ABSTRACT
To establish the 2014 cohort of institutions that grant a BA in comparative literature, the report includes (Figure 17):
Institutions that reported completions in comparative literature to the IPEDS (Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System), maintained by the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), the US government’s depository of higher education data, which gathers information about students’ graduating majors and programs of study in a given academic year in any year during the period under review (including those that reported “0”);
institutions that informed the MLA in 2013 that they offered comparative literature at the undergraduate level in the form of a major, minor, concentration, or courses, and that, per their websites, provided students the opportunity to receive a BA in comparative literature.
Given that IPEDS does not collect data on institutions outside the United States, the 2014 totals include only those programs in the United States. The 2005 totals include programs outside the United States, so there is actually a slightly higher increase in programs than the graphs indicate. Figures 18 and 19 indicate the percentage of undergraduates earning degrees from comparative literature departments versus national language and literature departments.