Is a Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies degree worth it?
Across 115 schools, graduates of Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies earn a median $47,989 five years out on $22,870 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as Editors (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$47,989
Median debt
$22,870
Years to pay off
4.5
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
72%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+1.4%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
0.2%
$52,090 vs $51,986
Net price
$21,082/yr
Debt-test failures
17.5%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$16,322
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.