Which Pennsylvania writing and rhetoric program has the lowest debt?

Franklin and Marshall College reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,083, with first-year pay of $33,476.

How much do writing and rhetoric graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 7 Pennsylvania writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs is $27,390 in the first year after graduating and $53,012 five years after.

How many writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs are in Pennsylvania?

7 Pennsylvania programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Writing and Rhetoric (Bachelor's) Programs in Pennsylvania, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Pennsylvania writing and rhetoric bachelor's program pays its graduates $27,390 in their first year, $1,040 less than the national median. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania reports the highest first-year pay ($37,446), and Franklin and Marshall College the lowest median debt ($23,083).

Median first-year pay$27,390National $28,430

Median pay after 5 years$53,012National $47,988

Median federal debt$27,000National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings99%National 82%

All 7 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	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$37,446	$67,069	$27,000	72%
2	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$35,700	$53,776	$26,000	73%
3	Franklin and Marshall CollegeLancaster · private nonprofit	$33,476	Not reported	$23,083	69%
4	Arcadia UniversityGlenside · private nonprofit	$27,390	Not reported	$27,000	99%
5	Elizabethtown CollegeElizabethtown · private nonprofit	$26,534	$52,248	$27,000	102%
6	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown · public	$26,242	$48,905	$27,000	103%
7	Susquehanna UniversitySelinsgrove · private nonprofit	$19,753	$43,685	$27,000	137%

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania writing and rhetoric program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$37,446
University of Pittsburgh$35,700
Franklin and Marshall College$33,476
Arcadia University$27,390
Elizabethtown College$26,534

Lowest median debt

Franklin and Marshall College$23,083
University of Pittsburgh$26,000
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$27,000
Arcadia University$27,000
Elizabethtown College$27,000

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 writing and rhetoric, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Editors

$63,460

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,240 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $37,240Top 10%: $114,560

Writers and Authors

$77,410

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,080 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $40,270Top 10%: $178,490

Technical Writers

$87,620

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,330 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $54,220Top 10%: $158,180

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

$47,510

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 230 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $38,000Top 10%: $82,340

Common questions

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in Shippensburg reports the highest median first-year pay, $37,446. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Writing and Rhetoric (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked110 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 Pennsylvania rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the writing and rhetoric 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