Home › Rankings › Best Ethnic & Cultural Studies Schools

Best Ethnic & Cultural Studies Schools by Graduate Salary & ROI (2026)

92 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Ethnic & Cultural Studies, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduate earns $32,229/yr across 92 schools.

What do Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates do? See career paths and salaries →

Why a Polytechnic School is #1 for a Humanities Degree

Cal Poly Pomona's top rank isn't an anomaly; it's a lesson in applied knowledge. While many see Ethnic Studies as purely theoretical, Cal Poly's "learn by doing" ethos pushes students to apply their understanding of culture and social justice to real-world problems in the massive, diverse Los Angeles metro area. As a Hispanic-serving institution, it has deep community ties that create direct pipelines into public policy, social work, and non-profit careers, explaining its strong $40,253/yr starting salary and 17.1x ROI.

Public Power: California's Complete Control

California public universities don't just lead this ranking; they own it, with seven of the top 20 spots. This isn't a coincidence. California was the birthplace of the modern ethnic studies movement, and its public university systems—the CSUs and UCs—have invested for decades in creating the nation's most robust programs. This historical strength, combined with the state's diverse population and progressive job markets, creates a powerful ecosystem that private schools can't easily replicate.

The Hidden Gem with a 98.5x ROI

The most stunning number on this list isn't at the top. It's Haskell Indian Nations University at #36, which delivers an unbelievable 98.5x ROI. As a federally operated tribal university, Haskell offers a nearly free education ($2,400 total tuition) to members of federally recognized tribes. While its earnings are modest, the near-zero cost demonstrates a powerful alternative to the high-tuition, high-debt model, providing unparalleled financial value for the specific community it serves.

AI Will Automate Your First Job, Not Your Career

The 67% AI risk score is a direct warning: the career of a simple translator is ending. AI is already handling the basic translation work that used to be a common entry point for graduates. For a 2026 graduate, this means you are not training to be a translator; you are training to be an AI editor and cultural consultant. Your career will be built on the skills machines lack: verifying AI output for cultural nuance, managing complex projects, and providing the final human judgment in high-stakes situations.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$32,229/yr

Avg DW Score

29/100

AI Risk

Very High

67% task exposure

All Ethnic & Cultural Studies Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	45 35–46	$40,253/yr	17.1x
2	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA · Public	45 35–47	$47,511/yr	15.8x
3	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA · Public	43 34–43	$35,263/yr	17.0x
4	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY · Public	42 33–42	$34,007/yr	18.2x
5	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	39 30–40	$34,777/yr	12.0x
6	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	39 29–40	$38,260/yr	13.8x
7	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	38 28–39	$40,719/yr	9.7x
8	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	38 31–38	$31,001/yr	17.6x
9	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO · Public	38 27–38	$37,621/yr	11.6x
10	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	38 28–39	$37,046/yr	10.8x
11	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	37 29–37	$32,740/yr	12.1x
12	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	36 29–36	$30,628/yr	16.2x
13	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	36 27–36	$34,559/yr	9.2x
14	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	36 26–37	$40,720/yr	6.4x
15	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY · Public	36 28–37	$32,083/yr	15.9x
16	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	36 27–37	$37,411/yr	13.9x
17	University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN · Public	35 24–36	$41,926/yr	6.3x
18	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY · Public	35 25–35	$36,292/yr	11.2x
19	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	35 27–35	$32,441/yr	11.4x
20	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	34 29–34	$25,305/yr	18.1x
21	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	34 29–34	$26,198/yr	19.4x
22	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	34 23–35	$41,872/yr	6.7x
23	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY · Private nonprofit	34 25–36	$55,206/yr	1.0x
24	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	34 26–34	$31,459/yr	10.4x
25	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	34 26–34	$31,459/yr	10.5x
26	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	34 26–34	$31,459/yr	10.3x
27	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	33 28–33	$27,726/yr	17.0x
28	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	33 26–33	$29,914/yr	10.1x
29	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	33 25–33	$32,341/yr	8.7x
30	American University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	33 22–34	$46,206/yr	2.0x
31	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	33 23–35	$51,388/yr	1.0x
32	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	33 24–34	$33,991/yr	7.6x
33	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ · Public	33 22–34	$40,719/yr	—
34	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	32 24–32	$32,563/yr	8.3x
35	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	32 25–32	$30,984/yr	8.8x
36	Haskell Indian Nations University Lawrence, KS · Public	32 28–32	$23,887/yr	98.5x
37	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	32 22–33	$39,343/yr	4.6x
38	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	32 22–33	$39,343/yr	4.6x
39	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	32 22–33	$39,343/yr	4.6x
40	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	32 22–33	$39,343/yr	4.6x
41	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	31 26–31	$26,767/yr	16.0x
42	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	31 24–31	$31,140/yr	8.7x
43	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	31 21–32	$39,343/yr	3.8x
44	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	31 21–32	$38,124/yr	4.9x
45	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	31 22–32	$34,197/yr	5.9x
46	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	30 22–30	$31,443/yr	8.4x
47	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	30 21–30	$34,906/yr	7.1x
48	State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY · Public	30 26–30	$23,751/yr	14.5x
49	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	30 22–30	$31,179/yr	9.0x
50	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	30 23–30	$28,841/yr	10.6x
51	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	30 24–30	$29,270/yr	11.6x
52	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	29 22–29	$29,267/yr	12.4x
53	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	29 24–29	$26,342/yr	12.6x
54	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA · Public	28 20–28	$30,844/yr	8.7x
55	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	28 23–28	$26,973/yr	13.9x
56	Stanford University Stanford, CA · Private nonprofit	28 18–29	$41,156/yr	0.6x
57	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	27 18–27	$33,366/yr	6.9x
58	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private nonprofit	27 16–27	$39,012/yr	0.5x
59	Amherst College Amherst, MA · Private nonprofit	27 17–28	$40,120/yr	0.5x
60	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private nonprofit	27 17–29	$43,926/yr	1.4x
61	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	27 18–27	$33,000/yr	6.3x
62	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	26 18–26	$32,856/yr	4.1x
63	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	26 20–26	$29,723/yr	11.7x
64	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public	26 19–26	$29,607/yr	6.8x
65	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	25 19–25	$27,058/yr	8.9x
66	Gallaudet University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	25 17–25	$31,541/yr	5.6x
67	University at Albany Albany, NY · Public	25 18–25	$29,823/yr	6.2x
68	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	24 19–24	$26,712/yr	7.9x
69	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA · Public	24 18–24	$27,932/yr	7.2x
70	University of Louisville Louisville, KY · Public	24 17–24	$29,990/yr	4.8x
71	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	23 14–24	$35,057/yr	0.3x
72	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	22 17–22	$26,875/yr	7.4x
73	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private nonprofit	21 13–21	$32,624/yr	0.3x
74	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH · Private nonprofit	21 13–21	$31,967/yr	0.2x
75	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	21 17–21	$25,126/yr	6.1x
76	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	21 15–21	$28,181/yr	3.3x
77	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	20 16–20	$23,604/yr	5.0x
78	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	19 15–19	$21,836/yr	4.4x
79	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ · Public	19 12–19	$30,296/yr	4.1x
80	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	19 12–19	$30,296/yr	4.0x
81	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ · Public	19 12–20	$30,296/yr	4.2x
82	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	19 15–19	$26,260/yr	4.5x
83	Spelman College Atlanta, GA · Private nonprofit	18 12–18	$28,080/yr	3.0x
84	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit	18 15–19	$16,635/yr	-0.3x
85	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit	18 15–19	$18,854/yr	-0.3x
86	Brown University Providence, RI · Private nonprofit	18 15–19	$17,527/yr	-0.4x
87	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	17 14–17	$20,109/yr	7.1x
88	St Olaf College Northfield, MN · Private nonprofit	17 11–17	$28,288/yr	0.2x
89	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit	16 11–16	$26,868/yr	0.1x
90	University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit	15 11–15	$25,623/yr	0.1x
91	DePaul University Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	13 10–13	$18,029/yr	0.0x
92	Smith College Northampton, MA · Private nonprofit	9 6–9	$19,105/yr	1.0x

Scores calculated using College Scorecard, BLS, and AI task-exposure data. See full methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Ethnic & Cultural Studies?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona ranks #1 for Ethnic & Cultural Studies with a score of 45/100 and graduate earnings of $40,253/yr.

How much do Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates earn?

Across 92 schools, Ethnic & Cultural Studies graduates earn an average of $32,229/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $55,206/yr.

Is Ethnic & Cultural Studies a good major for AI resistance?

Ethnic & Cultural Studies has an average AI task exposure of 67%, rated "Very High". This field has significant AI exposure. Check individual program pages for scenario analysis.