Duke University English (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General
- Private nonprofit university
- Durham, NC
- About 30 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Duke University English graduates earn less than graduates of most English programs nationally, $20,483 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $15,362 in federal loans, less than at 93% of English programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the North Carolina median of $29,927.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The North Carolina and national columns are the medians across all English bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Duke University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $34,841 more than the North Carolina median.
Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina English program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the North Carolina 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 281% 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 $163 a month, or 9.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Durham area are about 2% below the national average, so a $20,483 salary here buys what about $20,993 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
$57,650Median pay in North Carolina. 28,620 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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
$46,140Median pay in North Carolina. 70 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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 Duke University
English ranks 23rd of 23 bachelor's programs at Duke University by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($133,356), Mathematics ($121,088), and Computer Engineering ($111,145).
Other English bachelor's programs near Durham
Common questions
The median graduate earns $20,483 one year after graduating and $78,024 five years after. The median across English bachelor's programs in North Carolina is $29,927.
The median federal loan balance is $15,362, which ranks 2nd lowest of 13 English bachelor's programs in North Carolina. That works out to about $163 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 75% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several North Carolina programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
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 North Carolina 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