Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at Columbia College

Choosing a Romance Languages degree means accepting modest starting salaries, and this program fits that pattern—with similar programs in South Carolina suggesting first-year earnings around $36,000. That figure aligns almost exactly with the national median for this major, though it trails the state's top performers like Wofford and Clemson by $3,000-$4,000 annually. For families paying for this degree, that gap matters: over a career, those seemingly small differences compound significantly.

The estimated $25,500 in debt sits just above the national median for Romance Languages programs and slightly below the South Carolina average. With more than half of Columbia College students receiving Pell grants, debt levels are a real concern for families already stretched thin financially. A 0.71 debt-to-earnings ratio isn't catastrophic, but it means your child would be committing roughly nine months of their first year's gross income to paying down student loans—a challenging proposition when entry-level salaries in the humanities rarely allow much financial cushion.

The fundamental question is whether a Romance Languages degree from a school with a 96% admission rate provides enough career differentiation to justify the cost. These estimates suggest it performs in line with peer programs, neither particularly strong nor weak. If your child is passionate about languages and has a clear path to employment—teaching, translation, international business—this could work. But without that concrete plan, you're looking at below-average earnings with above-average financial pressure right out of the gate.