Literature at University of California-Los Angeles

UCLA's Literature program graduates earn surprisingly little given the institution's prestige—just $22,704 one year after graduation, barely above the national median and identical to California's median. What catches your eye immediately is the debt picture: while $13,093 sounds manageable, it's higher than 95% of Literature programs nationally, most of which carry around half that amount ($26,552 national median). The small sample size here (under 30 graduates) means these numbers could swing dramatically year to year, but the pattern is worth noting.

The 60th percentile ranking among California programs sounds decent until you realize only two schools in the state report data for this major, making that comparison essentially meaningless. More telling is the national picture: UCLA Literature graduates earn less than 78% of their peers nationwide despite attending one of America's most selective public universities. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.58 means graduates owe more than half their first-year salary—not catastrophic, but tighter than you'd expect from a school with a 9% admission rate.

If your child is genuinely passionate about literary studies at UCLA, the relatively low debt keeps this from being a financial disaster. But expect a gap year, graduate school, or career pivot to boost those earnings. This isn't the program where UCLA's brand translates into immediate financial returns.