---
title: Is a Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics degree worth the debt?
cip: 1609
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 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **212** colleges (212 of 212 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $31,312 ($32,332 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,450 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.66× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $26,825–$34,934 — 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 | $31,312 | $20,450 | 0.66× | 212 | 212/212 |
| Master's | $52,205 | $17,995 | 0.39× | 3 | 3/3 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Marist University (NY) | $45,890 | — |
| Bucknell University (PA) | $45,358 | $23,250 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York (NY) | $45,021 | $20,250 |
| Colby College (ME) | $44,612 | $17,500 |
| University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WI) | $43,580 | $24,339 |
| Oklahoma State University-Main Campus (OK) | $43,481 | — |
| Southern Connecticut State University (CT) | $43,453 | $16,750 |
| Southern Methodist University (TX) | $43,384 | $19,730 |
| University of Utah (UT) | $43,095 | — |
| Iowa State University (IA) | $42,285 | $24,246 |
| George Washington University (DC) | $42,187 | — |
| Sam Houston State University (TX) | $42,177 | — |
| College of Saint Benedict (MN) | $42,025 | — |
| University of Nevada-Las Vegas (NV) | $40,852 | — |
| Fordham University (NY) | $40,748 | $27,000 |

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/romance-languages-literatures-and-linguistics.jsonld` · `/education/fields/romance-languages-literatures-and-linguistics.json`