Linguistic, Comparative, at Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic's linguistics program lands graduates at $32,756 in their first year—outperforming 78% of similar programs nationally and placing solidly above Florida's median for this degree. With debt of $18,500 (roughly one semester's worth of early-career salary), the financial fundamentals look reasonable, though these figures come from a small graduating class, so individual outcomes may vary more than typical.

What's notable here is that FAU essentially matches University of Florida's earnings outcomes in this field while maintaining the same debt level. For a school with a 73% admission rate serving a substantial population of Pell grant recipients, that's competitive performance. The linguistics job market is notoriously uneven—many graduates pivot into adjacent fields like education, tech, or communications—so that first-year salary of nearly $33,000 represents a functional starting point rather than a ceiling.

The real question is trajectory: linguistics degrees often require graduate school or specialized skills (think computational linguistics or speech pathology) to unlock higher earnings. If your child plans to stop at the bachelor's level and enter the workforce immediately, this program provides a manageable debt load and slightly above-average starting prospects. But if graduate school is likely, factor in those additional costs before committing.