Best Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services Degrees in the US by ROI

Top colleges ranked by estimated 20-year net return on investment across all active states. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Programs Analyzed

Colleges with salary data

Average 20-Yr Net ROI

-$270,834

Across all programs

Average Annual Cost

$31,922

Cost of attendance

#	College	State	20-Yr Net ROI	Median Salary	Annual Cost	Avg Debt
1	University of Delaware Grad rate: 79.2%	DE	+$201,792	$57,959	$29,347	N/A	Full ROI →
2	University of Maryland-College Park Grad rate: 88.9%	MD	+$166,568	$55,943	$28,073	N/A	Full ROI →
3	Virginia Military Institute Grad rate: 79.2%	VA	+$81,948	$52,845	$33,738	N/A	Full ROI →
4	Rutgers University-New Brunswick Grad rate: 84.7%	NJ	-$8,944	$50,236	$35,232	$24,249	Full ROI →
5	University of North Georgia Grad rate: 37.7%	GA	-$10,993	$46,704	$18,062	$24,315	Full ROI →
6	George Mason University Grad rate: 69.9%	VA	-$46,185	$46,560	$26,972	$21,850	Full ROI →
7	James Madison University Grad rate: 81.0%	VA	-$50,069	$46,781	$30,213	$18,398	Full ROI →
8	San Francisco State University Grad rate: 52.2%	CA	-$56,512	$44,226	$25,258	N/A	Full ROI →
9	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Grad rate: 86.3%	VA	-$96,395	$45,107	$32,040	$22,500	Full ROI →
10	California State University-Northridge Grad rate: 56.1%	CA	-$112,028	$40,462	$20,317	N/A	Full ROI →
11	Brown University Grad rate: 95.5%	RI	-$117,784	$53,108	$84,986	N/A	Full ROI →
12	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Grad rate: 83.1%	MA	-$127,336	$42,311	$33,389	N/A	Full ROI →
13	California State University-San Bernardino Grad rate: 54.5%	CA	-$128,086	$40,088	$16,910	$16,449	Full ROI →
14	University of Wisconsin-Madison Grad rate: 89.3%	WI	-$130,440	$41,032	$27,770	N/A	Full ROI →
15	University of Mary Washington Grad rate: 68.1%	VA	-$142,151	$42,123	$29,234	$20,500	Full ROI →
16	University at Buffalo Grad rate: 73.5%	NY	-$144,070	$41,896	$29,043	$19,125	Full ROI →
17	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Grad rate: 66.8%	CO	-$145,747	$41,747	$29,696	$16,225	Full ROI →
18	University of Colorado Boulder Grad rate: 74.9%	CO	-$154,664	$40,960	$33,466	N/A	Full ROI →
19	University of Arizona Grad rate: 66.9%	AZ	-$155,492	$39,934	$28,543	N/A	Full ROI →
20	University of Arkansas at Little Rock Grad rate: 41.7%	AR	-$157,632	$38,321	$21,013	N/A	Full ROI →
21	Binghamton University Grad rate: 83.2%	NY	-$162,685	$41,299	$29,657	$22,250	Full ROI →
22	Duke University Grad rate: 96.2%	NC	-$165,416	$50,279	$82,749	N/A	Full ROI →
23	Christopher Newport University Grad rate: 75.6%	VA	-$166,508	$40,123	$32,242	N/A	Full ROI →
24	Towson University Grad rate: 68.7%	MD	-$169,284	$38,860	$26,621	N/A	Full ROI →
25	Emory University Grad rate: 90.9%	GA	-$177,612	$50,216	$78,814	$19,760	Full ROI →
26	University of California-Los Angeles Grad rate: 92.6%	CA	-$182,662	$41,208	$36,643	$15,000	Full ROI →
27	Ramapo College of New Jersey Grad rate: 70.7%	NJ	-$205,824	$39,499	$30,176	$26,000	Full ROI →
28	Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Grad rate: 54.2%	IL	-$207,948	$36,663	$25,302	N/A	Full ROI →
29	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Grad rate: 70.5%	MD	-$209,635	$38,354	$27,935	$18,500	Full ROI →
30	Montclair State University Grad rate: 64.8%	NJ	-$224,354	$37,790	$25,926	$27,000	Full ROI →
31	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Grad rate: 49.6%	WI	-$232,112	$36,549	$22,174	$25,479	Full ROI →
32	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Grad rate: 77.1%	NH	-$238,208	$37,003	$34,567	N/A	Full ROI →
33	California State University-Long Beach Grad rate: 71.3%	CA	-$244,583	$34,682	$20,310	$12,580	Full ROI →
34	University of Nebraska at Omaha Grad rate: 48.3%	NE	-$253,844	$34,207	$20,446	$12,000	Full ROI →
35	University of South Alabama Grad rate: 50.1%	AL	-$255,482	$35,243	$22,070	$23,750	Full ROI →
36	University of California-Santa Barbara Grad rate: 85.5%	CA	-$256,499	$37,482	$36,776	$14,100	Full ROI →
37	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Grad rate: 84.6%	MN	-$258,385	$36,146	$29,013	$18,706	Full ROI →
38	Western Washington University Grad rate: 65.5%	WA	-$268,103	$35,599	$28,305	$19,899	Full ROI →
39	New York University Grad rate: 87.8%	NY	-$270,944	$44,277	$79,121	N/A	Full ROI →
40	Boston University Grad rate: 89.5%	MA	-$271,496	$44,964	$82,694	N/A	Full ROI →
41	Georgetown University Grad rate: 95.0%	DC	-$277,709	$46,235	$84,696	$17,500	Full ROI →
42	The University of Texas at Austin Grad rate: 87.7%	TX	-$281,382	$35,377	$29,842	$21,892	Full ROI →
43	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Grad rate: 84.0%	WA	-$281,988	$33,957	$30,282	N/A	Full ROI →
44	Mississippi State University Grad rate: 63.0%	MS	-$287,588	$33,005	$26,922	N/A	Full ROI →
45	West Virginia University Grad rate: 61.7%	WV	-$289,808	$33,657	$23,678	$20,916	Full ROI →
46	The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Grad rate: 52.7%	TN	-$302,912	$31,567	$23,563	N/A	Full ROI →
47	University of Central Arkansas Grad rate: 51.7%	AR	-$305,100	$31,598	$24,265	N/A	Full ROI →
48	Brigham Young University Grad rate: 80.4%	UT	-$312,984	$31,311	$20,879	$11,621	Full ROI →
49	University of Oregon Grad rate: 72.5%	OR	-$337,806	$33,202	$32,636	$23,187	Full ROI →
50	University of Florida Grad rate: 90.7%	FL	-$338,757	$30,750	$21,719	$19,912	Full ROI →

How ROI is calculated

20-Year Net ROI = Gross Earnings (salary × 20) − Total Degree Cost − Debt Payoff (×1.35) − Baseline Opportunity Cost ($42,000 × 20). Data from the U.S. College Scorecard.

Find Best Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services Degrees by State

Browse Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services programs ranked by 20-year ROI in every state that offers this degree.