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

$50,709

1,084

100–85%

$49,558

2,056

85–76%

$52,103

2,121

76–65%

$54,252

2,110

65–42%

$55,776

2,086

42–16%

$65,694

1,045

16–0%

Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$46,385

788

400–1080

$51,571

1,570

1080–1200

$51,949

1,576

1200–1280

$54,813

1,573

1280–1370

$58,255

1,573

1370–1470

$65,812

788

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	752	10,502	31% / 69%	3%	$53,680	91%
Spanish	608	3,939	24% / 76%	3%	$53,058	93%
Linguistics	132	1,728	30% / 70%	4%	$53,381	88%
Foreign Languages	124	1,154	31% / 69%	1%	$50,487	90%
French	331	780	25% / 75%	3%	$54,801	92%
Japanese	87	446	52% / 48%	6%	$55,515	80%
German	192	416	49% / 51%	3%	$55,130	91%
Classical Languages	89	338	41% / 59%	3%	$54,904	100%
Chinese	84	294	40% / 60%	4%	$57,625	82%
Russian	78	164	55% / 45%	1%	$57,862	88%
Modern Languages	21	115	30% / 70%	1%	$52,383	93%
Arabic	21	112	48% / 52%	2%	$55,178	90%
Italian	66	97	36% / 64%	3%	$60,185	92%
Romance Languages	27	82	22% / 78%	5%	$59,946	90%
World Languages	4	66	24% / 76%	3%	$49,732	94%
Asian Languages	3	62	40% / 60%	3%	$49,242	78%
Applied Linguistics	8	59	29% / 71%	5%	$49,706	91%
Language Interpretation and Translation	7	54	24% / 76%	6%	$50,944	88%
Korean	9	52	23% / 77%	6%	$58,077	77%
East Asian Languages	10	50	44% / 56%	2%	$56,242	77%
Portuguese	13	40	35% / 65%	0%	$58,099	90%
Applied Language and Intercultural Studies	1	36	47% / 53%	6%	$71,656
Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism	1	36	39% / 61%	3%	$41,829	90%
Computer Science + Linguistics	1	33	0% / 0%	0%	$55,812
Modern and Classical Languages	1	30	30% / 70%	0%	$49,722
Near Eastern Languages	6	26	42% / 58%	8%	$61,091
Classics	4	26	27% / 73%	0%	$55,290
Latin	20	24	42% / 58%	4%	$57,128
Biblical Languages	9	22	73% / 27%	0%	$49,005	90%
Languages and Cultures	4	21	38% / 62%	0%	$55,964	97%
Hawaiian Language	1	15	67% / 33%	7%	$54,679
Slavic Languages	10	14	14% / 86%	0%	$61,233
Language Studies	1	14	21% / 79%	14%	$52,393	85%
Languages	3	12	8% / 92%	8%	$57,248
Translation and Interpreting	2	12	42% / 58%	0%	$46,726	84%
Languages and Culture Studies	1	12	25% / 75%	0%	$52,649	100%
Spanish and Hispanic Studies	1	12	17% / 83%	0%	$58,757
Near Eastern and Semitic Languages	2	10	70% / 30%	20%	$70,904	95%
French and Italian	2	9	22% / 78%	11%	$68,452
Classical Studies	1	9	44% / 56%	11%	$63,935
Filipino/Tagalog Language	1	9	33% / 67%	0%	$54,619
Latin American Languages	3	8	25% / 75%	0%	$56,472	91%
Norwegian	3	8	62% / 38%	0%	$54,380
Greek	6	7	43% / 57%	14%	$57,433
Russian and East European Studies	3	7	57% / 43%	0%	$59,958	81%
Polish	2	5	40% / 60%	0%	$61,440
Spanish and Portuguese	1	5	0% / 100%	0%	$60,762	91%
Ancient Greek	3	4	0% / 100%	0%	$70,804
Scandinavian Languages	2	4	25% / 75%	0%	$59,372	100%
Persian	2	3	67% / 33%	0%	$57,366
Germanics	1	3	0% / 100%	0%	$55,282
Hebrew	4	2	50% / 50%	0%	$51,285
German Studies	2	2	50% / 50%	0%	$64,922
Modern Greek	2	2	50% / 50%	50%	$59,355
Language and Culture Studies	1	2	0% / 100%	0%	$68,076
Languages and Linguistics	1	2	100% / 0%	0%	$49,120
African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$60,163
Classics and Mediterranean Studies	1	1	100% / 0%	0%	$56,011
Danish	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$55,943
Francophone, Italian and Germanic Studies	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$64,234
French Area Studies	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$69,317
Japanese Language	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$68,530
Native American Languages	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$48,989
World Languages and Cultures	1	1	0% / 100%	0%	$47,090	96%

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