UW-Milwaukee Romance Languages (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
  • Public university
  • Milwaukee, WI
  • About 29 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

UW-Milwaukee Romance languages graduates earn about what Romance languages graduates earn nationally, $33,705 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,067. Several Wisconsin programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$33,70546th percentile of 189 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$57,94172% more than year one
Median federal debt$23,0003rd lowest of 8 Wisconsin programs
Debt-to-earnings68%Wisconsin median 61%, national 62%

How it compares

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

Five years out, UW-Milwaukee graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,012 more than the Wisconsin median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin Romance languages program

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

UW-MilwaukeeOther Wisconsin 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 72% between the first and fifth year.

UW-Milwaukee grads, year 1$33,705
UW-Milwaukee grads, year 5$57,941
All Wisconsin Romance languages grads, year 5$55,929

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

Does family income change the outcome?

Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $25,609 against $19,500.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$35,308Median debt $25,609
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$32,548Median debt $19,500

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $244 a month, or 8.7% 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

83% of graduates (85 of 103) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Milwaukee area are about 3% below the national average, so a $33,705 salary here buys what about $34,770 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

$62,870

Median pay in Wisconsin. 15,910 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $48,550Top 10%: $83,340

Interpreters and Translators

$63,390

Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,410 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $40,390Top 10%: $88,460

About UW-Milwaukee

Romance Languages ranks 40th of 57 bachelor's programs at UW-Milwaukee by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($76,982), Computer Science ($73,795), and Electrical Engineering ($73,603).

Other Romance languages bachelor's programs near Milwaukee

Common questions

The median graduate earns $33,705 one year after graduating and $57,941 five years after. The median across Romance languages bachelor's programs in Wisconsin is $37,018.

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 Wisconsin 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

  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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