English Language and Literature/Letters at Drexel University

Drexel's English program shows stronger-than-expected earnings for a humanities degree, though you're looking at a very small sample that makes these numbers less reliable. At $33,300 starting, graduates earn more than three-quarters of English majors nationally—a meaningful premium when many liberal arts programs struggle to justify their cost. The $27,000 debt load sits right at both state and national medians, creating a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.81 that most families could handle.

The real story here is the 63% earnings jump to $54,305 by year four, which suggests Drexel's co-op program and Philadelphia job market give English grads practical work experience that translates to career progression. That four-year number puts this well above typical English major outcomes. However, with fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, a handful of outlier careers (perhaps in technical writing or communications at major corporations) could be inflating these figures significantly.

If your child is genuinely passionate about English and you're comparing programs in Pennsylvania, Drexel appears competitive—but recognize you're making this judgment on limited data. The co-op opportunities are the real differentiator here, potentially explaining why earnings outpace the national English major average. Just understand that individual outcomes will vary more widely than usual given the small cohort size, and there's no guarantee your child's experience will match this median.