English Language & Literature at Harvard University

Every English language and literature school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the English language and literature program at Harvard University stacks up to those at other schools.

Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has a total student population of 30,391. During the 2020-2021 academic year, 47 students received their master's degree in English language and literature.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in English Language & Literature section at the bottom of this page.

Harvard English Language & Literature Degrees Available

• Master’s Degree in English Language & Literature
• Doctorate Degree in English Language & Literature

Online Classes Are Available at Harvard

If you are a working student or have a busy schedule, you may want to consider taking online classes. While these classes used to be mostly populated by returning adults, more and more traditional students are turning to this option.

For those who are interested in distance learning, Harvard does offer online courses in English language and literature for the following degree levels:

Harvard English Language & Literature Rankings

There were 7 students who received their doctoral degrees in English language and literature, making the school the #56 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

English Language & Literature Student Demographics at Harvard

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the English language and literature majors at Harvard University.

Harvard English Language & Literature Master’s Program

Of the 47 students who graduated with a master’s in English language and literature from Harvard in 2021, 32% were men and 68% were women. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 31% men graduate in English language and literature each year. Harvard does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 1% more men than average.

Of the students who received a English language and literature master's degree from Harvard, 60% were white. This is below average for this degree on the natiowide level. In the English language and literature master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 30% of degree recipients. That is 6% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Harvard University with a master's in English language and literature.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	7
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	28
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	5

Concentrations Within English Language & Literature

English Language & Literature majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Harvard University. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General English Literature	37
Literature	20
Writing Studies	17

Related Majors

• Foreign Languages & Linguistics
• Philosophy & Religious Studies
• Theology & Religious Vocations
• Visual & Performing Arts

Careers That English Language & Literature Grads May Go Into

A degree in English language and literature can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for MA, the home state for Harvard University.

Occupation	Jobs in MA	Average Salary in MA
High School Teachers	26,420	$80,020
Editors	3,160	$89,280
English Language and Literature Professors	2,780	$80,450
Technical Writers	2,420	$89,630
Writers and Authors	1,490	$70,000

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Elisa.rolle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.