Rhetoric & Composition

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Total Degrees​
Awarded in 2023
1,511
declining 17.7%
Median In-State​
Public Tuition
$7,706
growing 2.64%
Median Out-of-State​
Private Tuition
$48,200
growing 7.11%
Average Wage
$91,095
growing 3.22%
People in Workforce
1.58M
growing 2.77%
Average Employee Age
44.1
growing 0.415%

About

In 2023, the locations with the highest concentration of Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients are Norfolk, VA, Minneapolis, MN, and Pittsburgh, PA. In 2023, the locations with a relatively high number of Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients are Crawfordsville, IN, Jacksonville, IL, and West Chester, PA. The most common degree awarded to students studying Rhetoric & Composition is a bachelors degree.

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Rhetoric & Composition and the types of students that study this field. Old Dominion University awards the most degrees in Rhetoric & Composition in the US, but Wabash College and University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition.

Tuition costs for Rhetoric & Composition majors are, on average, $7,706 for in-state public colleges, and $48,200 for out of state private colleges.

The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Rhetoric & Composition programs are Public, 4-year or above institutions (96 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (1,309 completions).

Institutions

Institution with the Most Degrees Awarded in Rhetoric & Composition (2023)
  1. 171 degrees awarded
  2. 145 degrees awarded
  3. 118 degrees awarded

The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition, is Public, 4-year or above (1,309 completions in 2023).

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.

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Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$7,706
Median In-State Public
$48,200
Median Out of State Private

Old Dominion University has the most Rhetoric & Composition degree recipients, with 171 degrees awarded in 2023.

The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition.

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Specialized Colleges

Highest Concentration Institution
  1. 5.53%
  2. 5.41%
  3. 3.86%

Out of all institutions that offer Rhetoric & Composition programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Wabash College has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition, with 5.53%.

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Degrees Awarded by County

Counties with the Most Degrees Awarded in Rhetoric & Composition
  1. 171 degrees awarded
  2. 145 degrees awarded
  3. 124 degrees awarded

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition by year.

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Employment

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 $91,095 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 Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
$91,095
Average Wage in Workforce
± $1,957
3.22%
1 Year Growth
± 2.98%

The average salary for English majors is $91,095 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.

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Highest Paying Locations

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.

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.

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Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
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Most Specialized

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.

Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of English majors working as Editors, Technical writers, and Writers & authors.

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Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.

The highest paid occupations by median income for English majors are Surgeons, Physicians, and Nuclear medicine technologists and medical dosimetrists.

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Occupations by Share

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
1.58M
2023 Workforce
± 30,703
2.77%
1 Year Growth
± 2.69%

The number of English graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.77%, from 1.54M in 2022 to 1.58M in 2023.

The largest single share of English graduates go on to work as Elementary & middle school teachers (6.29%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in English by share of the total number of graduates.

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Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.

The most common industries that employ English majors, by number of employees, are Elementary & secondary schools, uninformed, and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges.

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Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
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Industries by Share

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
1.58M
2023 Workforce
± 30,703
2.77%
1 Year Growth
± 2.69%

The number of English graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.77%, from 1.54M in 2022 to 1.58M in 2023.

The industry which employs the most English graduates by share is Elementary & secondary schools, followed by uninformed. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in English.

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Specialty Locations

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course 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.

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Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in English in the United States.

The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in English is 44.1.

The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Female employees are more likely to hold English degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in English (924 students).

Workforce Age

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
44.1
Average Age in 2023
± 0.256 Years
0.415%
1 Year Change
± 0.826%

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 34 years old, which represent 2.81% and 2.75% of the population, respectively.

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Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Rhetoric & Composition are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Research Doctorate.

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Workforce Degrees

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.

The most common degree types held by the working population in English are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.

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Sex Imbalance for Common Institutions

Female (64.9%)
Most Common Sex with a Degree in this Field

This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Rhetoric & Composition.

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Race & Ethnicity by Degrees Awarded

Most Common Race or Ethnicity
  1. White
    924 degrees awarded
  2. Hispanic or Latino
    193 degrees awarded
  3. Black or African American
    176 degrees awarded

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Rhetoric & Composition for each race & ethnicity. White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.

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Race & Ethnicity by Sex

Most Common Race/Ethnicity and Sex Combination
  1. White Female
    494 degrees awarded
  2. White Male
    274 degrees awarded
  3. Hispanic or Latino Female
    103 degrees awarded

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.

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Global Diversity

The closest comparable data for the 6 Digit Course Rhetoric & Composition is from the 2 Digit Course English.
Most Common Countries of Origin
  1. China
    20,410 degree recipients
  2. India
    17,738 degree recipients
  3. Korea
    11,699 degree recipients
High Relative Number of Students
  1. Japan
    6.02 times more than expected
  2. Morocco
    4.24 times more than expected
  3. Algeria
    4.04 times more than expected

There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Japan that hold English degrees (6.02 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 (20,410 degree recipients).

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Skills

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.

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Bar Chart

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