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 here 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 is our most expensive school for foreign languages and literatures, at least regarding out of state enrollment. We have a list of the most expensive colleges that might put the price tag of Kenyon College into 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 overall. 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 and 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 and 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.