Bachelor's · Santa Cruz, California
Is Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at University of California-Santa Cruz worth it?
Low confidence Low confidence: fewer than 40 graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.9 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $42,717
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $55,338
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- Not enough borrowers to report
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $79k (likely $79k – $99k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $16k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 7.9 years (likely 5.5–13.5)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- −$121k (likely −$210k – −$34k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $88k (likely −$98k – $287k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 74%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Change income, residency or loans Compare Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at other schools
🌍 Getting ready in high school
Students heading toward languages & cultures majors like this one often take these classes. Every school offers a different mix, so check with your counselor.
AP classes
- AP Spanish Language and Culture (or French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Latin)
- AP World History: Modern
- AP Human Geography
IB Higher Level
- Language B HL
- History HL or Geography HL
Build my roadmap 🗺️ Middle school to career, plus high schools near you that offer these classes.
Other majors at University of California-Santa Cruz
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$124,641
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$123,422
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's)$118,290
- Economics (Master's)$110,425
- Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's)$98,567
- Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management (Bachelor's)$94,589
- Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's)$88,305
- Business/Managerial Economics (Bachelor's)$82,064
- Economics (Bachelor's)$76,382
- Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology (Bachelor's)$74,517
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (Master's)$73,343
- Physics (Bachelor's)$72,553
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at other schools in California
- University of California-Berkeley$75,715
- Occidental College$71,779
- University of California-Santa Barbara$68,496
- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona$68,077
- University of Redlands$67,126
- San Francisco State University$62,623
- Loyola Marymount University$62,024
- University of the Pacific$61,487
- University of California-Davis$60,797
- University of Southern California$59,088