American Literature (United States)
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OverviewSalary and DebtIs a Bachelor's EnoughCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
American literature (united states) is a program that focuses on the literature and literary development, both formal and folkloric, of the united states from the colonial era to the present. includes instruction in period and genre studies, author studies, literary criticism, and regional and oral traditions.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($39K) with a Bachelor's Degree: American University
Career with the highest median salary ($102K) where most workers have a Bachelor's Degree: Computer and Information Systems Managers
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
American literature (united states) majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Elementary and Middle School S...Lawyers, and judges, magistrat...Postsecondary TeachersEditorsWriters and AuthorsSecretaries and Administrative...First-Line Supervisors of Reta...Customer Service Representativ...Marketing ManagersAccountants and AuditorsManagement AnalystsRetail Salespersons
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
0102030Bachelor's DegreeMaster's Degree
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for English language and literature changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
050100150200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Research Doctorate
Master's Degree
Postbaccalaureate Cert
Bachelor's Degree
1-2 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in American literature (united states) doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field literature, which includes American literature (united states).
Median cumulative loan amount
$23K$0$10K$20K$30KBachelor's
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Context: median salaries
How does the median (middle) salary for English language and literature majors compare to the median salaries for other college majors?
$58K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Distribution: English language and literature majors' salaries by education level
What is the salary distribution for graduates with a bachelor's inEnglish language and literature by the level of their highest degree (Graduate degrees may not be in the same field as the bachelor’s)
$84K$63K$51K$75K$0$50K$100K$150K$200KBachelor'sMaster'sDoctorateProfessional
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Is a bachelor's degree all you need?
Education level of workers with a bachelor's in English language and literature
Is a bachelor's degree going to be sufficient to make you competative in the job market? We can look at the education level of workers with a bachelors in this degree to see if there is a likely need for a graduate degree. You'll also want to check out the careers section on this page to where they are employed.
This chart shows the level of education of workers with a bachelor's degree in English language and literature. The worker's graduate degree may have been completed in a different field.
Education level of workers
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Context: Graduate degrees in any field by undergraduate ACS degree
About 46% of English language and literature majors chose to also earn a graduate degree (possibly of a different major). The percentage of English language and literature majors who also earned a graduate degree is higher than about 75% of other fields.
46%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Percentage salary boost obtained with a graduate degree
How important is a graduate degree for earning a higher salary? We can see the difference in salary of workers with a bachelors in this degree to workers with a bachelor’s AND a graduate degree.
23%48%65%0%20%40%60%80%Bachelor's to Master'sBachelor's to DoctorateBachelor's to Professional
Careers
Top careers for those with a degree in English language and literature
Following are the most frequent jobs held by people who earned a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature (which combines 6 programs), though may not be limited to just those with a bachelor’s.
  1. Elementary and Middle School School Teachers
  2. Lawyers, and judges, magistrates, and similar judicial professionals
  3. Postsecondary Teachers
  4. Specialized Managers
  5. Secondary School Teachers
  6. Education and childcare administrators
  7. Editors
  8. Writers and Authors
  9. Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
  10. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
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Careers for English language and literature majors
Where do English language and literature majors work, and how well do those jobs pay? A ** in the job title indicates that the Department of Education recommends this job for this program.
Not so much?
The top ten careers for workers with a bachelor's in English language and literature
Take a minute to interact with this sankey diagram. Follow the top ten jobs held by English language and literature graduates through to their most hired majors. Learn where it may easiest to find work. Expand the careers to explore other majors that might lead to the job that excites you the most. *For many majors, the top ten jobs don't even include half of graduates!*
Expand careers
Elementary and Middl...Lawyers, and judges,...Postsecondary Teache...Specialized ManagersSecondary School Tea...Education and childc...EditorsWriters and AuthorsSecretaries and Admi...First-Line Superviso...All othersThis degreeTop 10 Careers
What careers hire English language and literature majors as one of their top 10?
To the left of this diagram, see all careers that hire English language and literature majors as one of their top 10 majors, and on the right, see what proportion of openings for the jobs on the left are filled by English language and literature majors.
English Language and Lite...All other degreesProofreaders and Copy Mar...EditorsTechnical WritersWriters and AuthorsLibrarians and Media Coll...Clerical Library Assistan...News Analysts, Reporters,...Public Relations Speciali...Public relations and fund...ActorsSpecialized Media and Com...FundraisersAgents and Business Manag...Postsecondary TeachersParalegals and Legal Assi...Secondary School TeachersInterpreters and Translat...Specialized Legal Support...Broadcast Announcers and ...Producers and DirectorsArchivists, curators, and...Web DevelopersSpecialized Educational I...Education and childcare a...Market Research Analysts ...Specialized Entertainers,...Advertising and Promotion...Advertising Sales AgentsMarketing ManagersWeb and Digital Interface...Training and Development ...TutorsSocial and Community Serv...Umpires, Referees, and Ot...Television, video, and fi...Flight AttendantsElementary and Middle Sch...Specialized Teachers and ...Specialized Social Scient...Community and Social Serv...Marriage and Family Thera...Meeting, Convention, and ...PhotographersRadiation TherapistsRehabilitation CounselorsTraining and Development ...Educational, Guidance, an...Entertainment and Recreat...Musicians and SingersAdministrative Services M...Procurement ClerksReligious Activities and ...Tour and travel guidesFashion DesignersAcupuncturistsSpecialized Religious Wor...Labor Relations Specialis...Sales ManagersBusiness Operations Speci...Athletes and Sports Compe...Specialized CounselorsSchool PsychologistsClergyCompliance OfficersPurchasing AgentsSpecialized Healthcare Di...Specialized Sales and Rel...Property, Real Estate, an...Human Resources ManagersSales Representatives of ...Insurance Sales AgentsReal estate brokers and s...Specialized Financial Cle...Artists and related worke...Special Education Teacher...Music Directors and Compo...Mental Health CounselorsSubstance Abuse and Behav...Preschool and Kindergarte...Tax Examiners/Collectors ...Specialized PsychologistsCommercial and Industrial...Speech-Language Pathologi...Mental Health and Substan...AudiologistsInterior DesignersClinical and Counseling P...Financial ManagersGraphic DesignersFinancial ExaminersProbation Officers and Co...Accountants and AuditorsNurse Practitioners and N...Registered NursesAll other careersDegreeDegree in top 10 employed
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer American literature (united states) degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Offering this program at this level
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Only schools in these states
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4 schools offer this award at any level in the selected area.
Related Programs
Top 10 similar programs
Following are related programs, ordered by those with the highest number of completions. You can explore a full list by pressing the more details button.
  1. English Language and Literature
  2. Specialized Studies in English Language and Literature/Letters
  3. English Literature (British and Commonwealth)
  4. Literature
  5. Children's and Adolescent Literature
  6. Specialized Studies in Literature
  7. American Literature (Canadian)
Fewer details
Careers for English language and literature majors
English language and literature is part of a larger collection of programs: English Language and Literature. Is there a different program that's close to English language and literature that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in American literature (united states) earned in the last academic year, 70% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
050100150Number of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
62%38%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a higher percentage of women than 70% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$63K$55K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For English language and literature graduates, men have a 14% higher median salary than women, This is better than many: 72% of programs have graduates with higher salary inequities.
14%14%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all American literature (united states) graduates from this last academic year.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
050100150Number of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a higher percentage of graduates than in 66% of other programs.