Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at St. Thomas Aquinas College

Is $37,000 enough to manage nearly $20,000 in debt for a Romance Languages degree? That's the central question here, and the answer depends heavily on what happens after that first year. Similar programs across New York suggest first-year earnings around this level, placing St. Thomas Aquinas squarely in the middle of the state's range—well behind Columbia's $54,000 outcomes but matching the state median. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.52 is manageable if career trajectory improves, but language and literature graduates often need graduate credentials or pivot into adjacent fields like education, communications, or international business to see substantial salary growth.

The challenge with these estimates is that we can't see how St. Thomas Aquinas's particular program performs compared to its New York peers. Romance Languages programs vary dramatically—some emphasize practical skills like translation or cultural competency for business contexts, while others focus on literary analysis that requires graduate study to monetize. The estimated $19,625 debt sits below both state and national medians, which helps, but parents should verify what percentage of this program's graduates actually work in language-related fields versus use the degree as a stepping stone to something else. If your student is passionate about languages, ask the department about alumni outcomes, internship partnerships, and whether the curriculum includes skills beyond literature that translate to immediate employment.