Which Massachusetts English program has the lowest debt?

Wellesley College reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,000, with first-year pay of $38,376.

How much do English graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 28 Massachusetts English bachelor's programs is $34,629 in the first year after graduating and $49,785 five years after.

How many English bachelor's programs are in Massachusetts?

28 Massachusetts programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 26 of them also report federal debt.

English (Bachelor's) Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

28 programs report first-year pay
26 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Massachusetts English bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,629 in their first year, $4,434 more than the national median. Northeastern University reports the highest first-year pay ($49,639), and Wellesley College the lowest median debt ($12,000).

Median first-year pay$34,629National $30,195

Median pay after 5 years$49,785National $47,348

Median federal debt$26,619National $24,498

Debt-to-earnings76%National 77%

All 28 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$49,639	$53,709	$27,000	54%
2	Williams CollegeWilliamstown · private nonprofit	$49,340	$65,491	$13,125	27%
3	Stonehill CollegeEaston · private nonprofit	$44,629	$60,159	$24,737	55%
4	College of the Holy CrossWorcester · private nonprofit	$43,362	$81,948	$27,000	62%
5	Amherst CollegeAmherst · private nonprofit	$41,979	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Boston CollegeChestnut Hill · private nonprofit	$41,878	$70,856	$18,832	45%
7	Fitchburg StateFitchburg · public	$39,938	$45,015	$27,000	68%
8	Brandeis UniversityWaltham · private nonprofit	$39,867	$49,384	$26,000	65%
9	Lesley UniversityCambridge · private nonprofit	$38,442	$58,722	$24,750	64%
10	Wellesley CollegeWellesley · private nonprofit	$38,376	$64,206	$12,000	31%
11	Framingham StateFramingham · public	$37,188	$44,166	$27,000	73%
12	Gordon CollegeWenham · private nonprofit	$36,462	$47,430	$27,000	74%
13	UMass BostonBoston · public	$35,820	$48,236	$26,960	75%
14	Tufts UniversityMedford · private nonprofit	$34,689	$63,266	$14,670	42%
15	Bridgewater StateBridgewater · public	$34,569	$49,785	$27,000	78%
16	Assumption UniversityWorcester · private nonprofit	$34,206	$56,622	$27,000	79%
17	Worcester StateWorcester · public	$33,022	$43,186	$26,474	80%
18	Salem StateSalem · public	$32,844	$44,760	$27,000	82%
19	UMass DartmouthNorth Dartmouth · public	$31,661	$53,507	$28,500	90%
20	Harvard UniversityCambridge · private nonprofit	$30,838	$64,155	Not reported	Not reported
21	UMass LowellLowell · public	$30,408	$46,861	$27,000	89%
22	Massachusetts College of Liberal ArtsNorth Adams · public	$29,677	$44,311	$26,000	88%
23	Wheaton College (Massachusetts)Norton · private nonprofit	$29,221	$46,505	$26,748	92%
24	Smith CollegeNorthampton · private nonprofit	$25,023	$53,422	$19,000	76%
25	UMass AmherstAmherst · public	$24,521	$56,872	$23,950	98%
26	Boston UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$23,579	$55,841	$26,395	112%
27	Mount Holyoke CollegeSouth Hadley · private nonprofit	$22,680	$42,639	$23,000	101%
28	Clark UniversityWorcester · private nonprofit	$22,670	$41,952	$26,619	117%

Amherst College and Harvard University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 26 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Northeastern University$49,639
Williams College$49,340
Stonehill College$44,629
College of the Holy Cross$43,362
Amherst College$41,979

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

Common questions

Northeastern University in Boston reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,639. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

English (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked471 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the English bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024