World Languages & Linguistics

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

These majors focus on the mechanics of human communication, developing fluency in a target language, and studying its literature. Linguistics majors study the science and structure of language itself. Most programs require study abroad, and upper-level classes are taught entirely in the target language. These are reading, writing, and speaking-intensive degrees.

What you'll do after college

Graduates work in translation, education, international business, diplomacy, and localization. Bilingual skills are heavily recruited in healthcare, social work, and national security. Linguistics grads are increasingly sought after in the tech sector for Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI development.

Famous graduates

Jodie Foster — Academy Award-winning actress; B.A. in Literature in French from Yale University
J.K. Rowling — Author of the Harry Potter series; B.A. in French and Classics from the University of Exeter

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$50,882

963

100–88%

$49,064

1,961

88–77%

$53,787

1,925

76–68%

$52,218

1,971

68–45%

$55,688

1,948

45–15%

$65,487

977

15–0%

Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$47,809

752

400–1080

$51,870

1,507

1080–1200

$53,731

1,495

1200–1290

$55,544

1,507

1290–1380

$57,231

1,517

1380–1470

$66,355

737

1470–1600

Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major	Colleges	Degrees ▼	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	Employment
World Languages & Linguistics	822	10,053	32% / 68%	3%	$54,028	91%
Spanish	675	3,555	25% / 75%	1%	$53,366	93%
Linguistics	138	1,794	31% / 69%	4%	$53,366	88%
Foreign Languages	138	1,097	29% / 71%	2%	$51,999	90%
French	367	755	29% / 71%	4%	$55,112	92%
Japanese	87	453	55% / 45%	6%	$54,420	80%
German	209	417	52% / 48%	3%	$55,808	91%
Classical Languages	89	330	40% / 60%	2%	$55,597	100%
Chinese	92	290	38% / 62%	5%	$57,157	82%
Russian	82	155	51% / 49%	2%	$58,144	88%
Modern Languages	21	116	41% / 59%	3%	$53,537	93%
Italian	80	93	33% / 67%	1%	$59,496	92%
Romance Languages	30	84	18% / 82%	4%	$61,580	90%
Arabic	24	81	49% / 51%	4%	$56,572	90%
World Languages	4	75	32% / 68%	5%	$50,596	94%
Applied Linguistics	9	64	30% / 70%	8%	$50,191	91%
East Asian Languages	11	58	26% / 74%	5%	$57,906	77%
Portuguese	16	52	19% / 81%	0%	$59,359	90%
Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism	1	49	37% / 63%	0%	$37,532	90%
Asian Languages	3	48	52% / 48%	6%	$48,060	78%
Korean	11	44	23% / 77%	5%	$55,968	77%
Applied Language and Intercultural Studies	1	35	43% / 57%	3%	$68,801
Slavic Languages	11	31	55% / 45%	13%	$61,488
Classics	4	30	40% / 60%	0%	$55,010
Language Interpretation and Translation	9	29	28% / 72%	10%	$53,312	88%
Biblical Languages	10	27	78% / 22%	0%	$50,579	90%
Latin	26	25	44% / 56%	0%	$56,980
Near Eastern Languages	9	25	32% / 68%	0%	$65,649
Languages and Cultures	4	23	30% / 70%	0%	$55,638	97%
Modern and Classical Languages	1	22	14% / 86%	0%	$51,973
Filipino/Tagalog Language	1	13	38% / 62%	0%	$50,453
Spanish and Hispanic Studies	1	12	50% / 50%	0%	$57,968
Near Eastern and Semitic Languages	2	11	18% / 82%	27%	$67,451	95%
Language Studies	1	11	27% / 73%	18%	$47,244	85%
Arabic Language and Literature	10	10	40% / 60%	0%	$61,760
Hispanic Studies	3	9	22% / 78%	0%
Translation and Interpreting	2	9	11% / 89%	0%	$45,276	84%
Japanese Studies	1	9	22% / 78%	0%	$59,545
Greek	6	8	12% / 88%	0%	$58,153
Languages	3	8	50% / 50%	25%	$53,559
Classical Studies	1	8	25% / 75%	0%	$70,829
Hawaiian Language	1	8	62% / 38%	0%	$51,134
Norwegian	3	7	57% / 43%	0%	$53,478
French and Italian	2	7	14% / 86%	14%	$76,214
Linguistics and Computer Science	2	7	43% / 57%	14%
Languages and Culture Studies	1	7	14% / 86%	0%	$49,774	100%
Classics and Mediterranean Studies	1	6	17% / 83%	0%	$56,203
Ancient Greek	3	5	20% / 80%	0%	$70,612
Spanish and Portuguese	1	5	0% / 100%	0%	$63,815	91%
Latin American Languages	3	4	25% / 75%	0%	$56,872	91%
Hebrew	4	3	33% / 67%	0%	$49,721
German Studies	2	3	100% / 0%	0%	$62,681
Persian	2	3	67% / 33%	0%	$57,776
Sanskrit and Classical Indian Languages	9	2	50% / 50%	0%	$59,972
Russian and East European Studies	3	2	0% / 100%	0%	$61,658	81%
Modern Greek	2	2	0% / 100%	0%	$60,976
Scandinavian Languages	2	2	100% / 0%	0%	$55,634	100%
French Area Studies	1	2	50% / 50%	0%	$70,168
Germanics	1	2	0% / 100%	0%	$49,468
Japanese Language	1	2	50% / 50%	0%	$69,090
Languages and Linguistics	1	2	100% / 0%	0%	$48,310
American Sign Language Interpretation	2	1	0% / 100%	0%	$48,090
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies	2	1	0% / 100%	0%	$47,060
Polish	2	1	0% / 100%	0%	$62,745
Dutch/Flemish Language and Literature	1	1	100% / 0%	0%
Francophone, Italian and Germanic Studies	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$71,441
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General	1	1	100% / 0%	0%
World Languages and Cultures	1	1	100% / 0%	0%	$49,369	96%

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