Best Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics 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

227

Colleges with salary data

Average 20-Yr Net ROI

-$191,272

Across all programs

Average Annual Cost

$41,087

Cost of attendance

#	College	State	20-Yr Net ROI	Median Salary	Annual Cost	Avg Debt
1	SUNY College at Geneseo Grad rate: 73.2%	NY	+$210,876	$57,836	$26,461	N/A	Full ROI →
2	Cornell University Grad rate: 95.2%	NY	+$186,871	$69,029	$83,196	$15,500	Full ROI →
3	Villanova University Grad rate: 91.5%	PA	+$186,266	$69,309	$80,866	$27,000	Full ROI →
4	Centre College Grad rate: 86.0%	KY	+$183,786	$65,445	$63,354	$23,480	Full ROI →
5	Loyola University Chicago Grad rate: 73.9%	IL	+$171,469	$64,939	$64,167	$22,698	Full ROI →
6	University of Colorado Boulder Grad rate: 74.9%	CO	+$171,156	$57,251	$33,466	N/A	Full ROI →
7	Stony Brook University Grad rate: 77.8%	NY	+$161,387	$57,201	$29,174	$19,212	Full ROI →
8	Furman University Grad rate: 83.5%	SC	+$133,850	$65,264	$73,760	$26,955	Full ROI →
9	Trinity University Grad rate: 78.8%	TX	+$133,784	$61,844	$65,774	N/A	Full ROI →
10	Minnesota State University-Mankato Grad rate: 53.3%	MN	+$117,492	$53,796	$22,565	$20,865	Full ROI →
11	CUNY Queens College Grad rate: 58.4%	NY	+$104,028	$49,930	$13,643	N/A	Full ROI →
12	University of Richmond Grad rate: 87.9%	VA	+$101,660	$62,541	$77,290	N/A	Full ROI →
13	Providence College Grad rate: 86.7%	RI	+$98,252	$62,246	$76,667	N/A	Full ROI →
14	Utah State University Grad rate: 55.8%	UT	+$89,265	$52,057	$21,050	$20,500	Full ROI →
15	CUNY City College Grad rate: 56.6%	NY	+$76,564	$48,531	$13,514	N/A	Full ROI →
16	University of Utah Grad rate: 64.2%	UT	+$56,124	$49,166	$21,799	N/A	Full ROI →
17	Western Illinois University Grad rate: 46.2%	IL	+$54,868	$50,309	$27,828	N/A	Full ROI →
18	New Jersey City University Grad rate: 38.7%	NJ	+$53,689	$50,753	$23,668	$19,777	Full ROI →
19	Weber State University Grad rate: 42.6%	UT	+$53,372	$48,713	$16,172	$12,000	Full ROI →
20	University of Missouri-Columbia Grad rate: 75.7%	MO	+$52,728	$50,426	$28,948	N/A	Full ROI →
21	University of Notre Dame Grad rate: 96.6%	IN	+$37,508	$61,217	$80,211	$19,250	Full ROI →
22	North Carolina Central University Grad rate: 45.1%	NC	+$36,528	$48,950	$25,618	N/A	Full ROI →
23	College of the Holy Cross Grad rate: 90.3%	MA	+$24,363	$60,341	$76,510	$26,975	Full ROI →
24	Duke University Grad rate: 96.2%	NC	+$21,084	$59,604	$82,749	N/A	Full ROI →
25	Bucknell University Grad rate: 86.4%	PA	+$19,092	$60,608	$79,956	$24,625	Full ROI →
26	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Grad rate: 83.1%	MA	+$10,484	$49,202	$33,389	N/A	Full ROI →
27	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Grad rate: 62.9%	WI	+$8,602	$47,898	$18,661	$25,714	Full ROI →
28	Brigham Young University Grad rate: 80.4%	UT	+$2,578	$47,197	$20,879	$13,219	Full ROI →
29	Sonoma State University Grad rate: 60.1%	CA	-$4,423	$47,891	$24,739	$17,250	Full ROI →
30	University of St Thomas Grad rate: 77.3%	MN	-$8,676	$54,503	$64,684	N/A	Full ROI →
31	University of California-Berkeley Grad rate: 93.5%	CA	-$11,142	$50,767	$42,708	$11,593	Full ROI →
32	University of Redlands Grad rate: 69.0%	CA	-$16,582	$57,040	$70,233	$27,000	Full ROI →
33	Central Washington University Grad rate: 51.0%	WA	-$22,212	$45,919	$25,148	N/A	Full ROI →
34	Hamilton College Grad rate: 91.8%	NY	-$26,690	$57,565	$80,380	$12,200	Full ROI →
35	Boston University Grad rate: 89.5%	MA	-$27,176	$57,180	$82,694	N/A	Full ROI →
36	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Grad rate: 44.8%	PA	-$31,116	$45,318	$24,369	N/A	Full ROI →
37	Hope College Grad rate: 81.3%	MI	-$38,014	$52,363	$52,206	$27,000	Full ROI →
38	University of Southern Indiana Grad rate: 51.5%	IN	-$42,156	$44,042	$20,749	N/A	Full ROI →
39	Georgetown University Grad rate: 95.0%	DC	-$42,849	$57,978	$84,696	$17,500	Full ROI →
40	Marist University Grad rate: 80.6%	NY	-$52,892	$52,135	$63,898	N/A	Full ROI →
41	University of Rhode Island Grad rate: 71.4%	RI	-$55,062	$47,382	$32,584	$23,975	Full ROI →
42	Rockhurst University Grad rate: 76.3%	MO	-$55,758	$52,037	$57,712	$19,000	Full ROI →
43	William Paterson University of New Jersey Grad rate: 51.9%	NJ	-$75,540	$43,534	$26,555	N/A	Full ROI →
44	Connecticut College Grad rate: 83.9%	CT	-$79,216	$54,483	$82,219	N/A	Full ROI →
45	Eastern Washington University Grad rate: 48.4%	WA	-$85,627	$43,658	$22,772	$20,518	Full ROI →
46	McDaniel College Grad rate: 64.9%	MD	-$86,636	$50,263	$62,974	N/A	Full ROI →
47	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Grad rate: 93.2%	MI	-$89,343	$45,395	$33,345	$17,677	Full ROI →
48	The University of Texas at Austin Grad rate: 87.7%	TX	-$90,043	$44,765	$29,842	$19,241	Full ROI →
49	Washington State University Grad rate: 62.0%	WA	-$90,344	$42,918	$27,176	N/A	Full ROI →
50	State University of New York at New Paltz Grad rate: 71.0%	NY	-$92,696	$43,852	$27,034	$16,000	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 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics Degrees by State

Browse Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics programs ranked by 20-year ROI in every state that offers this degree.