Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at William & Mary

William & Mary's Romance Languages program posts $40,260 in first-year earnings—ahead of both the national median ($34,497) and Virginia's typical graduate ($39,264). That's noteworthy for a humanities program, where strong institutional reputation can translate into better employment outcomes. These graduates are doing better than most, even outearning UVA's Romance Languages majors by nearly $2,000.

The $20,500 in median debt is manageable at a 0.51 ratio to first-year earnings, meaning graduates owe about half their annual salary. This matches Virginia's median debt for the program and sits comfortably below typical benchmarks for problem debt. William & Mary's strong academic reputation (33% admission rate, 1458 average SAT) appears to provide real labor market advantages for humanities majors—graduates aren't just getting prestigious degrees, they're converting them into above-average early earnings.

The major caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so individual circumstances could swing these numbers significantly. That said, for parents of humanities-oriented students choosing between Virginia schools, William & Mary's program shows stronger early outcomes than the state's flagship university. It won't deliver engineer-level earnings, but for students passionate about language and literature, this program demonstrates that selective liberal arts training can lead to a reasonable financial start.