How much debt do Columbia University Romance languages graduates have?

The median federal loan balance is $20,250, which ranks 10th lowest of 14 Romance languages bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $215 a month over 10 years.

Is a Romance languages degree from Columbia University worth it?

On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 37% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 62%.

Columbia University Romance Languages (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

Bachelor's in Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Private nonprofit university
New York, NY
About 26 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Columbia University Romance languages graduates earn more than graduates of most Romance languages programs nationally, $54,327 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,067. It is one of the higher-paying Romance languages degrees in New York.

First-year earnings$54,32798th percentile of 189 programs nationally

Earnings after 5 years$78,87345% more than year one

Median federal debt$20,25010th lowest of 14 New York programs

Debt-to-earnings37%New York median 53%, national 62%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all Romance languages bachelor's programs that report the figure.

	Columbia University	New York	National
Earnings, 1 year after graduating	$54,327	$37,442	$34,649
Earnings, 5 years after graduating	$78,873	$60,084	$54,049
Median federal debt at graduation	$20,250	$19,212	$22,067
Debt as share of first-year pay	37%	53%	62%
Programs compared		19	189

Five years out, Columbia University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $18,789 more than the New York median.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York Romance languages program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.

Columbia UniversityOther New York programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay rises about 45% between the first and fifth year.

Columbia University grads, year 1$54,327

Columbia University grads, year 5$78,873

All New York Romance languages grads, year 5$60,084

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $215 a month, or 4.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

Prices in the New York area are about 13% above the national average, so a $54,327 salary here buys what about $48,264 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 Romance languages, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$97,070

Median pay in New York. 70,660 people work in this job in New York. 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.

Bottom 10%: $60,070Top 10%: $136,450

Interpreters and Translators

$84,090

Median pay in New York. 3,240 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,930Top 10%: $127,350

About Columbia University

Tuition and fees	$71,845 / year
Average net price after aid	$21,590 / year
Admission rate	4%
Graduation rate (within 6 years)	96%
Undergraduate students	8,973

Romance Languages ranks 13th of 26 bachelor's programs at Columbia University by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($118,636), Operations Research ($110,457), and Computer Engineering ($102,083).

Other Romance languages bachelor's programs near New York

School	Distance	Year 1 pay	Debt
Columbia UniversityNew York, NY · private nonprofit		$54,327	$20,250
Hunter CollegeNew York, NY · public	3 mi	$30,534	$15,523
Fordham UniversityBronx, NY · private nonprofit	5 mi	$44,073	$27,000
Lehman CollegeBronx, NY · public	6 mi	$35,941	$8,617
New Jersey City UniversityJersey City, NJ · public	9 mi	$39,714	$19,777
Montclair StateMontclair, NJ · public	13 mi	$47,487	$25,250
Kean UniversityUnion, NJ · public	17 mi	$42,750	$30,812
Drew UniversityMadison, NJ · private nonprofit	24 mi	$27,823	$27,000
RutgersNew Brunswick, NJ · public	33 mi	$31,335	$22,000

Common questions

The median graduate earns $54,327 one year after graduating and $78,873 five years after. The median across Romance languages bachelor's programs in New York is $37,442.

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 New York 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 Romance languages 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

Romance Languages bachelor's programs in New York, ranked19 programs by pay and debt Romance Languages bachelor's programs in the US, ranked189 programs by pay and debt All Columbia University programs, ranked26 programs by pay and debt