List of Public R1 Universities Graduating the Most English Majors

Few would disagree with the sentiment that the world has drastically changed in the past two years, not to mention the last decade. Much like many programs, English and literature degrees have seen a decline in the US over the past decade.

Despite this decline, the power and importance of storytelling continue to remain at the forefront of many, such as Economist Robert Shiller, highlighting that “Compartmentalization of intellectual life is bad.” Others have highlighted how important critical thinking is to the arts and humanities, which employers consistently rank as a highly desirable skill. 

Top industries and skills for English Literature Majors

Steppingblocks explored the career outcomes for literature majors across the United States and identified top industries and the relevant skills for these graduates. Our data highlights the importance of skills development for successful post-graduation outcomes.

The top industries employing literature majors are education, information technology, healthcare, finance, and government. The skills associated with each industry highlight the diverse pathways literature majors take after graduation. Top industries and skills for literature majors:

• Education: Higher Education, Curriculum Development, Teaching, Tutoring, Editing
• Information Technology: Editing, Writing, Proofreading, Technical Writing, Content Management
• Healthcare: Editing, Writing, Research, Public Speaking, Hospital Health Services
• Finance: Banking, Financial Services, Investment Management, Credit Analysis, Editing
• Government: Library Science, Information Literacy, Collection Development, Library Instruction, Readers’ Advisory

“Literature majors develop strong communication and analytical skills, awareness of cultures and experiences outside of their own, and the ability to imagine a wide array of alternate models for defining and addressing problems that emerge in the workplace.” Melody Bowdon, Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, University of Central Florida.

How did we develop this list of R1 Universities?

To understand how we developed this list you first have to understand our data. To obtain a comprehensive picture of education and workforce outcomes, we collect, organize, classify and analyze demographic, education and employment data from hundreds of sources. Our data then undergoes a rigorous process of validation for quality and veracity to ensure reliable, high-quality information on over 130 million people, over 25 million companies and over 1 billion data points.

To discover the colleges and universities making the greatest impact in any given category, we leverage our technology to explore the desired variables to return a list of top schools in seconds. For this analysis, we used education and employment filters to generate a list of Public Research 1 universities producing the most English majors. Here's how we sliced the data:

• Institution Type: Public, Research 1 Carnegie Classification
• Major: English Literature
• Degree Level: Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate

R1 Universities in the Southern US

The average salary of English majors who graduated from Public R1 universities in the South is $80k. Other than teaching, the most common job title is attorney. 

1. University of Texas at Austin
2. Florida State University
3. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
4. University of Florida
5. University of North Texas
6. University of South Carolina
7. Texas A&M University
8. University of South Florida
9. University of Houston
10. Florida International University
11. University of Central Florida
12. Georgia State University

What are the largest industries in the Southeast? Click here to explore the data.

R1 Universities in the Western US

The average salary of English majors who graduated from Public R1 universities in the South is $82k. Other than teaching, the most common job title is owner. 

1. University of California, Berkeley
2. University of California, Los Angeles
3. University of Washington
4. Arizona State University
5. University of Oregon
6. University of California, Santa Cruz
7. University of Colorado Boulder
8. University of California, Irvine
9. University of California, Davis
10. University of California, San Diego
11. University of Utah

These universities in the West lead the list of female software engineers.

R1 Universities in the Central and Midwestern US

The average salary of English majors who graduated from Public R1 universities in the Central and Midwest is $84k. The most common job title is business owner. 

1. University of Michigan
2. University of Indiana Bloomington
3. University of Wisconsin - Madison
4. The Ohio State University
5. University of Missouri - Columbia
6. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
7. University of Iowa
8. Michigan State University
9. Purdue University
10. University of Cincinnati
11. Wayne State University

Which universities in the Midwest produce the most executives? Click here to find out!

R1 Universities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern US

The average salary of English majors who graduated from Public R1 universities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast is $81k. The most common job title is teacher. 

1. Penn State University
2. University of Massachusetts at Amherst
3. University of Pittsburgh
4. Temple University
5. George Mason University
6. Binghamton University
7. Virginia Commonwealth University
8. Stony Brook University
9. University of Maryland, College Park
10. University of New Hampshire 
11. University at Buffalo

Which universities produce the most epidemiologists? Click here to find out.