American Sign Language

Types of Degrees American Sign Language Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many American Sign Language graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	112
Doctor’s Degree	3

What American Sign Language Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to ASL were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for ASL Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in ASL should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Skills for ASL Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to ASL:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for ASL Majors

A major in ASL will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a American Sign Language Major?

People with a ASL degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930
Professors	9.4%	$65,660

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in American Sign Language?

The major attracts more women than men. About 78% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of ASL majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	7
Black or African American	9
Hispanic or Latino	9
White	79
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	5

Geographic Diversity

ASL appeals to people across the globe. About 2.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Hong Kong
• Mexico
• Canada
• Spain
• Jamaica

How Much Do American Sign Language Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The median early-career salary of American Sign Language students with a master’s degree is $46,399 a year according to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $45,962 (25th percentile) and $46,835 (75th percentile).

We don’t know for sure if all of these people took jobs related to ASL so take that into consideration.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $55,230 to $76,990 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to ASL. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to American Sign Language

Some degrees associated with ASL may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for ASL careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	52.1%
Master’s Degree	25.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	8.9%

Online American Sign Language Programs

In 2020-2021, 210 schools offered a ASL program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	63	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	146	6
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	9	2
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in American Sign Language Worth It?

The median salary for a ASL grad is $55,230 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 38% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $306,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to American Sign Language

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to ASL.

Major	Number of Grads
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	1,748
Romance Languages	1,304
Classical Languages & Literature	303
East Asian Languages	209
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages	160
Germanic Languages	149
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages	74
Foreign Language, Literature & Linguistics (Other)	51
South Asian Languages	22
Second Language Learning	19
African Languages	3
Celtic Language & Literature	3
Greek Language & Literature	1
Iranian & Persian Languages	0
Native American Languages	0
Turkic & Central Asian Languages	0

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By PsiДҐedelisto under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.