Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

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

50

Schools Ranked

$32,214

Avg. Earnings

1 yrs

Best Payback

7,678

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	Amherst College Amherst, MA · Private	$7,793	$67,101	1 yrs
2	Williams College Williamstown, MA · Private	$5,576	$49,644	1.5 yrs
3	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$52,107	1.7 yrs
4	Rice University Houston, TX · Private	$6,152	$45,696	2.3 yrs
5	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN · Private	$14,020	$54,630	2.9 yrs
6	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private	$12,505	$52,107	2.9 yrs
7	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private	$8,106	$44,942	3.3 yrs
8	Hamilton College Clinton, NY · Private	$13,321	$50,439	3.5 yrs
9	Lafayette College Easton, PA · Private	$13,393	$48,823	3.9 yrs
10	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private	$17,098	$52,107	4 yrs
11	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ · Public	$15,072	$48,600	4.4 yrs
12	University of Chicago Chicago, IL · Private	$8,375	$42,682	4.4 yrs
13	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$41,565	4.7 yrs
14	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$46,478	5.2 yrs
15	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA · Private	$16,063	$47,260	5.2 yrs
16	Colgate University Hamilton, NY · Private	$17,557	$47,260	5.7 yrs
17	Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN · Private	$19,658	$48,849	5.7 yrs
18	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$46,087	6.2 yrs
19	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA · Public	$10,995	$41,565	6.7 yrs
20	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA · Private	$26,956	$49,136	7.6 yrs
21	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private	$19,827	$45,500	7.6 yrs
22	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$43,993	7.8 yrs
23	Villanova University Villanova, PA · Private	$28,580	$48,432	8.5 yrs
24	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI · Public	$14,737	$41,725	8.8 yrs
25	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC · Private	$10,228	$39,369	9.4 yrs
26	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$40,461	9.8 yrs
27	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$41,193	10.2 yrs
28	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private	$12,676	$39,909	10.3 yrs
29	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA · Private	$20,142	$42,682	10.5 yrs
30	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$42,309	10.5 yrs
31	University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, MO · Public	$15,768	$41,007	10.5 yrs
32	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	$15,287	$40,281	11.6 yrs
33	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Brandywine Media, PA · Public	$21,599	$42,309	11.8 yrs
34	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$42,682	11.9 yrs
35	Washington College Chestertown, MD · Private	$20,340	$41,565	12.4 yrs
36	Trinity University San Antonio, TX · Private	$17,154	$40,485	12.5 yrs
37	University of Portland Portland, OR · Private	$35,514	$46,087	12.8 yrs
38	Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY · Private	$30,498	$43,798	13.9 yrs
39	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private	$29,892	$43,426	14.2 yrs
40	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$42,309	14.9 yrs
41	Emory University Atlanta, GA · Private	$16,646	$39,369	15.2 yrs
42	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	$16,667	$39,369	15.3 yrs
43	Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD · Private	$29,885	$42,682	15.6 yrs
44	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD · Public	$18,252	$39,648	15.7 yrs
45	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	$18,131	$39,585	15.8 yrs
46	Gonzaga University Spokane, WA · Private	$26,473	$41,565	16.1 yrs
47	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$38,289	16.3 yrs
48	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT · Private	$13,580	$38,289	16.5 yrs
49	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ · Public	$19,749	$39,729	16.7 yrs
50	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	$17,689	$39,153	17 yrs

Top Earners in Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

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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.