Cornell University English (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General
- Private nonprofit university
- Ithaca, NY
- About 44 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cornell University English graduates earn about what English graduates earn nationally, $33,270 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $16,275 in federal loans, less than at 91% of English programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying English degrees in New York.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all English bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Cornell University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $18,242 more than the New York median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York English program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.
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 112% between the first and fifth year.
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 $173 a month, or 6.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
51% of graduates (18 of 35) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the Ithaca area are about 3% above the national average, so a $33,270 salary here buys what about $32,202 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
$97,070Median 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.
Proofreaders and Copy Markers
$59,740Median pay in New York. 1,030 people work in this job in New York. 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 Cornell University
English ranks 38th of 42 bachelor's programs at Cornell University by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($152,656), Computer and Information Science ($103,650), and Electrical Engineering ($100,516).
Other English bachelor's programs near Ithaca
Common questions
The median graduate earns $33,270 one year after graduating and $70,443 five years after. The median across English bachelor's programs in New York is $28,290.
The median federal loan balance is $16,275, which ranks 8th lowest of 40 English bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $173 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 49% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 51% (18 of 35) were working in New York one year after graduating.
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 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