Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for English Language and Literature, General

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$28,969

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

32,703

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private	$2,815	$47,260	<1 yr
2	Princeton University Princeton, NJ · Private	$5,542	$47,260	1.8 yrs
3	Rice University Houston, TX · Private	$6,152	$46,087	2.2 yrs
4	Brown University Providence, RI · Private	$10,219	$46,790	3.5 yrs
5	Harvard University Cambridge, MA · Private	$2,669	$37,928	3.6 yrs
6	Colby College Waterville, ME · Private	$5,536	$41,193	3.6 yrs
7	Williams College Williamstown, MA · Private	$5,576	$40,461	4.1 yrs
8	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA · Public	$13,613	$46,087	4.9 yrs
9	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private	$8,106	$40,896	5.5 yrs
10	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$42,682	5.5 yrs
11	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private	$12,505	$43,128	6.2 yrs
12	East Texas A&M University Commerce, TX · Public	$14,768	$44,384	6.3 yrs
13	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC · Private	$10,228	$40,896	6.9 yrs
14	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX · Public	$14,952	$42,682	7.8 yrs
15	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA · Private	$20,142	$44,590	8.4 yrs
16	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$38,289	8.7 yrs
17	Trinity College Hartford, CT · Private	$18,675	$43,128	9.2 yrs
18	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA · Private	$29,618	$47,260	9.7 yrs
19	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA · Private	$6,505	$37,593	10 yrs
20	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private	$17,098	$41,667	10.3 yrs
21	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH · Private	$12,172	$39,729	10.3 yrs
22	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX · Public	$10,508	$39,009	10.5 yrs
23	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ · Private	$28,313	$45,500	10.8 yrs
24	Saint Mary's College of California Moraga, CA · Private	$28,773	$45,696	10.8 yrs
25	Barnard College New York, NY · Private	$19,810	$41,937	11.4 yrs
26	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN · Private	$14,020	$39,585	12.2 yrs
27	Marymount University Arlington, VA · Private	$22,571	$42,235	12.5 yrs
28	St. Mary's University San Antonio, TX · Private	$20,079	$41,007	13.4 yrs
29	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT · Private	$25,929	$42,682	13.5 yrs
30	Loras College Dubuque, IA · Private	$19,010	$40,188	14.7 yrs
31	Villanova University Villanova, PA · Private	$28,580	$42,682	14.9 yrs
32	Caldwell University Caldwell, NJ · Private	$20,901	$40,485	15.2 yrs
33	Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL · Private	$31,095	$42,682	16.2 yrs
34	Lee University Cleveland, TN · Private	$17,876	$39,009	17.8 yrs
35	Bridgewater College Bridgewater, VA · Private	$19,772	$39,369	18.1 yrs
36	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ · Public	$15,072	$38,289	18.3 yrs
37	Georgian Court University Lakewood, NJ · Private	$20,226	$39,369	18.5 yrs
38	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	$13,192	$37,208	23.9 yrs
39	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private	$19,827	$38,289	24.1 yrs
40	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private	$19,864	$38,289	24.2 yrs
41	North Central College Naperville, IL · Private	$21,783	$38,289	26.5 yrs
42	DePauw University Greencastle, IN · Private	$22,316	$38,289	27.1 yrs
43	University of Scranton Scranton, PA · Private	$29,844	$39,369	27.3 yrs
44	Randolph-Macon College Ashland, VA · Private	$22,621	$38,289	27.5 yrs
45	Governors State University University Park, IL · Public	$12,810	$36,848	27.7 yrs
46	Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA · Private	$27,431	$38,829	28.7 yrs
47	Wofford College Spartanburg, SC · Private	$24,762	$38,289	30.1 yrs
48	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA · Private	$36,818	$39,741	31.1 yrs
49	University of Dayton Dayton, OH · Private	$25,633	$38,289	31.2 yrs
50	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA · Public	$10,995	$36,401	31.4 yrs

Top Earners in English Language and Literature, General

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.