Wichita State English (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General
  • Public university
  • Wichita, KS
  • About 13 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

Wichita State English graduates earn about what English graduates earn nationally, $27,585 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,976 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,498. Several Kansas programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$27,58535th percentile of 471 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$29,8028% more than year one
Median federal debt$25,9764th lowest of 5 Kansas programs
Debt-to-earnings94%Kansas median 84%, national 77%

How it compares

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

Five years out, Wichita State graduates earn less than the national figure and about $9,030 less than the Kansas median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas English program

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

Wichita StateOther Kansas 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 8% between the first and fifth year.

Wichita State grads, year 1$27,585
Wichita State grads, year 5$29,802
All Kansas English grads, year 5$38,832

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 $275 a month, or 12.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

88% of graduates (23 of 26) were working in Kansas one year after graduating. Prices in the Wichita area are about 11% below the national average, so a $27,585 salary here buys what about $31,013 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

$59,920

Median pay in Kansas. 10,860 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $47,630Top 10%: $76,230

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

$51,160

Median pay in Kansas. 90 people work in this job in Kansas. 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%: $24,960Top 10%: $67,760

About Wichita State

English ranks 34th of 38 bachelor's programs at Wichita State by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($77,435), Mechanical Engineering ($68,018), and Computer Engineering ($66,207).

Common questions

The median graduate earns $27,585 one year after graduating and $29,802 five years after. The median across English bachelor's programs in Kansas is $31,364.

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 Kansas 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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