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Weather anchor education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a weather anchor. Weather anchors usually study journalism, communication, or meteorology. 90% of weather anchors hold a bachelor's degree, and 6% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 248 real weather anchor resumes to see exactly what weather anchor education sections show.

The most common colleges for weather anchors are the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania State University.

There are also many online weather anchor courses to help get the education required to be a weather anchor.

What education do you need to become a weather anchor?

What degree do you need to be a weather anchor?

The most common degree for weather anchors is bachelor's degree, with 90% of weather anchors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 6% and associate degree degree at 2%.
  • Bachelor's, 90%
  • Associate, 6%
  • Master's, 2%
  • High School Diploma, 1%

What should I major in to become a weather anchor?

You should major in journalism to become a weather anchor. 29% of weather anchors major in journalism. Other common majors for a weather anchor include communication and meteorology.

Most common colleges for weather anchors

Weather anchors often get their degrees at Pennsylvania State University, University of Southern California, and Mississippi State University. Here are the most common colleges for weather anchors in the US based on their resumes.
Weather anchor common collegePercentages
Pennsylvania State University10.17%
University of Southern California8.47%
Mississippi State University8.47%
University of Florida6.78%
New Mexico State University6.78%

Best majors for weather anchors

Best colleges for weather anchors

The best colleges for weather anchors are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and University of California, Berkeley.

A weather anchor with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for weather anchors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become weather anchors.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

2. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

3. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-state tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

4. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$10,595

Enrollment

30,184

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

7. North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$9,101

Enrollment

23,708

8. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

9. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

10. University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$50,226

Enrollment

10,873

20 best online courses for weather anchors

Advertising disclosure

1. Build a Full-Stack Server for API Requests - NodeJS and Pug

coursera

By the end of this project, you will create a website which reports the weather for a specific city. We will learn how to use NodeJS to send API requests to Accuweather, and Pug and CSS to present the weather to the users.. We will use VSCode throughout this course. Building a full-stack website is a highly sought after skillset and this course is a great way to get started by building a simple weather website. This guided project is for anyone who is comfortable with JavaScript and has some...

2. Build a Website using an API with HTML, JavaScript, and JSON

coursera

In this project, you’ll support a European travel agency’s effort to increase booking by building a webpage that provides visitors with a 7-day weather forecast for major European cities. Accomplishing this task will require you to retrieve real-time weather data from an external service. In creating the webpage, you’ll request, process, and present the weather data using HTML, JavaScript, and JSON. There isn’t just one right approach or solution in this scenario, which means you can create a...

3. Build a Weather App With Python and Django

udemy
4.2
(322)

Learn API Driven Web Development With Django and Python!...

4. Complete Media Training Master Class - Confidence on Camera

udemy
4.7
(987)

TJ Walker's Incredibly Thorough and Comprehensive Media Training Course for Every Situation, Audience and Skill Level...

5. Creating a Visual Tasks Guide with Microsoft PowerPoint

coursera

By the end of this project, you will have created a Visual Tasks Guide to use with your students. As teachers, we are always looking for ways to help our students grow. For students with special needs or students who need organizational support, completing tasks in the correct order can be a challenge. By providing a visual guide, students are able to gain independence as they practice tasks such as dressing for the weather or getting ready for school...

6. Strategies for winning. Meteorology in a round the world regatta

coursera

In this course you can learn about the mechanics of global weather, the foundations of ocean meteorology, predictive modeling and how sailors receive data via satellite and use high-performance navigation software. This course looks at oceanic meteorology and climatology through the lens of the sport of sailing. You will gain a basic knowledge of meteorology needed by sailors to take part in a regatta such as the Barcelona World Race, the only double-handed, round the world regatta with no...

7. Flutter Bloc Essential Course (English)

udemy
4.5
(328)

(cover version 8.0) Learn and practice the concept of state management using Flutter Bloc, a Flutter state management so...

8. Successful Events: Event Planning, Marketing & Management

udemy
4.7
(2,141)

Create a single successful event or event-series with effective event promotion, planning, management, and monetization...

9. Use the Apache Spark Structured Streaming API with MongoDB

coursera

By the end of this project, you will use the Apache Spark Structured Streaming API with Python to stream data from two different sources, store a dataset in the MongoDB database, and join two datasets. The Apache Spark Structured Streaming API is used to continuously stream data from various sources including the file system or a TCP/IP socket. One application is to continuously capture data from weather stations for historical purposes...

10. Processing Data with Python

coursera

Processing data is used in virtually every field these days. It is used for analyzing web traffic to determine personal preferences, gathering scientific data for biological analysis, analyzing weather patterns, business practices, and on. Data can take on many different forms and come from many different sources. Python is an open-source (free) programming language that is used in web programming, data science, artificial intelligence, and many scientific applications. It has libraries that...

11. Advanced Crystal Reports 2011 Training Video

udemy
4.8
(379)

A Comprehensive Crystal Reports Training Course That Takes Your Crystal Reports Skills To The Next Level...

12. The Complete Android 12 & Kotlin Development Masterclass

udemy
4.4
(11,962)

Learn Android 12 App Development From Beginner to Advanced Developer. Build Apps like Trello, 7Min Workout, Weather App...

13. Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB

coursera

In this course, you will learn to think like a data scientist and ask questions of your data. You will use interactive features in MATLAB to extract subsets of data and to compute statistics on groups of related data. You will learn to use MATLAB to automatically generate code so you can learn syntax as you explore. You will also use interactive documents, called live scripts, to capture the steps of your analysis, communicate the results, and provide interactive controls allowing others to...

14. Driving business towards the Sustainable Development Goals

coursera

Extreme weather events, wars, famine and environmental destruction are just a few of the wicked problems faced by humanity. That’s why in 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that target the big challenges such as how to eliminate poverty, how to protect the environment and how to bring about peace. Every member state committed to achieving these goals by 2030. What can businesses do to counter...

15. Media Training: Have More Confidence on Camera

udemy
4.3
(523)

Feel more confident on camera! Media training for You Tubers, coaches, course creators, journalists, video creators...

16. Set Up A Photography Studio With Equipment - On A Budget

udemy
4.5
(349)

Learn How To Set Up A Photography Studio On Any Budget: Location, Room, Backgrounds, Lighting, Props And More!...

17. The Beginner's Guide to Vegetable Gardening

udemy
4.2
(662)

Learn where, when and what to plant in your backyard garden...

18. Ace Your 104, Bareboat Cruising Written Sailing Exam

udemy
4.9
(352)

Essential knowledge for living the sailing cruising life...

19. How to Throw Events and Attract Corporate Sponsors

udemy
4.8
(334)

48 Industry Secrets that Make You More Money and Get More People to Your Events...

20. SAS programing on Reports and Tables generating

udemy
4.4
(260)

Create reports and tables using Proc Report, SAS Proc Tabulate, SAS Proc Print and SAS ODS...

Top 10 most affordable universities for weather anchors

The most affordable schools for weather anchors are Baruch College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and brooklyn college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for weather anchors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for weather anchors.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

3. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

4. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

5. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

6. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

7. USF St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,821

Cost of attendance

19,849

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

10. Lehman College of the City University of New York

Bronx, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,210

Cost of attendance

14,359

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for weather anchors

The hardest universities for weather anchors to get into are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and University of California, Berkeley.

Some great schools for weather anchors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for weather anchors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

7%

SAT average

1,545

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

3. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,448

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

6. University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL • Private

Admissions rate

32%

SAT average

1,365

7. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

9. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

Admissions rate

47%

SAT average

1,390

10. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for weather anchors

The easiest schools for weather anchors to get into are University of the Incarnate Word, notre dame de namur university, and rochester university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a weather anchor without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for weather anchors.

1. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

2. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

3. Rochester University

Rochester Hills, MI • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,002

4. Grand View University

Des Moines, IA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,060

5. Centenary University

Hackettstown, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

67%

SAT average

987

6. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

7. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

8. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

9. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

10. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

Average weather anchor salary by education level

According to our data, weather anchors with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $77,743 annually. Weather anchors with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $75,002.
Weather anchor education levelWeather anchor salary
Master's Degree$77,743
Bachelor's Degree$75,002

Weather anchor education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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