American Sign Language

Foreign Languages & Linguistics

American Sign Language graduates with a bachelor's typically earned about $44,933, measured a few years after finishing (median across US programs, College Scorecard).
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Median earnings by degree level

Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $40,131, $34,959 to $42,255; Associate's median $41,524, $35,740 to $45,884; Bachelor's median $44,933, $37,518 to $48,202.$35k$42k$48kCertificate$40,131Associate's$41,524Bachelor's$44,933
Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $40,131, $34,959 to $42,255; Associate's median $41,524, $35,740 to $45,884; Bachelor's median $44,933, $37,518 to $48,202.$35k$42k$48kCertificate$40,131Associate's$41,524Bachelor's$44,933
DegreeMedian earningsTypical rangeSchoolsClear the bar
Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$40,131$34,959 to $42,255560%
Associate's Degree$41,524$35,740 to $45,884667%
Bachelor's Degree$44,933$37,518 to $48,2022383%

"Clear the bar" is the share of programs whose graduates out-earn a typical high-school graduate (the federal earnings-premium test). Typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile of program medians.

Job outlook

Projected employment growth +1% (2025 to 2035), about 83,600 openings a year across the occupations this field commonly leads to.

OccupationMedian payGrowthOpenings/yr
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$72,040-0.2%63,500
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640+2%12,500
Interpreters and Translators$60,170+2%6,000
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$79,350+0.2%1,600

Occupation pay and outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wages, Employment Projections). A field maps to several occupations, and the same occupations serve many majors, so these are the jobs this major commonly leads to, not positions reserved for its graduates; the openings should not be added up across majors.

Where this is studied

The 8 colleges where the most students complete a american sign language program, of 189 that report one. Ordered by number of completions only: this is where people study it, not a judgement about where to.

Earnings source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10), median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.