Linguistic, Comparative, at University of North Texas

A $20,522 starting salary represents a troubling outcome for a bachelor's degree, particularly when Texas students in comparable linguistics programs typically earn $31,444—nearly $11,000 more. Among the 17 Texas schools offering this program, UNT ranks in the bottom 10th percentile, trailing far behind UT Austin ($32,185) and even UT El Paso ($26,475). Nationally, the picture is equally concerning, with UNT graduates earning less than 89% of peers at other institutions.

The one silver lining is manageable debt: at $20,824, it roughly equals first-year earnings and sits near national norms for the field. But earning barely above the poverty line makes even this modest debt burden significant in practice. For context, linguistics graduates nationwide earn a median of $27,449—already a low figure that makes this program challenging across most schools, but UNT's results fall substantially below even that baseline.

The small sample size here (under 30 graduates) means these numbers could shift with more data, but the gap between UNT's outcomes and both state and national benchmarks is too wide to dismiss. If your child is passionate about linguistics, they'd likely see better returns at UT Austin or even Stephen F Austin State, where graduates earn nearly double UNT's figures. Unless circumstances change dramatically, this particular program struggles to justify the investment compared to readily available alternatives within Texas.