Linguistics

Types of Degrees Linguistics Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,053
Master’s Degree	501
Doctor’s Degree	214
Basic Certificate	87
Associate Degree	40
Graduate Certificate	16
Undergraduate Certificate	10

What Linguistics Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to linguistics 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 Linguistics Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in linguistics 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.
• 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.
• Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Linguistics Majors

A major in linguistics prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• 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 Linguistics Majors

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

• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• 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 Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Linguistics Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with linguistics:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Foreign Language and Literature Professors	11.7%	$67,640
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics?

This major is dominated by women with about 68% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	243
Black or African American	76
Hispanic or Latino	379
White	1,022
International Students	137
Other Races/Ethnicities	196

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Linguistics, too. About 6.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Linguistics

Some careers associated with linguistics require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 linguistics careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.5%
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)	0.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	30.1%
Master’s Degree	21.7%
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.	4.3%
Doctoral Degree	37.8%

Online Linguistics 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)	5	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	5	1
Bachelor’s Degree	13	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	87	1
Post-Master’s	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	59	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Linguistics

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

Major	Number of Grads
Modern Languages	2,515
Comparative Literature	946
Language Translation	855
Other Linguistic, Comparative, & Related Language Studies & Services	257
Applied Linguistics	187

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.