---
title: Is a Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services degree worth the debt?
cip: 1601
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **92** colleges (92 of 92 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $26,684 ($27,772 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $19,774 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.72× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $23,552–$30,790 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $26,684 | $19,774 | 0.72× | 92 | 92/92 |
| Master's | $45,440 | $76,938 | 1.33× | 5 | 5/5 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Brandeis University (MA) | $43,816 | — |
| George Mason University (VA) | $41,771 | $19,500 |
| Virginia Military Institute (VA) | $39,025 | — |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $38,589 | $19,500 |
| Gordon College (MA) | $36,992 | — |
| James Madison University (VA) | $36,812 | $18,879 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (IL) | $36,196 | — |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (IL) | $35,846 | $19,500 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas (TX) | $35,237 | $20,205 |
| University of California-Los Angeles (CA) | $34,901 | $15,000 |
| University of Nebraska at Omaha (NE) | $33,581 | $12,250 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus (WA) | $33,546 | — |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA) | $33,455 | $22,500 |
| Duke University (NC) | $33,441 | — |
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (PA) | $33,174 | $21,750 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/linguistic-comparative-and-related-language-studies-and-services.jsonld` · `/education/fields/linguistic-comparative-and-related-language-studies-and-services.json`