Comparative Literature

Types of Degrees Comparative Literature Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many linguistics & comparative literature graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	4,817
Master’s Degree	1,168
Basic Certificate	614
Doctor’s Degree	428
Associate Degree	406
Graduate Certificate	126
Undergraduate Certificate	122

What Comparative Literature Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to comparative literature were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Comparative Literature Majors

Comparative Literature majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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 Comparative Literature Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to comparative literature:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• 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 Comparative Literature Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a comparative literature student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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 Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Comparative Literature Major?

People with a comparative literature degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
English Language and Literature Professors	9.8%	$66,590
Foreign Language and Literature Professors	11.7%	$67,640
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320
Transportation Planners	6.7%	$81,340

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Literature?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 5,399 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics & comparative literature in 2021, making it rank #77 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 70% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	410
Black or African American	222
Hispanic or Latino	1,032
White	2,466
International Students	253
Other Races/Ethnicities	434

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Comparative Literature, too. About 5.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Comparative Literature

Some degrees associated with comparative literature 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to comparative literature have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.2%
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)	0.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	37.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.2%
Master’s Degree	25.4%
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.	2.8%
Doctoral Degree	27.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Comparative Literature Programs

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)	32	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	3	0
Associate’s Degree	84	7
Bachelor’s Degree	51	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	201	3
Post-Master’s	14	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	121	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Comparative Literature

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

Major	Number of Grads
Romance Languages	13,043
American Sign Language	2,341
East Asian Languages	2,056
Classical Languages & Literature	1,484
Germanic Languages	1,098
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages	549
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages	536
Foreign Language, Literature & Linguistics (Other)	520
Second Language Learning	282
Southeast Asian & Pacific Languages	50
Native American Languages	48
South Asian Languages	26
Iranian & Persian Languages	8
African Languages	8
Greek Language & Literature	4
Celtic Language & Literature	3
Turkic & Central Asian Languages	1

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 Pandit Rahul Sanskrutayan, Banshidhar Mohanty under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.