Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general education graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	16,667
Bachelor’s Degree	6,501
Doctor’s Degree	2,369
Associate Degree	1,958
Graduate Certificate	1,166
Basic Certificate	591
Undergraduate Certificate	137

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, education majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Education Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in education should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Education Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to education:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.

Abilities for Education Majors

A major in education will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a education degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Education Professors	10.3%	$64,780

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This is one of the most frequently chosen teaching majors. It is the 4th most popular in the country with 5,611 students graduating with a bachelor’s in education in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 84% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of education majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	308
Black or African American	447
Hispanic or Latino	1,431
White	3,479
International Students	394
Other Races/Ethnicities	442

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Education, too. About 6.1% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Canada
• Taiwan

How Much Do Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Salaries According to BLS

Education majors often go into careers with median salaries of $73,680. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with education may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for education careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	0.6%
Master’s Degree	9.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	89.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	22	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	164	22
Bachelor’s Degree	101	24
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	408	95
Post-Master’s	67	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	104	15
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	10	3
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	3	1

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a education grad is $73,680 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 85% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $675,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to education.

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	110,770
Educational Administration	46,975
Teacher Education Subject Specific	42,343
Special Education	35,973
Curriculum & Instruction	19,217
Student Counseling	14,506
Instructional Media Design	9,224
Teaching English or French	5,525
Other Education	4,887
Educational Assessment	3,853
Teaching Assistants	2,720
Multilingual Education	1,995
Education Philosophy	932
International Education	279

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By KOKUYO under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.