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Academic Field / Cultural Studies

Ethnic & Cultural Studies

Students study the history, social experiences, cultural contributions, and systemic challenges faced by specific racial, ethnic, gender, and social groups. Graduates typically pursue careers in diversity and inclusion consulting, social advocacy, community organizing, public policy, and education. This major develops strong analytical and communication skills applicable across many professions.

Compare Schools

Schools

Programs analyzed

Earnings

$32,229

Avg 1-yr grad earnings

Range $16,635–$55,206

Outlook

29/100

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

AI Risk

Very High

67% task exposure

Field Overview

What Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates do

Your deep understanding of culture and society opens doors to two primary career paths. You might become an interpreter or translator, where you’ll do more than just swap words; you’ll convey critical nuance in settings from hospitals to international business meetings. Be prepared: this field is being fundamentally reshaped by AI. Entry-level work is shrinking as technology handles basic translation, so fewer people will be hired overall. Your career will hinge not on simple conversion, but on your ability to edit AI output, navigate complex cultural contexts, and provide the final human judgment that machines can’t.

Alternatively, you could shape future thinkers as a postsecondary teacher. After earning a PhD, your work will involve lecturing, mentoring students, and conducting original research in your specialized field. While AI may act as a research assistant, the core responsibilities of generating new knowledge and guiding classroom discussions remain deeply human-centric. Both paths are specialized, with success depending on your ability to adapt to new technologies and carve out an expert niche.

Closely-related majors include Area Studies, East Asian Languages, and Slavic Languages, which share overlapping career paths and skill sets.

Career Trajectories

Where Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates work

Common career paths for Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates, with median salaries, projected growth, and AI exposure per role. Roughly 8,000 combined openings per year across these roles.

Role	Median Pay	Annual Openings	10-yr Growth	AI Exposure
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary	$84,290 $64K–$108K	1,100	+2.4%	High · 50%
Interpreters and translators	$59,440 $45K–$80K	6,900	+1.7%	Very High · 88%

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Top Institutions

Best schools for Ethnic & Cultural Studies

Schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score (earnings × AI resilience × ROI × job-market size). Top 10 of 92.

Rank #1 · DegreeOutlook Score 45

California State University-East Bay

Hayward, CA · Public

$47,511 1-yr earnings

15.8x ROI multiple

Very High AI risk

California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Pomona, CA · #2

$40,253/yr · 17.1x ROI

Sonoma State University

Rohnert Park, CA · #3

$35,263/yr · 17.0x ROI

CUNY Hunter College

New York, NY · #4

$34,007/yr · 18.2x ROI

#	School	DW Score	1-yr Earnings	ROI
5	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	39	$38,260	13.8x
6	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	39	$34,777	12.0x
7	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	38	$40,719	9.7x
8	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	38	$37,621	11.6x
9	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	38	$37,046	10.8x
10	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	38	$31,001	17.6x
11	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	37	$32,740	12.1x
12	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	36	$40,720	6.4x
13	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	36	$37,411	13.9x
14	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	36	$34,559	9.2x
15	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY · Public	36	$32,083	15.9x
16	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	36	$30,628	16.2x
17	University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN · Public	35	$41,926	6.3x
18	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY · Public	35	$36,292	11.2x
19	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	35	$32,441	11.4x
20	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private nonprofit	34	$55,206	1.0x
21	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	34	$41,872	6.7x
22	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	34	$31,459	10.4x
23	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	34	$31,459	10.5x
24	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	34	$31,459	10.3x
25	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	34	$26,198	19.4x
26	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	34	$25,305	18.1x
27	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	33	$51,388	1.0x
28	American University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	33	$46,206	2.0x
29	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ · Public	33	$40,719	—
30	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	33	$33,991	7.6x
31	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	33	$32,341	8.7x
32	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	33	$29,914	10.1x
33	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	33	$27,726	17.0x
34	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	32	$39,343	4.6x
35	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	32	$39,343	4.6x
36	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	32	$39,343	4.6x
37	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	32	$39,343	4.6x
38	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	32	$32,563	8.3x
39	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	32	$30,984	8.8x
40	Haskell Indian Nations University Lawrence, KS · Public	32	$23,887	98.5x
41	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	31	$39,343	3.8x
42	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	31	$38,124	4.9x
43	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	31	$34,197	5.9x
44	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	31	$31,140	8.7x
45	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	31	$26,767	16.0x
46	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	30	$34,906	7.1x
47	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	30	$31,443	8.4x
48	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	30	$31,179	9.0x
49	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	30	$29,270	11.6x
50	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	30	$28,841	10.6x
51	State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY · Public	30	$23,751	14.5x
52	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	29	$29,267	12.4x
53	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	29	$26,342	12.6x
54	Stanford University Stanford, CA · Private nonprofit	28	$41,156	0.6x
55	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA · Public	28	$30,844	8.7x
56	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	28	$26,973	13.9x
57	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private nonprofit	27	$43,926	1.4x
58	Amherst College Amherst, MA · Private nonprofit	27	$40,120	0.5x
59	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private nonprofit	27	$39,012	0.5x
60	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	27	$33,366	6.9x
61	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	27	$33,000	6.3x
62	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	26	$32,856	4.1x
63	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	26	$29,723	11.7x
64	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public	26	$29,607	6.8x
65	Gallaudet University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	25	$31,541	5.6x
66	University at Albany Albany, NY · Public	25	$29,823	6.2x
67	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	25	$27,058	8.9x
68	University of Louisville Louisville, KY · Public	24	$29,990	4.8x
69	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA · Public	24	$27,932	7.2x
70	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	24	$26,712	7.9x
71	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	23	$35,057	0.3x
72	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	22	$26,875	7.4x
73	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private nonprofit	21	$32,624	0.3x
74	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH · Private nonprofit	21	$31,967	0.2x
75	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	21	$28,181	3.3x
76	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	21	$25,126	6.1x
77	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	20	$23,604	5.0x
78	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ · Public	19	$30,296	4.1x
79	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	19	$30,296	4.0x
80	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ · Public	19	$30,296	4.2x
81	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	19	$26,260	4.5x
82	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	19	$21,836	4.4x
83	Spelman College Atlanta, GA · Private nonprofit	18	$28,080	3.0x
84	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit	18	$18,854	-0.3x
85	Brown University Providence, RI · Private nonprofit	18	$17,527	-0.4x
86	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit	18	$16,635	-0.3x
87	St Olaf College Northfield, MN · Private nonprofit	17	$28,288	0.2x
88	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	17	$20,109	7.1x
89	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit	16	$26,868	0.1x
90	University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit	15	$25,623	0.1x
91	DePaul University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	13	$18,029	0.0x
92	Smith College Northampton, MA · Private nonprofit	9	$19,105	1.0x

Which school is best for Ethnic & Cultural Studies? See our complete ranking of 92 programs →

Highest Earnings Top 5

Columbia University in the City of New York NY	$55,206
Georgetown University DC	$51,388
California State University-East Bay CA	$47,511
American University DC	$46,206
Wellesley College MA	$43,926

Best ROI Top 5

Haskell Indian Nations University KS	98.5x
University of Florida FL	19.4x
CUNY Hunter College NY	18.2x
California State University-Fullerton CA	18.1x
San Francisco State University CA	17.6x

Related majors

Similar fields of study often offered alongside Ethnic & Cultural Studies.

Area Studies Political Science Biology English History Economics Fine Arts Sociology Psychology Mathematics Business Administration Communication and Media Studies

Consider the trade route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Ethnic & Cultural Studies offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Compare Ethnic & Cultural Studies trade programs on TradeSchoolOutlook →

FAQ

Frequently asked about Ethnic & Cultural Studies

What's the typical salary after a Ethnic & Cultural Studies degree?

The median first-year salary across 92 Ethnic & Cultural Studies programs is $32,229. School selection matters — the gap between the lowest ($16,635) and highest ($55,206) earning programs is significant.

Will AI affect Ethnic & Cultural Studies careers?

Ethnic & Cultural Studies is rated "Very High" for AI automation risk, with 67% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means most career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Ethnic & Cultural Studies program?

Our data ranks California State University-East Bay first among 92 Ethnic & Cultural Studies programs. Its score of 45/100 reflects strong outcomes across earnings ($47,511/yr), return on investment, and career durability.

What's the ROI on a Ethnic & Cultural Studies degree?

On average, Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates earn 8.6x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a moderate return — school choice matters significantly.