Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at CUNY Lehman College

Starting a career in Romance Languages at Lehman College means earning less than the typical New York graduate in this field ($35,941 versus $37,442 statewide), but you're getting there with remarkably low debt. At just $8,617, this ranks in the 95th percentile nationally—meaning 95% of Romance Languages programs saddle students with more debt. That's a meaningful advantage for a field where first-year salaries hover in the mid-$30,000s across the board.

The catch is that Lehman places in the 40th percentile among New York programs, and you can see why when comparing to peers: CUNY York College graduates earn $11,000 more annually with this same degree. For a serving-majority-Pell institution like Lehman (61% of students receive Pell grants), that earnings gap matters. However, the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.24 remains healthy—you'd need less than three months of gross salary to cover the entire debt load.

The small sample size here (under 30 graduates tracked) means individual circumstances could swing these numbers significantly. If your child is passionate about languages and needs an affordable path forward, Lehman delivers that. Just understand they'll likely need graduate school, additional credentials, or bilingual work experience to reach the earnings levels that top-tier New York programs achieve right out of the gate.