2023 Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 54,635 people earned a degree or certificate in English language and literature, making the major the #17 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 372 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the English language and literature master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in English Language & Literature
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in the United States for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Out of the 372 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Wake Forest University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.
Full English Language & Literature at Wake Forest University Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Yale University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools list. Yale is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of New Haven.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Notre Dame is a great place for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at The Graduate Center, CUNY helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best English language and literature schools in the United States. The Graduate Center is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of New York.
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Duke University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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University of Washington - Bothell Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UW Bothell is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Bothell.
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St. Mary’s University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. St. Mary's is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Antonio.
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Monmouth University ranked #9 on this year’s Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of West Long Branch, Monmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
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Villanova University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree English language and literature programs. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.
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Johns Hopkins University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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University of Maryland - College Park did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public college with a very large student population.
Full English Language & Literature at University of Maryland - College Park Report
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With a ranking of #13, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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University of Chicago came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.
Full English Language & Literature at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report
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The College of New Jersey landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree English language and literature programs. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Ewing.
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Middlebury College came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the distant town of Middlebury, Middlebury is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #18, Trinity College did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Hartford, Trinity Bantams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Texas Christian University did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #20, University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.
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Marquette University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree English language and literature programs. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #22, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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Vanderbilt University ranked #23 on this year’s Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools list. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
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With a ranking of #24, University of Houston - Clear Lake did quite well on this year’s best schools for English language and literature students working on their master’s degree. UH Clear Lake is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Houston.
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Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for English language and literature students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the schools awarded a Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 372 different United States English language and literature schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | Towson University | Towson, MD |
| 52 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN |
| 53 | Tufts University | Medford, MA |
| 54 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| 55 | Texas Tech University | Lubbock, TX |
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for English Language & Literature students that almost earned our Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 56 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, PA |
| 57 | University of Wisconsin - Stout | Menomonie, WI |
| 58 | Salisbury University | Salisbury, MD |
| 59 | University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire | Eau Claire, WI |
| 60 | Rowan University | Glassboro, NJ |
| 61 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
| 62 | James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA |
| 63 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 64 | George Washington University | Washington, DC |
| 65 | Auburn University | Auburn, AL |
| 66 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA |
| 67 | Illinois State University | Normal, IL |
| 68 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 69 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ |
| 70 | Fairfield University | Fairfield, CT |
| 71 | Winona State University | Winona, MN |
| 72 | Cornell University | Ithaca, NY |
| 73 | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND |
| 74 | The University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX |
English Language & Literature by Region
View the Best English Language & Literature Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More English Language & Literature Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to English Language & Literature
English Language & Literature Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General English Literature | 40,481 |
| Writing Studies | 12,529 |
| English Literature (Other) | 942 |
| Literature | 683 |
Majors Similar to English Language & Literature
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 556,813 |
| Visual & Performing Arts | 149,215 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 33,333 |
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 27,459 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 19,993 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Mike Hazard.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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