 trains the visual storytelling track. Magazine Journalism (09.0405) is small and craft-focused on long-form. This ‘.0499 Other’ code, at 558 completions across 41 schools, is what departments use when their digital, online, or innovation track doesn’t fit the named buckets. Outcomes overlap with the named codes — employers and graduate programs read the school name, the portfolio, and what the curriculum actually covered, not the four-digit CIP — but a named code communicates training more clearly than a catchall.
What jobs do Journalism, Other graduates actually land?
The data packet names two BLS occupations linked to this CIP, and they sit on opposite ends of the credential spectrum: news analysts, reporters, and journalists at $60,280 with -3.9% projected growth (bachelor’s entry), and communications teachers, postsecondary at $77,800 with 2.1% growth (doctorate required). Reporting is the on-the-nose path and the one that contracts every year; the postsecondary teaching role is a long-tail option that requires a PhD and faculty placement. In practice, most graduates land in roles that don’t appear in the packet: corporate communications and PR, content marketing at SaaS and consumer brands, B2B trade journalism at outlets like Bloomberg, Politico Pro, S&P Global, Stat News, and Axios verticals (these tend to pay $80,000–$120,000), nonprofit communications, podcast production, university communications, and digital editorial roles at newsletters and creator-led media. Five-year median earnings of $55,211 are consistent with that wide landing zone.
How is AI changing the journalism job market, and which lanes stay durable?
AI is squeezing the rote-news layer fastest: sports recaps, earnings summaries, weather, brief-form aggregation, and routine social posts have been absorbed by generative tools, and the entry-level on-ramps that paid those jobs are thinner each year. The named reporter occupation already shows -3.9% projected growth, and local newspapers and TV stations have consolidated under fewer ownership groups, trimming mid-market jobs. The durable lanes are reporting that requires human source-development, on-scene presence, and accountability journalism — investigative work, original interviews, courtroom and city-hall coverage, conflict and disaster reporting. Data journalism (combining writing with Python, SQL, and visualization at outlets like ProPublica, NYT Upshot, FiveThirtyEight, and Reuters Graphics) and specialized B2B trade reporting (Bloomberg, Politico Pro, Stat News, S&P Global, Axios verticals) are the two highest-paying durable subspecialties. Substack and the creator economy theoretically allow individual journalists to monetize directly; the median income on those platforms is low, and the top of the distribution is winner-take-most.
Do I need a bachelor’s, or is an associate’s enough?
The wage gap in the data is meaningful: bachelor’s completers earn about $55,282 at five years versus $48,497 for associate’s completers, a difference near $6,800. The bachelor’s also controls access. Every named bachelor’s-typical occupation in the packet — reporters, journalists, editors — lists a bachelor’s as the standard entry credential, and the teaching role requires a doctorate. All ten top-completion programs in the data award only bachelor’s degrees in this CIP — Arizona State, Alabama, BYU, Syracuse, UC Irvine, Nebraska-Lincoln, Oklahoma State, Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, Kentucky State, and Drake — with no associate’s pipeline visible at the top of the distribution. An associate’s can work as a transfer step into a four-year journalism or communications program, especially for students minimizing first-two-year cost, but it is not a terminal credential for newsroom or professional communications roles.
Where does Arizona State fit in this CIP, and what about the other top schools?
Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School dominates 09.0499 with 156 bachelor’s completions — about 28% of the national total — and that one program shapes the wage and outcome averages disproportionately. Cronkite is one of the well-funded marquee journalism schools, alongside Syracuse Newhouse (39 here), Northwestern Medill (not in this code), Missouri’s J-School (not in this code), USC Annenberg, and Maryland; the rest of the 09.0499 list runs through state and regional flagships like Alabama (88), BYU (53), UC Irvine (33), Nebraska-Lincoln (32), Oklahoma State (23), Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (21), Kentucky State (16), and Drake (13). The marquee programs supply internship pipelines, alumni networks, and on-campus newsrooms that the field hires through; the smaller programs vary widely in funding, faculty experience, and placement outcomes. School choice matters more here than CIP choice — verify the curriculum, the internship pipeline, and recent graduate destinations program by program.