Rhetoric & Composition
Contains Stem Majors
Add ComparisonIn 2024, the locations with the highest concentration of Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients are South Hooksett, NH, Fair Oaks, GA, and New York, NY. In 2024, the locations with a relatively high number of Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients are Montpelier, VT, Fair Oaks, GA, and Hollins, VA. The most common degree awarded to students studying Rhetoric & Composition is a bachelors degree.
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Rhetoric & Composition and the types of students that study this field. Southern New Hampshire University awards the most degrees in Rhetoric & Composition in the US, but Vermont College of Fine Arts and Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition.
Tuition costs for Rhetoric & Composition majors are, on average, $8,204 for in-state public colleges, and $40,400 for out of state private colleges.
The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Rhetoric & Composition programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (361 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (5,543 completions).
The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition, is Public, 4-year or above (5,543 completions in 2024).
The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Rhetoric & Composition programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.
Southern New Hampshire University has the most Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients, with 898 degrees awarded in 2024.
The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition.
Out of all institutions that offer Rhetoric & Composition programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Vermont College of Fine Arts has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition, with 68.8%.
This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition by year.
Information on the businesses and industries that employ English graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.
The average salary for English majors is $93,508 and the most common occupations are Elementary & middle school teachers, Postsecondary teachers, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.
The industry that employs the most English majors is Elementary & secondary schools, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Not specified metal industries.
The average salary for English majors is $93,508 and the most common occupations are Elementary & middle school teachers, Postsecondary teachers, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.
This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for English majors.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of English majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that English majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
The most common occupations for English majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & middle school teachers, Postsecondary teachers, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.
Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of English majors working as Editors, Technical writers, and Writers & authors.
The highest paid occupations by median income for English majors are Furniture finishers, Surgeons, and Physicians.
The number of English graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.26%, from 1.58M in 2023 to 1.62M in 2024.
The largest single share of English graduates go on to work as Elementary & middle school teachers (6.3%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in English by share of the total number of graduates.
The most common industries that employ English majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and Legal services.
The highest paying industries of English majors, by average wage, are Not specified metal industries, Tobacco manufacturing, and Aluminum production & processing.
The number of English graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.26%, from 1.58M in 2023 to 1.62M in 2024.
The industry which employs the most English graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in English.
This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of English majors.
Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that English majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in English. The most common ages of employees with this major are 38 and 37 years old, which represent 2.82% and 2.8% of the population, respectively.
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Rhetoric & Composition are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Certificate of at least 1 but less than 2 academic years.
The most common degree types held by the working population in English are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.
This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Rhetoric & Composition.
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition for each race & ethnicity.
In 2024, White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.
This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Rhetoric & Composition.
White Female students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.
There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Japan that hold English degrees (5.82 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is China (21,569 degree recipients).
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Rhetoric & Composition field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rhetoric & Composition majors need many skills, but most especially Writing. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Rhetoric & Composition majors need more than the average amount of Writing, Reading Comprehension, and Active Learning.
These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Rhetoric & Composition majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Writing is very distinctive for majors, but the Writing, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking are the three most important skills for people in the field.
