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Comparing the Most Affordable Online Master’s in Public Relations Degrees

Many students pursuing PR are career professionals seeking advancement rather than a first credential, which means they may already be balancing financial responsibilities — mortgages, children, or existing student loans. Enrolling in an affordable master’s program that costs $7,000 to $13,000 annually, like the ones featured here, means they can access a career-boosting credential without putting their financial stability at risk.

All schools on our list are institutionally accredited, and many boast strong graduation and recommendation rates, with some exceeding national benchmarks. And because our tuition rates are manually collected and verified, and recommendation rates are based on real student surveys we've conducted, you’re getting transparent, student-centered data you can trust.

Now, let's dive into some of the data from this list of affordable PR master's programs. 

Cost Matters — But Outcomes Do Too

Troy University leads in cost-effectiveness at just $7,125, while Campbellsville and Liberty remain close behind at $8,250 and $8,475, respectively. Even at the upper end of our list, Winona State and the University of Tennessee - Martin stay well below many private-sector alternatives, with tuition just over $12,000. These figures are critical for students in communication fields, where early-career salaries may not always match the tuition demands of more expensive graduate programs.

But cost is just the beginning. The real value of these programs emerges when we consider outcomes like graduation rates, student satisfaction, and peer recommendation. These data points offer insight into a question every prospective student should ask: Will I be supported enough to finish, and will it be worth it once I do?

Graduation Rates

Graduation rates vary significantly across the list. 

At the top, Purdue boasts an impressive 83% graduation rate — a figure that places it in the top tier of graduate education nationally. The University of Missouri is close behind at 75%, reflecting a consistent level of support and academic momentum across its online PR master's programs. Both schools pair this high completion rate with strong retention numbers, indicating that students not only start but stay. 

In contrast, Buffalo State and Montana State in Billings report low graduation rates, at 36% and 26%, respectively. While both still offer strong academic value and affordability, these metrics may suggest challenges in program pacing, student engagement, or advising. These considerations become especially important for students balancing full-time jobs with their coursework.

Retention Rates

Retention rates — the percentage of students who stay enrolled after their first year — are a window into a program’s internal strength. They reflect not just the curriculum, but the overall student experience: how supported learners feel, how manageable the workload is, and how well the school delivers on its promises. 

Purdue and Missouri, again, excel with retention rates around 90%, while schools like Buffalo State hover closer to 49%. This gap matters, particularly in online learning environments where motivation and continuity can be harder to maintain without strong support systems.

Among the 15 affordable programs we evaluated, a notable seven schools report first-year retention rates in the 70-90% range. These include Troy University (75%), Liberty University (79%), Mississippi College (77%), Arkansas State University (78%), SUNY Oswego (73%), Winona State University (76%), and Texas Tech University (86%). This shows that a strong majority of students feel equipped and motivated to return.

For online master’s students, especially in fields like public relations, these metrics are critical. PR professionals know that timing, relationships, and messaging matter — and those principles apply to graduate school success, too.

Word-of-Mouth Matters in PR

In the world of public relations, trust is everything. Campaigns rise and fall on credibility, and referrals often drive opportunities more than résumés do. That’s why the recommendation rate (the percentage of surveyed graduates who say they’d recommend a program to others) is one of the most relevant indicators for prospective PR students considering graduate school. 

These recommendation rates come directly from student surveys we’ve collected, offering rare insight into satisfaction beyond graduation.

Public relations is a discipline rooted in influence. Professionals in the field know that people rarely trust messaging from institutions as much as they trust insights from real people, whether that’s a client referral, a social review, or a colleague’s personal experience. The same logic applies to grad school decisions. 

When a school earns a high recommendation rate from its own graduates, it signals that students not only completed the program, but felt strongly enough about their experience to advocate for it.

Winona State University tops the list with a perfect 100% recommendation rate, meaning every surveyed graduate would suggest the program to a peer. That level of endorsement should resonate strongly with PR professionals, who understand what it takes to build that kind of consensus. Close behind, the University of Missouri reports a 99% recommendation rate. Not only does it pair this with high graduation and retention rates, but it also demonstrates a program culture in which students feel supported and successful long after enrollment. 

Ultimately, for public relations professionals — people trained to read between the lines and assess the strength of a message — the recommendation rate acts as an unfiltered pulse check. It's less about marketing and more about trust. And for a degree that could shape your next move in communications leadership, media strategy, or brand management, that kind of word-of-mouth endorsement should weigh heavily in your decision-making process.

Final Takeaway: Choosing the Right PR Master’s Means Reading Between the Lines

For prospective PR students, who are professionally trained to weigh credibility, context, and audience trust, it’s not enough to look at cost alone. The deeper story lies in the outcomes: who finishes these programs, who returns after year one, and who walks away willing to recommend their school to others.

When you look holistically, a few patterns emerge that speak directly to what matters in this field. 

• High recommendation rates at schools like Winona State (100%), Missouri (99%), and Purdue (94%) mirror the kind of trust PR professionals are hired to create. These are programs that deliver not only degrees, but confidence, consistency, and respect in the eyes of their alumni.
• Strong retention and graduation rates, like the 90%+ figures at Missouri and Purdue, suggest thoughtful course design, responsive faculty, and a learning environment where students feel seen, even from a distance. That kind of infrastructure is essential for working adults managing campaigns by day and coursework by night.

Even the range of offerings tells you something. Programs like Arkansas State’s emphasize digital tools like Hootsuite certification, while Campbellsville targets customer experience strategy — both speaking to the expanding definition of what public relations looks like today. And institutions like Missouri and Purdue offer flexible or dual-degree options that anticipate the cross-sector communication needs of tomorrow’s leadership roles.

And then there’s the diversity of degree titles themselves. This list includes traditional programs like a master’s in public relations (Buffalo State, MSU Billings), but also broader options like strategic communication (Troy, Oswego, Winona, Arkansas State), communication with a Public Relations concentration (Purdue, Liberty), and even more specialized offerings like customer experience (Campbellsville) and public affairs (Missouri). 

This variety reflects the field’s expanding intersections, between branding and analytics, advocacy and digital tools, internal culture and external messaging. Those looking for direct media management roles might lean toward Buffalo State or Liberty, while professionals eyeing executive leadership, nonprofit advocacy, or public sector strategy may be better served by Missouri’s public affairs track or Purdue’s customizable concentrations.

At its core, public relations is about shaping narratives, building trust, and influencing outcomes. The programs on this list reflect those same values.