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East Asian Languages

A general program that focuses on one or more of the languages of East Asia, including, but not limited to, the Sino-Tibetan, Japanese, and Korean languages. Includes instruction in philology; linguistics; dialects and pidgins; literature; and applications to business, science/technology, and other settings.

Types of Degrees East Asian Languages Majors Are Earning

People majoring in East Asian Languages may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	36
Associate’s Degree	220
Bachelor’s Degree	1,316
Master’s Degree	460
Doctor’s Degree	63

What East Asian Languages Majors Need to Know

Coursework for East Asian Languages build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that East Asian Languages graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in East Asian Languages emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Foreign Language — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.0 / 5; level 3.3 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills built by a East Asian Languages program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Instructing — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to East Asian Languages careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, East Asian Languages graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Training and Teaching Others	4.3 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Getting Information	4.0 / 7
Working with Computers	4.0 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.0 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.0 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.9 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.9 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	3.8 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by East Asian Languages professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Moodle	Computer based training software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Blackboard software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Image scanning software	Optical character reader OCR or scanning software	—
Desire2Learn LMS software	Computer based training software	—
Adobe Illustrator	Graphics or photo imaging software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for East Asian Languages graduates include:

• Hebrew Teacher
• French Teacher
• Bilingual Teacher
• Language Teacher
• ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language Instructor)
• Language Instructor
• Language Arts Teacher
• Spanish Teacher
• Teacher
• Greek Professor
• Arabic Teacher
• German Professor
• German Instructor
• Spanish Language Lecturer
• Foreign Language Instructor

What Can You Do With a East Asian Languages Degree?

Graduates with a degree in East Asian Languages commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	1.8%	$77,927	$66,306–$89,549

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to East Asian Languages graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	43.2%
Doctoral degree	30.0%
Master’s degree	15.8%
Post-master’s certificate	3.5%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	2.5%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	2.5%
High school diploma or equivalent	2.1%
Postsecondary certificate	0.3%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in East Asian Languages?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 56.3% women and 43.7% men among East Asian Languages graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	1,188	361.1%
Men	923	280.5%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of East Asian Languages graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	109	33.1%
Asian	80	24.3%
Hispanic or Latino	17	5.2%
Black or African American	17	5.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	1	0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	1	0.3%
Two or More Races	26	7.9%
Race Unknown	5	1.5%
International Students	73	22.2%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do East Asian Languages Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of East Asian Languages graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$27,756
4 years	$45,953
5 years	$53,377

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $53,377 — roughly 92% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online East Asian Languages Programs

Online study are documented by IPEDS for East Asian Languages. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	2	4

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in East Asian Languages Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, East Asian Languages graduates earn a median of $45,953 four years after completion — roughly 21% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Foreign Languages Linguistics	28,685
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	12,321
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	7,564
American Sign Language	2,311
Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	1,385
Germanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	1,084
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	545
Middle/Near Eastern and Semitic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	541
Slavic, Baltic and Albanian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	448
Second Language Learning	230
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	58
Southeast Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General	36

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.