American Sign Language

Types of Degrees American Sign Language Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many American Sign Language graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	1,008
Basic Certificate	736
Bachelor’s Degree	548
Undergraduate Certificate	317
Master’s Degree	112
Doctor’s Degree	3

What American Sign Language Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to ASL and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for ASL Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in ASL should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Skills for ASL Majors

ASL majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for ASL Majors

A major in ASL will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a American Sign Language Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with ASL:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930
Professors	9.4%	$65,660

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in American Sign Language?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 548 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language in 2021, making it rank #199 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 90% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of ASL majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	6
Black or African American	26
Hispanic or Latino	64
White	394
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	55

Geographic Diversity

ASL appeals to people across the globe. About 0.5% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Canada
• Hong Kong
• Mexico
• Jamaica
• Japan

How Much Do American Sign Language Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

According to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in ASL have a median salary of $31,687 during the early years of their career. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $27,552 (25th percentile) and $34,122 (75th percentile).

One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to ASL.

Salaries According to BLS

ASL majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $55,230 to $76,990 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to American Sign Language

Some degrees associated with ASL may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for ASL careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	52.1%
Master’s Degree	25.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	8.9%

Online American Sign Language Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 210 schools offered some type of American Sign Language program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	63	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	146	6
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	9	2
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in American Sign Language Worth It?

The median salary for a ASL grad is $55,230 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 38% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $306,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to American Sign Language

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to ASL.

Major	Number of Grads
Romance Languages	15,009
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	8,539
East Asian Languages	2,293
Classical Languages & Literature	1,428
Germanic Languages	1,425
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages	607
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages	607
Foreign Language, Literature & Linguistics (Other)	500
Second Language Learning	108
Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages	38
South Asian Languages	24
Native American Languages	16
African Languages	4
Celtic Language & Literature	4
Iranian & Persian Languages	4
Greek Language & Literature	3
Turkic & Central Asian Languages	0

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By PsiДҐedelisto under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.