English Language and Literature, General

Is an English Language and Literature degree worth it?

Across 527 bachelor's programs that report earnings, the median pays its graduates $27,906 a year after graduation, and the middle half pay between $24,552 and $31,443. The median for all majors is $37,050. At the median program, graduates who borrowed owe $24,480. Debt is 0.88x first-year earnings, which ranks 88th of 147 majors, where 1st carries the least debt for the pay.

English graduates start out earning well below the typical major, and the major ranks in the lower half of those we compare. The best-paying programs are at schools that admit a small share of applicants, and the typical English program admits most who apply. Career offices at those schools report graduates of every major going into business, consulting, law, media and technology, so that pay follows each school's recruiting reach more than the major.

The lowest-paying programs are about as selective as the typical one, and no school type or region explains them; some of those figures rest on very few graduates. First-year pay also understates the major for the many graduates who go straight to graduate school. Cornell's English department reports that close to a third of its graduates did, most often to law school.

These are earnings one year after graduating, for students who received federal aid. Majors that lead to graduate school, or to careers that start slowly, look worse here than they will ten years on.