English Language & Literature at Cornell University

Every English language and literature school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the English language and literature program at Cornell University stacks up to those at other schools.

Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York and has a total student population of 23,620. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 60 students received a bachelor's degree in English language and literature from Cornell.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in English Language & Literature section at the bottom of this page.

Cornell English Language & Literature Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in English Language & Literature
• Master’s Degree in English Language & Literature
• Doctorate Degree in English Language & Literature

Cornell English Language & Literature Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks English language and literature programs across the country. The following shows how Cornell performed in these rankings.

Note: Although rankings can help you see some information about a school, it's not a good idea to depend on them alone. Be sure to check out other things about the school before making your decision to attend.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The English language and literature major at Cornell is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for English Language & Literature. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Value English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools	175
	410
Best Value English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	484

In 2021, 18 students received their master’s degree in English language and literature from Cornell. This makes it the #125 most popular school for English language and literature master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 9 students who received their doctoral degrees in English language and literature, making the school the #36 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

English Language & Literature Student Demographics at Cornell

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the English language and literature majors at Cornell University.

Cornell English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Program

Of the 60 English language and literature students who graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2020-2021 from Cornell, about 27% were men and 73% were women.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 10% more racial-ethnic minorities in its English language and literature bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's in English language and literature.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	11
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	10
White	27
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

Cornell English Language & Literature Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 18 students earned a master's degree in English language and literature from Cornell. About 72% of these graduates were women and the other 28% were men.

In the English language and literature master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 50% of degree recipients. That is 17% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Cornell University with a master's in English language and literature.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	5
White	6
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

Cornell also has a doctoral program available in English language and literature. In 2021, 9 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within English Language & Literature

If you plan to be a English language and literature major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Cornell University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General English Literature	78
Writing Studies	9

Related Majors

• Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities
• Philosophy & Religious Studies
• Visual & Performing Arts
• Foreign Languages & Linguistics

Careers That English Language & Literature Grads May Go Into

A degree in English language and literature can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for NY, the home state for Cornell University.

Occupation	Jobs in NY	Average Salary in NY
High School Teachers	74,830	$85,300
Editors	19,140	$83,070
English Language and Literature Professors	7,700	$92,170
Writers and Authors	7,410	$86,380
Professors	6,440	$112,000

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Notyourbroom under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.