There are approximately three high paying communications tracks. One is Investor Relations- usually requires an MBA. One is “executive communications” i.e. speechwriting, but for a corporation, not a political candidate, and for those roles, Econ, History or English is the way to go. And the third is lobbyist, where Poli Sci OR some content type degree (Agriculture, International Relations, regional studies and foreign language fluency).
BUT- nobody is landing one of the high paying comms roles right out of undergrad. You’ve got at least ten years of “dues paying”, either a low paying job on the Hill, working as a journalist, etc. before you would be considered even minimally qualified.
So– how you would pay back heavy loans earning $40K as a “stringer” for a news website or similar?
I have hired dozens of Comm’s professionals over the years (corporate roles) and don’t think a single person majored in “communications”. Some have had regional expertise (Asia, Russia, Brazil, depending on what the business needed at the time), some have had sector expertise (a standout hire was a CS major and we were hiring for our DC/Government Relations operation and needed someone strong on Tech regulation and Tech IP) etc. But everyone pays their dues in low paying jobs where you work insane hours and learn the ropes. And learn a specific area- a food company will want someone who has covered agriculture, consumer safety, sustainability. An aerospace company will want expertise on defense, IP and commercial aviation… etc.
Why NYU, why Communications, what type of comm’s do you hope to study?