English is the foundational humanities discipline, the study of language, literature, and the craft of writing across history and cultures. At its best, an English degree trains students in close reading, argumentation, research synthesis, and the sustained labor of revision that produces strong prose. These are skills with broad applicability: English graduates enter journalism, publishing, law, government, business, education, communications, and creative work at every level of the economy. The major also remains the most common pathway to doctoral study in the humanities.
Approximately 31,600 English bachelor’s degrees are awarded annually across the programs that meet our inclusion threshold of at least 30 degrees. This makes English one of the larger fields in our ranking series by program count, though degree volumes have declined significantly over the past two decades as students have shifted toward STEM and professional majors. The programs that remain strong are those where English has resisted marginalization by building a clear departmental identity, selective recruitment, and an active research culture.
College Transitions has developed a data-driven ranking of the top 100 undergraduate English programs, applying the same five-component methodology used across this ranking series, with a program-level two-tier Earnings & ROI component.
How We Built the Ranking
The approach evaluates all 581 scoreable institutions across five components.
| Component | Weight | Data Source |
| Major Emphasis | 12% | IPEDS Degree Completions (all CIP 23.xx) |
| Program Scale | 13% | IPEDS Degree Completions (log) |
| Academic Rating | 30% | IPEDS / Common Data Set |
| Earnings & ROI (Tier 1) | 25% | Field earnings 55% + inst. 15% + ROI 20yr 15% + ROI 40yr 15% |
| Earnings & ROI (Tier 2†) | 25% | Inst. earnings 55% + ROI 20yr 22.5% + ROI 40yr 22.5% (where field earnings unavailable) |
| PhD Productivity | 20% | NSF SED: “Letters” field (English and related literature doctorates) |
CIP codes. This ranking includes all degrees under CIP 23.xx: English Language and Literature, General (23.01); Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (23.13); Literature (23.14); and English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (23.99). These sub-codes span the full range of English instruction, literature survey, writing studies, and creative writing, and are combined because they are housed in the same academic departments at most institutions.
The two-tier C4 design. English field-specific earnings are available from the College Scorecard for about 88 percent of universe institutions, well above the Tier 1 threshold. The 62 programs using Tier 2 (marked with a dagger) lack field-specific earnings because of small cohort sizes. All percentile ranks for each C4 sub-component are computed across the full 581-program universe, so Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs are directly comparable on the institutional earnings and ROI signals they share.
NSF PhD field. “Letters” is the NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates category for doctorates in English language and literature, comparative literature, creative writing, and closely related humanities fields. This is the precise field for an English ranking; it excludes linguistics, history, philosophy, and other humanities fields that have separate NSF categories.
A note on English earnings. English field earnings have the widest range of any field in our ranking series, from $15,817 at the lowest program to $76,444 at Carnegie Mellon, with a median of $40,692. Carnegie Mellon’s leading figure ($76,444) reflects its writing programs’ deep integration with technical communication, professional writing, and the technology sector of Pittsburgh. More broadly, English graduate earnings vary dramatically with an institution’s labor market positioning: programs at elite private universities and institutions in major media markets (New York, Boston, Washington) consistently show higher earnings than programs at regional universities in smaller markets, regardless of academic quality. Counselors should read the Earnings & ROI rankings with that context in mind.
The Top 25
The top 25 programs are shown below. The English ranking has one of the highest concentrations of liberal arts colleges in the top tier of any field in this series: ten of the top 25 programs are liberal arts colleges. English is the field most central to the liberal arts college mission, and the data reflects that.
| Rank | Institution | State | Type | C4 | Score |
| 1 | Columbia University | NY | Private | T1 | 91.6 |
| 2 | Williams College | MA | Liberal Arts | T1 | 90.0 |
| 3 | Brown University | RI | Private | T1 | 89.3 |
| 4 | Yale University | CT | Private | T1 | 89.3 |
| 5 | Barnard College | NY | Liberal Arts | T1 | 89.1 |
| 6 | Wesleyan University | CT | Liberal Arts | T2† | 87.5 |
| 7 | University of Virginia | VA | Public | T1 | 85.9 |
| 8 | Princeton University | NJ | Private | T1 | 85.8 |
| 9 | Harvard University | MA | Private | T1 | 84.8 |
| 10 | Dartmouth College | NH | Private | T1 | 84.6 |
| 11 | Amherst College | MA | Liberal Arts | T1 | 83.9 |
| 12 | Boston College | MA | Private | T1 | 83.8 |
| 13 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | Public | T1 | 83.4 |
| 14 | Colgate University | NY | Liberal Arts | T1 | 83.0 |
| 15 | Georgetown University | DC | Private | T1 | 83.0 |
| 16 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Public | T1 | 82.6 |
| 17 | Wellesley College | MA | Liberal Arts | T1 | 82.6 |
| 18 | Kenyon College | OH | Liberal Arts | T1 | 81.9 |
| 19 | University of Chicago | IL | Private | T1 | 81.7 |
| 20 | Duke University | NC | Private | T1 | 81.2 |
| 21 | Smith College | MA | Liberal Arts | T1 | 81.2 |
| 22 | Davidson College | NC | Liberal Arts | T2† | 81.0 |
| 23 | Swarthmore College | PA | Liberal Arts | T2† | 80.4 |
| 24 | Vassar College | NY | Liberal Arts | T1 | 80.3 |
| 25 | Middlebury College | VT | Liberal Arts | T1 | 80.2 |
Table 1. Top 25 Undergraduate English Programs, 2026 College Transitions Ranking. † = Tier 2 C4. LAC = Liberal Arts College.
Columbia University (#1, 91.6) leads the English ranking, driven by strong Program Scale (93.0, reflecting more than 420 English degrees per year across all CIP 23.xx sub-codes), a near-perfect Earnings & ROI score (98.1, with New York City labor market premiums for publishing, media, and law), and high PhD Productivity (97.2, with 99 Letters doctoral recipients, the sixth-highest raw count in the dataset). Columbia’s English department is one of the most influential in American literary studies, with particular strengths in critical theory, modernism, world literature, and creative writing. For undergraduates, Columbia’s location in New York provides access to the publishing and media industries that employ the largest concentration of English graduates in the country.
Williams College (#2, 90.0) is the clearest example in this ranking of the liberal arts college model at its best for English study. Williams scores 97.2 on Major Emphasis (English is central to Williams’ academic identity), 91.2 on Academic Rating (among the highest of any liberal arts college in the ranking), 93.5 on Earnings & ROI, and 95.4 on PhD Productivity (reflecting strong per-capita Letters doctoral production). Williams’ English department has deep strengths in both literary history and creative writing, and its alumni go on to doctoral programs, publishing careers, law, and the full range of paths that a first-rate humanities education opens.
Brown (#3, 89.3) and Yale (#4, 89.3) are effectively tied. Brown scores 95.9 on PhD Productivity (76 Letters doctoral recipients at strong per-capita rates) and 90.2 on Academic Rating. Yale scores 98.6 on PhD Productivity (104 Letters doctoral recipients at 15.3 per capita, among the highest raw counts in the dataset) and 98.4 on Earnings & ROI (field earnings of $60,462, reflecting Yale’s strong labor market positioning). Yale’s English department is widely considered one of the most important in the country for doctoral-track students, and its undergraduate program benefits directly from that research culture.
Barnard College (#5, 89.1) takes the fifth position with a 95.7 on Major Emphasis (English is exceptionally central to Barnard’s curriculum), 93.8 on Earnings & ROI (field earnings of $63,564, reflecting the New York City premium and Barnard’s access to Columbia’s coursework), and 95.6 on PhD Productivity. Barnard’s English department has particular strengths in feminist literary criticism, contemporary fiction, and the intersection of literature and social theory. Its graduates proceed to graduate study, publishing, media, and creative careers at rates that reflect the intellectual intensity of the program.
Harvard (#9, 84.8) ranks ninth, below its general prestige, primarily because English accounts for a relatively small share of Harvard’s total degrees (46.99 on Major Emphasis), reflecting the dilution of any single humanities discipline across a very large comprehensive university. Harvard’s PhD Productivity score is 99.1 (122 Letters doctoral recipients at a per-capita rate of 17.2, among the highest in the full dataset), and its Academic Rating (93.2) is among the strongest in the ranking. The composite rank of #9 is a data-accurate result: Harvard is an outstanding English program by every quality measure, but it is not institutionally organized around English the way Williams, Barnard, Kenyon, or Wesleyan are.
What Separates the Best Programs?
The Liberal Arts College Concentration
Ten liberal arts colleges appear in the top 25 of this English ranking, among the highest counts for any field in this series. This concentration reflects a structural reality: English is the humanities field most central to the liberal arts college mission, and liberal arts colleges have resisted the enrollment decline in English more successfully than large comprehensive universities, where the relative cost of an English degree versus a professional degree is most visible to students.
Kenyon College (#18, 81.9) deserves particular attention. Kenyon scores a near-perfect 99.8 on Major Emphasis, the highest in the full dataset, reflecting that English accounts for a larger fraction of Kenyon’s total degrees than at any other institution in the country. Kenyon’s association with the Kenyon Review, one of the most distinguished literary journals in the United States, founded in 1939, is not merely historical: it creates an undergraduate literary culture of unusual depth. Its PhD Productivity score (97.8, reflecting 54 Letters doctoral recipients at a per-capita rate of 24.7, among the highest in the full dataset) reflects real graduate school placement strength.
Swarthmore (#23, 80.4) leads all programs on per-capita Letters PhD production, with 42 doctoral recipients at a rate of 25.5 per 1,000 undergraduates, the highest in the full dataset. Its Tier 2 C4 designation reflects missing Scorecard field earnings rather than any weakness in its economic outcomes. Reed College (#40) and Bryn Mawr (#50) complete the strong small-college per-capita tier, each with rates above 20 per 1,000 undergraduates.
Virginia, Georgetown, and the Non-Ivy Elite
University of Virginia (#7, 85.9) is the ranking’s standout public university result, scoring 94.1 on Program Scale (reflecting one of the largest English programs at an elite public university), 93.9 on Earnings & ROI, and 89.5 on PhD Productivity (66 Letters doctoral recipients from a large program). UVA’s English department has particular strengths in American literature, the history of the book, and digital humanities, and its graduates enter media, law, government, and doctoral programs at rates that reflect the rigor of the program. For Virginia residents, UVA offers the closest thing to a top-15 English education at in-state tuition.
Georgetown (#15, 83.0) and Boston College (#12, 83.8) represent the Catholic university presence in the English ranking. Georgetown scores 97.5 on Earnings & ROI (among the highest in the full dataset), reflecting the Washington, D.C. labor market premium for communications, policy, journalism, and law, all fields where Georgetown English graduates are well represented. Boston College scores 97.3 on Earnings & ROI, reflecting its Boston location and strong connections to the publishing and media sectors of the Northeast corridor. Both programs combine real academic quality with labor market positioning that produces consistently strong earnings outcomes for their English graduates.
Duke, Chicago, and the Research University English Department
Duke (#20, 81.2) presents the most striking component profile in the top 25: its Major Emphasis score (24.8) is among the lowest of any top-20 program, reflecting that English accounts for a small share of degrees at a university increasingly oriented toward STEM and professional programs. Yet Duke scores 98.8 on Earnings & ROI (the highest field earnings in the ranking at $65,074), 94.1 on Academic Rating (among the highest in the ranking), and 91.0 on PhD Productivity (34 Letters doctoral recipients from a small program). Duke’s English department is one of the most intellectually influential in the country, a center of literary theory, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary humanities work that has shaped the profession for four decades. Its composite rank of #20 reflects that it is a small, elite program at an institution not primarily organized around literary study. For the right student, one interested in the most research-intensive, theoretically sophisticated English education available at a major research university, Duke belongs in the conversation with any program in the ranking.
University of Chicago (#19, 81.7) follows the same pattern: low Major Emphasis (74.0), high Academic Rating (92.4), high PhD Productivity (97.2, reflecting 89 Letters doctoral recipients at 11.9 per capita, among the highest per-capita rates among large research universities), and moderate Earnings & ROI (63.1, reflecting Chicago’s labor market positioning toward law, consulting, and finance rather than media and publishing). Chicago’s English department is organized around the rigorous reading of texts in their historical and cultural contexts, the legacy of the Chicago School of Criticism, and produces graduates well prepared for doctoral study in literary fields.
Patterns, Themes, and What They Mean for Your Students
The English major is in long-term enrollment decline, and this has consequences for program depth. Between 2012 and 2024, English degree completions at four-year institutions declined by roughly 30 percent. The decline has been uneven: it has been most severe at large comprehensive universities and least severe at elite private research universities and liberal arts colleges. Programs that have maintained enrollment are those where English is central to institutional identity and where the department has made the case for literary study as preparation for a broad range of careers rather than only academic ones. Counselors should understand that the top 100 programs in this ranking are substantially more robust than the national average would suggest; the decline has concentrated in programs that do not appear here.
The earnings data requires careful interpretation in the humanities. English field earnings at the median ($40,692 four years after graduation) are substantially lower than in most STEM fields. This reflects two phenomena that students and families should understand. First, many English graduates pursue graduate school, including law school, MFA programs, and doctoral programs, rather than entering the workforce directly, so the four-year earnings figure captures only those who chose direct employment. Second, the careers most English graduates build, in media, publishing, education, government, and the nonprofit sector, tend to have lower starting salaries and steeper long-run trajectories than technology or finance careers. The 40-year ROI data, included in the C4 component, partly captures this trajectory effect, and it consistently advantages programs at elite institutions whose graduates achieve strong long-run outcomes even when starting salaries are modest.
For students interested in doctoral study in English, the rankings tell a specific story. The programs with the highest per-capita Letters PhD production, including Swarthmore (25.5), Reed, Kenyon (24.7), Bryn Mawr, Amherst, Vassar, and Oberlin, are almost entirely small liberal arts colleges where literary study is central to institutional identity and where faculty-student research relationships are close and sustained. Students whose primary goal is doctoral study in English should consider these programs as seriously as the research universities in the top 10. The doctoral placement data indicates that a strong student from Swarthmore, Kenyon, or Amherst is a real candidate for the most selective English PhD programs in the country.
The creative writing question requires separate attention. Many of the most celebrated undergraduate creative writing programs, at Brown (the Literary Arts program), Columbia, Iowa (which awards English BA degrees), Michigan, and NYU, appear in this ranking under the broad English CIP 23.xx. Some institutions, including USC and Emerson College, have developed high-enrollment creative writing programs under CIP 23.13 (Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies). Counselors should ask specifically about the balance between literary criticism and creative writing in any English program under consideration, as these are different educational experiences even when housed in the same department.
The study of English, in its full breadth, from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison, from critical theory to the craft of the sentence, remains one of the most challenging and rewarding undergraduate educations available. The programs that lead this ranking have built the departmental cultures, faculty depth, and institutional commitments that make substantive literary education possible. Students and families who engage carefully with the data in this ranking will find a landscape of strong programs that is more diverse, more accessible, and more intellectually serious than conventional prestige rankings suggest.
