Carleton College English (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General
- Private nonprofit college
- Northfield, MN
- About 23 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Carleton College English graduates earn less than graduates of most English programs nationally, $20,780 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,167 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,498. Several Minnesota programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Minnesota and national columns are the medians across all English bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota English program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Minnesota medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $224 a month, or 12.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the parts of Minnesota outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $20,780 salary here buys what about $24,204 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to English, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$76,460Median pay in Minnesota. 16,020 people work in this job in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Proofreaders and Copy Markers
$49,450Median pay in Minnesota. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Carleton College
English ranks 7th of 7 bachelor's programs at Carleton College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($88,132), Economics ($66,567), and Geology and Earth Science ($40,371).
Other English bachelor's programs near Northfield
Common questions
The median graduate earns $20,780 one year after graduating. The median across English bachelor's programs in Minnesota is $29,445.
The median federal loan balance is $21,167, which ranks 2nd lowest of 10 English bachelor's programs in Minnesota. That works out to about $224 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 102% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. Compare the cost with other Minnesota programs before deciding.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Minnesota comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the English program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024