Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at New York University

A $37,500 first-year salary—the typical outcome for Romance Languages programs across New York—faces off against nearly $20,000 in debt, a modest burden for NYU but one that still demands scrutiny for a humanities degree at an elite private university. These figures come from peer programs in the state since NYU's specific graduate cohort was too small for the Department of Education to publish, but they paint a picture that's both surprisingly manageable and frustratingly limited given the school's prestige and selectivity.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.52 is reasonable by national standards, and the estimated debt load sits below both the state and national medians for this field. But here's what should concern parents: other highly selective New York schools with reportable data—Columbia, Colgate, Fordham—are producing Romance Languages graduates earning $44,000 to $54,000 in their first year out. If NYU's outcomes match the state median rather than its elite peer institutions, that's a significant gap for a school with a 9% admission rate and a nearly perfect average SAT score.

The real question is whether your child plans to leverage NYU's location and network toward careers that value language skills beyond teaching—international business, diplomacy, publishing, tech localization. If the answer is yes, the modest debt gives them runway to explore. If they're uncertain, these estimated figures suggest this degree won't pay for itself quickly through salary alone, and you're essentially betting on NYU's brand to deliver outcomes better than the state median these estimates reflect.