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2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

There are about 10,021 students enrolled in Foreign Languages and Literatures in the USA.

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popularity

Average

Compared to national avg.

Diplomas received last year

3,179

Vs. National Avg.

-80%

popularity Rank

#193

cost

Somewhat Affordable

Compared to national avg.

Median degree cost

$25K

Vs. National Avg.

3%

cost Rank

#246

salary

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Average Salary Two Years Out of School

$41K

Vs. National Avg.

3%

salary Rank

#220

professors

Average

Compared to national avg.

Professor Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

10%

professors Rank

#148

students

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Diversity Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

1%

students Rank

#234

SUMMARY

A degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures is not only a valuable choice, but generally an essential first step for students wanting to pursue a career as a language specialist, a foreign language pathologist, or a computational linguist. Interestingly, foreign languages and literatures is a very rare degree coming in at the 143rd most popular area of study. In the last year, there were 2,228 foreign languages and literatures diplomas received. In-state tuition for foreign languages and literatures at private universities is, on average, 4.5 times more spendy than their public counterparts.

There are 206 colleges which offer foreign languages and literatures. This number of universities is on par with other degrees offered in the United States. If you are hoping to surround yourself with other foreign languages and literatures students, consider schools in Virginia which have more undergraduates admitted to foreign languages and literatures than any other state. More generally, the best region to get a degree in foreign languages and literatures is in the Southeast region with North Carolina State University at Raleigh, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the top conference to major in foreign languages and literatures is the Atlantic Coast Conference with North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Clemson University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University representing the conference. That being said, our choice for the best university for foreign languages and literatures is Duke University. You might also want to check out our list of best colleges.

The objectively best school might not actually be the 'best' school for every student. There can be many more angels to consider when selecting ​university. External stuff like campus amenities, transportation services, and food could definitely change your feelings of where to go to university. At authority.org, we evaluated the pros and cons for you. If, as an example, you want to know which foreign languages and literatures university is home to the best campus, the answer is New York University. If you are very interested in which school is home to the finest campus, then we have a whole list dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through government databases, student reviews, professor reviews, and more to compare every major in the United States in an unbiased and informative way. You can explore our well researched list for the schools with the best student life&nbsphere and, from that list, our pick for the school with the best student life for foreign languages and literatures is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Are you curious why? Keep scrolling to discover more about Authority's top recommendations. Many of our conclusions will probably shock you.

If price is a major deciding factor in your choice of where you attend school, you might consider avoiding Kenyon College. Kenyon College&nbspis our most expensive school for foreign languages and literatures, at least regarding out of state enrollment. We have a list of the most expensive&nbspcolleges that might put the price tag of Kenyon College&nbspinto perspective. Additionally, you could want to know that foreign languages and literatures is the 287th most expensive degree in the nation, with an average associated cost of $25,300. To zoom out a little, the most expensive state for foreign languages and literatures in the nation is Ohio with costs at the main school, Kenyon College, of $56,340. Even more broadly, the most costly region of the U.S. for foreign languages and literatures is unfortunately unavailable due to missing data.

Our cheapest region for foreign languages and literatures is the Great Lakes region which is represented by Eastern Illinois University with a cost of $11,045, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with a cost of $8,345, and Western Illinois University with a cost of $8,627. On the bright side, the most affordable school for foreign languages and literatures is Citadel Military College of South Carolina. Our full list of the most affordable schools can be found here.

In-state attendees can expect to pay around $10,100 for a degree in foreign languages and literatures. The cost increases substantially to an average of $24,000 for the out-of-state public-school undergraduate. As such, you might be interested in our choice for the college with the best value for foreign languages and literatures: Duke University. Through this link you will find our comprehensive list for the universities we see as being the best value&nbspoverall. Do know, this section is based on being an out-of-state student. The value proposition changes when it comes to in-state tuition, as such, we are using out-of-state tuition as the baseline.

Earnings for foreign languages and literatures students vary widely, but within two-years of finishing the degree students will often make around $53,600. There can be a lot of variation in earnings potential; highest paid earners can bring in up to $98,300. Straight out of university, the minimum earning jobs within the foreign languages and literatures field earn $29,500, which is an alright wage. The top earning grads from foreign languages and literatures graduated from Duke University&nbspand if you want to find the colleges with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The all-around diversity of foreign languages and literatures ranks decent, falling within the 53rd percentile of majors nationally. The college with the highest composite diversity for foreign languages and literatures is New York University&nbspand here you can find our comprehensive list of the universities which have the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of Foreign Languages and Literatures only is in the 87th percentile compared to all other majors. Racial diversity is even less in the 58th percentile. White undergraduates compose the largest share at 57% of students majoring in foreign languages and literatures. Additionally, 71% of students seeking a foreign languages and literatures degree are women.

The median ranking of foreign languages and literatures professors is 4.2 stars, a ranking which is 5% higher than the average across every major; this is a good ranking. If you are looking for the most popular foreign languages and literatures instructor in the nation, consider looking up Connie Kihyet at Saddleback College. It might be surprising, but the best rated instructors of foreign languages and literatures according to students are at Boston University. If we including data other than simply rankings we find that the university possessing the overall best instructors for foreign languages and literatures is Duke University. You will find more detail on our ever evolving ranking methodology of the best overall professors here, along with many of the top examples of professors nationwide.

Finally, the hardest college to get into for foreign languages and literatures is Duke University. While we are unsure why you would be interested, we have a comprehensive list of the hardest colleges to get into. That being said, here at Authority we do hope you believe that considering the higher education world with a perspective only built on superlatives might create issues. We at Authority hope you explore our other pages on different topics and peruse some of our background pages on useful details to consider as your university search develops.

Top 25 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Search for the best Foreign Languages and Literatures colleges according to your filter parameters.

A+

Rating

#1 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of California-Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA | www.ucla.edu/

14%

Acceptance

46,947

Students

#50

Ranking

$43K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#2 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.uchicago.edu/

7%

Acceptance

20,413

Students

#11

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#3 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY | www.columbia.edu/

7%

Acceptance

33,882

Students

#10

Ranking

$62K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#4 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Stanford University

Stanford, CA | www.stanford.edu/

5%

Acceptance

20,961

Students

#2

Ranking

$56K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#5 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ | www.princeton.edu/

6%

Acceptance

8,532

Students

#5

Ranking

$49K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#6 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN | www.vanderbilt.edu/

12%

Acceptance

13,918

Students

#17

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#7 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA | www.harvard.edu/

5%

Acceptance

41,024

Students

#3

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#8 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Georgetown University

Washington, DC | www.georgetown.edu/

17%

Acceptance

22,720

Students

#19

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#9 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Duke University

Durham, NC | www.duke.edu/

8%

Acceptance

17,855

Students

#6

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#10 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Yale University

New Haven, CT | https://www.yale.edu/

7%

Acceptance

14,910

Students

#8

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#11 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO | www.wustl.edu/

16%

Acceptance

17,893

Students

#18

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#12 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of Virginia-Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA | https://www.virginia.edu/

23%

Acceptance

29,237

Students

#38

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#13 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Pomona College

Claremont, CA | www.pomona.edu/

9%

Acceptance

1,733

Students

#40

Ranking

$55K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#14 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL | www.northwestern.edu/

9%

Acceptance

25,870

Students

#12

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#15 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Tufts University

Medford, MA | https://www.tufts.edu/

16%

Acceptance

13,458

Students

#37

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#16 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Emory University

Atlanta, GA | www.emory.edu/

19%

Acceptance

15,970

Students

#24

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#17 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Williams College

Williamstown, MA | https://www.williams.edu/

15%

Acceptance

2,307

Students

#46

Ranking

$50K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#18 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Rice University

Houston, TX | www.rice.edu/

11%

Acceptance

8,005

Students

#22

Ranking

$51K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#19 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA | www.wellesley.edu/

20%

Acceptance

2,735

Students

#31

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#20 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD | www.jhu.edu/

11%

Acceptance

34,250

Students

#4

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#21 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH | www.dartmouth.edu/

9%

Acceptance

7,171

Students

#15

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#22 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI | https://umich.edu/

26%

Acceptance

49,530

Students

#33

Ranking

$52K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#23 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN | www.nd.edu/

19%

Acceptance

13,268

Students

#16

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#24 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Washington and Lee University

Lexington, VA | www.wlu.edu/

25%

Acceptance

2,269

Students

#43

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#25 2024 Best Colleges for Foreign Languages and Literatures

Middlebury College

Middlebury, VT | www.middlebury.edu/

22%

Acceptance

4,616

Students

#54

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

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