Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Literature

Tuition is 66,710 USD per year.

This Bachelor's degree program allows students to study literature across national and disciplinary boundaries. It emphasizes designing personalized coursework by combining literature courses with allied fields like history, philosophy, or religion, or focusing within the Division of Literature and Languages. Students explore theoretical problems, subjects across national canons, and interdisciplinary inquiries, engaging with texts, media, and theory in various languages and cultural expressions.

Focus areas include Literary Theory, Chinese Buddhist Literature, Early Modern French Literature, Modern Irish Literature, South Asian Literature, African Literature.

Graduates enter careers such as development coordinator, junior software developer, gallery associate, communications assistant, and pursue further studies in law.

For international students, tuition is well above the median for US programmes. The institution admits about 27% of applicants.

Reed's liberal arts tradition has grown around broad study, close faculty mentorship, and sustained inquiry. Students share Humanities 110, a signature program examining how people in different historical contexts have addressed fundamental questions about existence, then study deeply in a major. Research begins early: undergraduates collaborate with faculty, work in labs, participate in archaeological fieldwork, conduct canopy research, or volunteer in the nuclear reactor. Summer fellowships and grants can support campus projects, travel, and research abroad. In the final year, every student undertakes a senior thesis, working with a faculty adviser on experiments, primary-source research, or another major-based project that remains in Reed's Thesis Tower.

The Portland campus combines green open space with places for study and community. Reed Canyon is a 28-acre watershed with a lake, trees, and the Blue Bridge, while lawns and Old Dorm Block sit against views of the Portland skyline. Downtown Portland is a short bike ride away, and students can plan trips to the college's ski cabin on Mount Hood. International applicants apply as a specific applicant type through the Common Application or Coalition for College Application and complete a Reed writing supplement. Reed does not use SAT or ACT results in admission review. TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo is strongly encouraged for applicants who do not speak English at home or whose school teaches in another language; international interviews are by invitation only. Admitted international students receive financial aid meeting 100 percent of demonstrated need for all four years.