by our College Data Analytics Team
[Literature](/majors/english-language-literature/literature/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 2 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for literature students.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in literature, balancing cost against outcomes.
Our analysis ranked Bennington College the best value for a degree in literature in Vermont. Set in the town of Bennington, Bennington College is a small private not-for-profit institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $66,262. Typical student debt for literature graduates is $27,000. Early-career literature graduates make about $18,152. That is a strong return on a $27,000 median debt. The acceptance rate is 44%.
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.
More about our data sources and methodologies.