Mount Holyoke College English (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General
  • Private nonprofit college
  • South Hadley, MA
  • About 37 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Mount Holyoke College English graduates earn less than graduates of most English programs nationally, $22,680 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,498. Several Massachusetts programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$22,6809th percentile of 471 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$42,63988% more than year one
Median federal debt$23,0006th lowest of 26 Massachusetts programs
Debt-to-earnings101%Massachusetts median 76%, national 77%

How it compares

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

Five years out, Mount Holyoke College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $7,146 less than the Massachusetts median. Several Massachusetts programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts English program

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

Mount Holyoke CollegeOther Massachusetts 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 88% between the first and fifth year.

Mount Holyoke College grads, year 1$22,680
Mount Holyoke College grads, year 5$42,639
All Massachusetts English grads, year 5$49,785

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 $244 a month, or 12.9% 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

Prices in the Amherst Town area are about the same as the national average.

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

$95,260

Median pay in Massachusetts. 28,460 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $61,500Top 10%: $122,660

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

$57,160

Median pay in Massachusetts. 190 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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.

Bottom 10%: $51,870Top 10%: $74,480

About Mount Holyoke College

English ranks 11th of 13 bachelor's programs at Mount Holyoke College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($71,672), Political Science ($48,690), and Sociology ($40,675).

Other English bachelor's programs near South Hadley

Common questions

The median graduate earns $22,680 one year after graduating and $42,639 five years after. The median across English bachelor's programs in Massachusetts is $34,629.

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 Massachusetts 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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