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What you'll do in college

Languages Education programs train you to teach English, literature, or foreign/second languages to diverse populations. You will study linguistics, literature, grammar, and phonetics alongside teaching methodologies, second-language acquisition theory, and cultural competency.

Programs require rigorous reading and writing, as well as field experiences in language classrooms to practice designing engaging lessons that build students' communication skills.

What you'll do after college

Graduates primarily work as middle or high school English or foreign language teachers, or as English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors for children or adults. Opportunities also exist globally for teaching English abroad.

Outside traditional schools, alumni often find work in translation, technical writing, corporate language training, publishing, and international educational programs.

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$55,599
468
100–72%
$55,856
950
72–55%
$56,982
473
55–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted adjusted 5-year earnings

By SAT median

$55,157
334
400–1090
$55,824
674
1090–1270
$54,149
338
1270–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted adjusted 5-year earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$0 $50,000 $100,000 #1 #25 #50 #100 #250 #750 #1259 Selectivity rank (1 = most selective) #392 · $55,483 #1248 · $54,261 #484 · $51,115 #840 · $50,884 #45 · $59,689 #711 · $62,440 #210 · $47,634 #1111 · $48,436 #313 · $52,733 #905 · $53,251 #919 · $59,666 #507 · $60,418 #490 · $58,042 #772 · $48,145 #1224 · $45,724 #1040 · $48,177 #652 · $72,696 #1152 · $59,288 #943 · $64,431 #912 · $66,652 #889 · $49,777 #1211 · $61,396 #671 · $49,202 #47 · $64,945 #718 · $57,417 #254 · $58,546 #560 · $50,277 #989 · $56,903 #1041 · $49,755 #658 · $85,604 #448 · $48,941 #581 · $50,739 #63 · $55,784 #266 · $60,302 #699 · $59,539 #44 · $71,652 #1186 · $49,884 #897 · $47,540 #1135 · $44,801 #1077 · $55,976 #299 · $57,815 #1045 · $55,465 #596 · $52,007 #1149 · $52,551 #920 · $61,030 #577 · $64,569 #562 · $52,268 #649 · $65,413 #885 · $55,487 #550 · $56,453 #1129 · $49,253 #1107 · $50,024 #1196 · $59,945 #890 · $49,768 #1240 · $58,242 #554 · $58,777 #621 · $57,101 #1076 · $51,992 #120 · $44,541 #204 · $48,775 #957 · $53,529 #202 · $56,786 #1151 · $57,242 #139 · $60,333 #659 · $68,632 #1011 · $54,137 #332 · $57,544 #50 · $65,155 #922 · $57,724 #401 · $56,294 #733 · $55,234 #1079 · $52,560 #884 · $57,077 #754 · $42,198 #258 · $62,660 #1125 · $42,000 #1093 · $62,411 #435 · $53,172 #1117 · $58,858 #769 · $56,730 #572 · $57,488 #1228 · $49,757 #640 · $55,196 #215 · $70,786 #1118 · $59,460 #981 · $50,177 #672 · $46,361 #886 · $60,623 #119 · $52,381 #909 · $47,176 #798 · $45,895 #831 · $57,423 #1161 · $66,605 #491 · $56,892 #779 · $53,448 #281 · $55,313 #1004 · $50,153 #924 · $77,674 #162 · $73,552 #369 · $53,137 #564 · $69,803 #832 · $62,547 #984 · $60,447 #439 · $50,843 #707 · $29,748 #58 · $66,454 #384 · $56,107 #104 · $48,523 #703 · $49,712 #991 · $47,993 #403 · $53,071 #1136 · $52,739 #883 · $52,592 #634 · $53,705 #1209 · $52,029 #179 · $56,345 #973 · $55,334 #471 · $49,858 #764 · $49,602 #799 · $52,926 #502 · $65,243 #1147 · $54,257 #377 · $58,223 #367 · $69,594 #216 · $59,245 #802 · $59,957 #322 · $64,448 #954 · $58,689 #975 · $46,146 #221 · $50,965 #1064 · $64,538 #335 · $58,710 #166 · $57,261 #690 · $53,307 #319 · $59,973 #712 · $51,642 #958 · $48,718 #1073 · $51,835 #839 · $53,747 #268 · $53,797 #414 · $44,708 #1053 · $61,760 #282 · $49,290 #730 · $51,248 #288 · $57,412 #472 · $41,708 #98 · $71,870 #807 · $61,505 #867 · $57,059 #745 · $50,638 #402 · $53,607 #1003 · $51,443 #1043 · $62,350 #264 · $52,021 #116 · $62,026 #756 · $55,238 #1173 · $60,420 #259 · $63,227 #408 · $53,065 #604 · $57,482 #830 · $54,392 #270 · $45,995 #574 · $55,862 #693 · $50,433 #1159 · $59,907 #755 · $71,850 #666 · $57,721 #325 · $60,320 #748 · $51,306 #1158 · $53,465 #428 · $34,710 #965 · $54,950 #184 · $55,501 #1096 · $51,566 #500 · $50,929 #349 · $55,207 #26–#50: median $65,050 #51–#100: median $66,454 #101–#250: median $56,345 #251–#750: median $55,313 #751–#1259: median $54,257
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted adjusted 5-year earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees Male/Female Intl 5yr Earn
Languages Education 357 2,389 19% / 81% 2% $55,294
English Education 257 1,578 20% / 80% 1% $55,585
Spanish Education 43 109 17% / 83% 3% $55,120
World Language Education 1 108 6% / 94% 2% $41,942
Teaching English as a Second Language 35 95 17% / 83% 22% $56,755
Spanish Language Teacher Education 45 68 10% / 90% 1% $60,271
Bilingual Education 9 62 8% / 92% 2% $65,366
TESOL 3 40 25% / 75% 2%
English Language Arts Education 2 36 36% / 64% 0% $60,196
Integrated Language Arts/English Education 1 31 26% / 74% 0% $53,593
Language and Drama Education 7 30 17% / 83% 3% $59,572
Bilingual and Multilingual Education 10 28 18% / 82% 4%
English Teaching 2 27 19% / 81% 0% $51,538
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor 5 25 36% / 64% 4% $44,896
Adolescence Education English 1 18 28% / 72% 0% $50,024
Teacher Education: English Education 1 14 36% / 64% 0% $55,501
English/Language Arts Teacher Education 47 11 0% / 100% 0% $54,095
Language Arts Education 3 11 0% / 100% 0% $51,443
English/Language Arts Education 1 11 9% / 91% 0% $52,926
Spanish Teacher Education 1 11 27% / 73% 9% $60,302
Reading Teacher Education 3 10 0% / 100% 0% $54,257
French Language Teacher Education 15 9 11% / 89% 0% $57,740
French Education 7 9 44% / 56% 0% $52,918
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 1 8 0% / 100% 12%
German Language Teacher Education 6 7 14% / 86% 0% $62,643
Language Education 1 6 17% / 83% 17% $71,652
Languages and Literature Teaching 1 6 17% / 83% 0% $53,307
Adolescence Education Spanish 1 5 0% / 100% 0% $50,024
English Teacher Education 2 3 33% / 67% 0% $56,892
German Education 2 3 0% / 100% 0% $58,407
Bilingual/Bicultural Education 1 3 0% / 100% 0%
Teacher Education: Drama Education 1 3 0% / 100% 0% $55,501
Foreign Language Education 2 2 0% / 100% 0% $62,231
Foreign Language Teacher Education 10 1 0% / 100% 0% $58,710
Spanish Teaching 1 1 0% / 100% 0% $49,768