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Home Health Aide

A program that prepares individuals to provide routine care and support services for homebound disabled, recovering, or elderly people. Includes instruction in basic nutrition, home sanitation, infection control, first aid, taking vital signs, personal hygiene, interpersonal communication skills, supervised home management, emergency recognition and referral, geriatric care, and legal and ethical responsibilities.

Types of Degrees Home Health Aide Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Home Health Aide may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	51
Associate’s Degree	1
Master’s Degree	345

What Home Health Aide Majors Need to Know

Studies in Home Health Aide build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Home Health Aide graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Home Health Aide emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Transportation — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.0 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.0 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Home Health Aide program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Service Orientation — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.
• Monitoring — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Home Health Aide careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.3 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.1 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3.0 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Home Health Aide graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.9 / 7
Getting Information	4.7 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.4 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.1 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.0 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.0 / 7
Performing General Physical Activities	4.0 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.0 / 7
Handling and Moving Objects	3.9 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Home Health Aide professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
FaceTime	Video conferencing software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
August Systems Visit Wizard	Calendar and scheduling software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Mi-Co Mi-Forms	Data base reporting software	—
Spreadsheet software	Spreadsheet software	—
Appletree	Computer based training software	—
Computer reading software	Optical character reader OCR or scanning software	—
Voltage SecureMail	Electronic mail software	—
SAP software	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	—
AIGHD OASIS	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Home Health Aide graduates include:

• Home Care Provider
• Home Help Aide
• Companion
• Resident Assistant
• Direct Care Worker
• Caregiver
• Health Service Worker
• Home Health Care Provider
• Home Care Aide
• Home Care Attendant
• In Home Caregiver
• In-Home Caregiver
• Special Needs Caregiver
• Blind Escort
• Personal Care Attendant (PCA)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Home Health Aide graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	49.8%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	20.6%
Less than a high school diploma	15.2%
Postsecondary certificate	8.3%
Some college courses	6.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Home Health Aide?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 91% of Home Health Aide degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	1,551	91.0%
Men	153	9.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Home Health Aide graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	306	18.0%
Asian	21	1.2%
Hispanic or Latino	999	58.6%
Black or African American	312	18.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native	12	0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	2	0.1%
Two or More Races	34	2.0%
Race Unknown	17	1.0%
International Students	1	0.1%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Home Health Aide Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Home Health Aide graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$21,334
4 years	$27,226
5 years	$29,985

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $29,985 — roughly 41% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Is a Degree in Home Health Aide Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Home Health Aide graduates earn a median of $27,226 four years after completion — about 28% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies	3,143
Medication Aide	724
Health Aide	488
Rehabilitation Aide	158
Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies, Other	49
Physical Therapy Technician/Aide	20

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.