The popular press regularly notes that the flexibility of the degree makes English and Literary Studies Majors eminently hirable. Steve Strauss writes in USA Today, “I love [Literature majors’] ability to write well and think critically” (July 8, 2016). Business Insider routinely runs articles citing the desirability of hiring Literature/English Majors. Their June 2013 profile of Logitch CEO Bracken Darrell (himself a Literature major) suggests, Literature Majors’ “’soft skills’ are greatly needed in today’s technical world.” Mark Cuban echoed these sentiments in the same publication in his Feb. 17, 2017 article “Don’t Go To School For Finance — Liberal Arts Is The Future.”

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) agree. Among their findings is that Liberal Arts majors “Earn More than Professional Majors at Peak Earnings Ages”:

“At peak earnings ages (56-60 years) workers who majored as undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences earn annually on average about $2000 more than those who majored as undergraduates in professional or pre-professional fields. These data include all college graduates working full-time, including those with only a baccalaureate degree and those with both a baccalaureate and graduate or professional degree.”

Also, Liberal Arts majors face lower unemployment rates:

“The unemployment rate for recent liberal arts graduates is 5.2 percent. The unemployment rate for mature workers with liberal arts degrees (41-50) is 3.5 percent—just .04 percent higher than the rates for those with a professional or preprofessional degree.” (See https://www.aacu.org/press/press-releases/new-report-documents-liberal-arts-disciplines-prepare-graduates-long-term).

Here is one way to think about the message of all of this research: it is easy to imagine a English and Literary Studies major taking an entry-level position at a brokerage house or bank (this happens frequently). It is much harder to imagine a Finance major walking into a high school English teaching position. While the data is there, this message is difficult to transmit. Below I will make some recommendations on this matter.

The English and Literary Studies major balances survey and seminar, American, British, and world literature while you study genre, period, and theme. Your courses will emphasize the interdisciplinary and multicultural dimensions of literature and life.

Prepare for life with internships, co-ops, and service learning placements at organizations such as John Wiley & Sons, Simon & Schuster, the New York Public Library, the Margaret Sanger Papers Project, the Jane Addams Papers Project, The Feminist Press, Foxbusiness.com, Paterson Public Schools, and Stryker Orthopaedics.

You can choose to expand your career options by minoring or concentrating in Creative Writing. Majoring in English and Literary Studies is a practical choice that helps you develop the communications skills employers want. At the same time, students enjoy studying their favorite authors and discover new ones.
Fire up your imagination by getting involved with Trillium, the college literary magazine, or joining the English and Literary Studies Club and the Omega Omega Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (the national English Honor Society).

Our students have had their work published in such publications as Salon, The Guardian, The Hairpin, Truth-Out, Buzzfeed, Esquire, Paste, Hazlett, Bustle, Femsplain, The New Republic, The Toast.

Trillium