A foreign languages and literatures, general degree prepares graduates for careers in Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary, Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, Interpreters and translators. 206 colleges and universities offer this program.
Nationally, bachelor’s graduates in this field earn a median $49,984 four years after graduating (middle half: $32,888–$69,881). Where you study it matters: across 90 colleges with reported results, pay ranges from $29,715 to $88,098.
Sort by:
| # | College | 4 yrs after | Wage-adjusted | 1 yr after | Median debt | Outcome Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke University Durham, NC | $88,098 | $94,542 | — | — | A+ |
| 2 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA | $78,746 | $69,344 | — | — | A |
| 3 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | $76,993 | $79,703 | — | $19,760 | A+ |
| 4 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA | $76,724 | $69,814 | $25,059 | $14,000 | A+ |
| 5 | Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA | $73,971 | $67,357 | $43,923 | — | A |
| 6 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA | $68,263 | $62,160 | $37,389 | $22,500 | A |
| 7 | Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX | $66,241 | $67,348 | — | $19,500 | A |
| 8 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI | $65,667 | $69,238 | — | $24,915 | A |
| 9 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | $65,574 | $57,460 | $28,278 | $17,500 | A+ |
| 10 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY | $64,547 | $61,435 | $24,407 | $18,938 | A |
| 11 | University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | $62,927 | $57,259 | $30,524 | $15,000 | A+ |
| 12 | James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA | $62,366 | $56,790 | $45,122 | $18,879 | B+ |
| 13 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL | $61,774 | $60,693 | $25,921 | $19,500 | A+ |
| 14 | University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | $61,580 | $56,034 | $27,629 | $13,000 | A |
| 15 | University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO | $61,080 | $65,491 | $35,409 | $18,500 | A |
| 16 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ | $60,883 | $53,436 | $16,796 | $22,345 | A |
| 17 | Brigham Young University Provo, UT | $60,469 | $57,310 | $34,279 | $11,742 | A |
| 18 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC | $60,031 | $64,422 | $34,099 | $19,000 | A |
| 19 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX | $59,742 | $60,740 | $32,185 | $21,696 | A+ |
| 20 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA | $58,931 | $53,662 | $40,105 | $19,500 | B+ |
| 21 | University of California-Davis Davis, CA | $58,443 | $53,179 | $22,965 | $13,798 | A |
| 22 | Ashford University San Diego, CA | $56,666 | $51,562 | $37,853 | $30,073 | F |
| 23 | Appalachian State University Boone, NC | $55,778 | $59,858 | $24,657 | $20,625 | C+ |
| 24 | University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA | $55,776 | $50,753 | $19,809 | $14,497 | A+ |
| 25 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO | $55,647 | $52,041 | — | $15,479 | C+ |
| 26 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA | $55,540 | $51,085 | — | — | A |
| 27 | University of Southern Maine Portland, ME | $55,435 | $58,913 | $27,895 | $23,018 | C |
| 28 | Montana State University Bozeman, MT | $55,352 | $60,463 | $33,415 | $27,000 | C+ |
| 29 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | $55,137 | $58,136 | $27,699 | $13,720 | A+ |
| 30 | The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX | $54,985 | $55,904 | $31,993 | $20,205 | A |
| 31 | Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ | $54,276 | $55,769 | $38,177 | $20,500 | C+ |
| 32 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY | $54,215 | $51,601 | $26,353 | $20,843 | A |
| 33 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC | $54,181 | $58,144 | $24,658 | $16,782 | A+ |
| 34 | Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA | $53,564 | $48,775 | — | — | C+ |
| 35 | Gordon College Wenham, MA | $53,475 | $47,090 | — | — | D |
| 36 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL | $53,453 | $52,517 | $37,155 | $29,875 | C |
| 37 | University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA | $53,282 | $48,518 | — | $21,021 | C+ |
| 38 | Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ | $53,085 | $46,592 | $31,622 | $22,925 | B |
| 39 | University of Arizona Tucson, AZ | $52,805 | $54,258 | — | — | B |
| 40 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN | $52,703 | $57,572 | $31,713 | $20,612 | B+ |
| 41 | Clemson University Clemson, SC | $52,044 | $57,709 | $29,560 | $22,250 | A+ |
| 42 | Portland State University Portland, OR | $51,925 | $52,231 | — | $23,499 | C+ |
| 43 | Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX | $51,494 | $52,354 | $38,375 | $19,495 | D |
| 44 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA | $51,416 | $52,291 | $37,859 | $21,750 | A |
| 45 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO | $50,926 | $47,626 | $29,803 | $24,867 | F |
| 46 | Hofstra University Hempstead, NY | $50,571 | $48,133 | — | — | B+ |
| 47 | University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA | $49,763 | $45,281 | $21,793 | $16,740 | B+ |
| 48 | California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA | $49,732 | $45,253 | $24,961 | — | C |
| 49 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA | $48,959 | $44,549 | — | — | B |
| 50 | Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA | $48,495 | $49,320 | $29,821 | $27,000 | C |
| 51 | West Virginia University Morgantown, WV | $48,331 | $57,178 | $32,684 | $20,916 | B+ |
| 52 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL | $48,198 | $51,301 | $30,205 | $17,758 | A+ |
| 53 | Colorado State University Pueblo Pueblo, CO | $47,362 | $44,293 | — | — | D |
| 54 | Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL | $46,915 | $49,935 | $32,756 | $19,500 | B |
| 55 | University of Oregon Eugene, OR | $46,886 | $47,162 | $23,615 | $20,680 | B |
| 56 | University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE | $46,595 | $48,158 | $33,828 | $12,250 | C |
| 57 | Towson University Towson, MD | $46,447 | $40,763 | — | — | C+ |
| 58 | University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA | $46,306 | $42,135 | $20,212 | $17,500 | B+ |
| 59 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN | $46,081 | $44,017 | $28,340 | $16,677 | A |
| 60 | Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA | $45,607 | $41,529 | $30,635 | $21,627 | C |
| 61 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY | $45,148 | $51,121 | $27,449 | $26,000 | B+ |
| 62 | Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH | $44,941 | $47,959 | $27,788 | $19,798 | A |
| 63 | University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY | $44,841 | $42,679 | $26,703 | $16,525 | B+ |
| 64 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA | $44,615 | $41,036 | $24,232 | $19,798 | C+ |
| 65 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT | $44,336 | $42,020 | $30,251 | $20,250 | B+ |
| 66 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL | $43,813 | $46,633 | $28,658 | $14,250 | B+ |
| 67 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN | $43,666 | $47,700 | $34,856 | $18,578 | C |
| 68 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC | $43,012 | $46,158 | $35,561 | $24,250 | B |
| 69 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA | $42,922 | $39,056 | $22,001 | $11,000 | B |
| 70 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL | $42,905 | $42,154 | $25,921 | $23,625 | C |
| 71 | Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN | $42,321 | $45,403 | — | $18,635 | A |
| 72 | The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN | $42,031 | $45,914 | — | — | C+ |
| 73 | Montclair State University Montclair, NJ | $42,017 | $36,878 | $23,754 | $26,375 | C+ |
| 74 | The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX | $41,778 | $42,476 | — | $27,000 | C+ |
| 75 | Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO | $41,766 | $44,782 | $29,830 | $20,250 | C |
| 76 | University of Vermont Burlington, VT | $41,124 | $42,238 | $14,094 | $21,625 | B+ |
| 77 | University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO | $40,768 | $43,712 | $20,319 | $23,282 | C+ |
| 78 | Iowa State University Ames, IA | $40,726 | $42,839 | $25,065 | $23,250 | B+ |
| 79 | University of South Alabama Mobile, AL | $40,641 | $46,131 | — | $22,000 | C+ |
| 80 | New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM | $40,432 | $46,814 | $27,720 | $19,125 | F |
| 81 | Georgia State University Atlanta, GA | $40,310 | $41,729 | $16,568 | $21,588 | D |
| 82 | The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX | $39,907 | $40,574 | $26,475 | $16,502 | C |
| 83 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN | $39,001 | $42,604 | $23,533 | $21,279 | C |
| 84 | California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA | $38,996 | $35,484 | $18,393 | $11,543 | B |
| 85 | Wayne State University Detroit, MI | $38,926 | $41,043 | $20,939 | $20,195 | C+ |
| 86 | University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR | $38,631 | $45,523 | — | — | C |
| 87 | University of North Texas Denton, TX | $37,441 | $38,067 | $20,522 | $19,750 | C+ |
| 88 | California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA | $32,939 | $29,972 | $21,501 | — | C |
| 89 | University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM | $31,036 | $35,935 | $27,366 | — | C |
| 90 | California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA | $29,715 | $27,039 | $22,723 | $12,979 | C+ |
Bachelor’s degrees. Wage-adjusted = pay ÷ √(state wage index). Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data.
Graduates with this degree pursue careers in the following fields:
Ranked by Repit grade, then by degrees awarded. These are the top-rated colleges that produce the most graduates in foreign languages and literatures, general.
Schools ranked by number of graduates. These institutions produce the most foreign languages and literatures, general graduates annually, including online and distance learning programs.
Foreign Languages and Literatures, General is a degree program offered at 206 colleges and universities across the United States. Each year, approximately 2,396 students graduate with this degree.
Graduates with this degree can pursue careers such as foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary, secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, interpreters and translators.