2026 Best Value Literature Schools in District of Columbia

[Literature](/majors/english-language-literature/literature/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
College Factual analyzed 2 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best value literature schools.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Literature Schools in District of Columbia
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the literature degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Literature Schools
American University tops our 2026 list of the best value literature schools in District of Columbia. Set in the city of Washington, American University is a large private not-for-profit institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $58,771. Literature graduates carry a median of $26,105 in student loans. Soon after graduation, literature degree recipients from American University generally make around $23,164. That is a strong return on a $26,105 median debt. The acceptance rate is 62%.
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Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.